# Mutti (endearing term for "mother" spoken by adult)



## Mikamocha

Hello! I'm writing a novel and one of the main characters (a female) is German. She's an adult from Köln. Would she call her mother "Mutti" as I've seen on other threads or is that just for children? Any insight is appreciated.
Thank you in advance!


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## JClaudeK

Mikamocha said:


> Would she call her mother "Mutti" as I've seen on other threads  or is that just for children?


No, it's not just for children, an  adult can call his mother "Mutti", too.


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## Frank78

JClaudeK said:


> No, it's not just for children, an a adult can call his mother "Mutti", too.


 

Definitely. "Mutter" and "Vater" as form of addressing always sounds a little distant and unemotional to me.

Some adults even call their parents still "Mama" and "Papa".


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## elroy

Frank78 said:


> Some adults even call their parents still "Mama" and "Papa".


Why “even”?  That’s what I would expect.


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## Mikamocha

Oh, great! But I’d be okay to have her use Mama then as per Frank78? Since most of my readers are English speakers, I think the word Mutti might throw them off as it’s close to the word “mutt” (a type of dog). Are there any other options?
Thank you all.


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## Frank78

There seem to be east-west differences too:

_Pünktlich zum Muttertag 2013 veröffentlichte das Meinungsforschungsinstitut YouGov im Auftrag der Deutschen Presseagentur die Ergebnisse einer repräsentativen, online durchgeführten Umfrage. Der Trend geht zwar weg von „Mutti“, dafür boomt „Mama“, heißt es in der Studie. Aber die Ost-West-Verteilung erweist sich auch mehr als zwei Jahrzehnte nach dem Fall der Mauer als stabil: 57 Prozent der Kinder in den alten Bundesländern reden ihre Mutter mit Mama an, 22 Prozent bevorzugen Mutti. In den neuen Bundesländern ist es genau umgekehrt. 55 Prozent sagen Mutti, 24 Prozent Mama. Im ehemals geteilten Berlin liegen „Mutti“ und „Mama“ heute mit jeweils 38 Prozent Kopf an Kopf.

Mit dem Vornamen werden nur zwei Prozent der Eltern angesprochen – eine Marotte aus den 70ern, die sich offenbar nicht durchgesetzt hat. Alles zu seiner Zeit  _

(source: Mama, Mutti oder doch lieber Frau Mutter: Die Anrede sagt vieles über die Beziehungen in der Familie aus)


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## Frank78

Mikamocha said:


> Oh, great! But I’d be okay to have her use Mama then as per Frank78?



Sure.


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## Mikamocha

Frank78 said:


> There seem to be east-west differences too:
> 
> _Pünktlich zum Muttertag 2013 veröffentlichte das Meinungsforschungsinstitut YouGov im Auftrag der Deutschen Presseagentur die Ergebnisse einer repräsentativen, online durchgeführten Umfrage. Der Trend geht zwar weg von „Mutti“, dafür boomt „Mama“, heißt es in der Studie. Aber die Ost-West-Verteilung erweist sich auch mehr als zwei Jahrzehnte nach dem Fall der Mauer als stabil: 57 Prozent der Kinder in den alten Bundesländern reden ihre Mutter mit Mama an, 22 Prozent bevorzugen Mutti. In den neuen Bundesländern ist es genau umgekehrt. 55 Prozent sagen Mutti, 24 Prozent Mama. Im ehemals geteilten Berlin liegen „Mutti“ und „Mama“ heute mit jeweils 38 Prozent Kopf an Kopf.
> 
> Mit dem Vornamen werden nur zwei Prozent der Eltern angesprochen – eine Marotte aus den 70ern, die sich offenbar nicht durchgesetzt hat. Alles zu seiner Zeit  _
> 
> (source: Mama, Mutti oder doch lieber Frau Mutter: Die Anrede sagt vieles über die Beziehungen in der Familie aus)


Really wonderful information—Danke!


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## Mikamocha

Frank78 said:


> Sure.


Great, thanks much!


Frank78 said:


> Sure.


Great! Thanks much.


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## berndf

The third form, _Mami_, seems to have become rare.


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## bearded

elroy said:


> That’s what I would expect


NgramViewer scheint Dir recht zu geben
Google Books Ngram Viewer


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## Hutschi

Hi, I also want to say that it might be regionally different and depend on age.
In my age it was very common to say Mutti and Vati to the parents, but I said Opa and Oma to the grandparents rather than Omi and Opi.

Additionally to the East-West difference there seems to be a north south difference.
There seems to be a language change, too.

Mama, Mutti und Frau Mutter.




> Neulich kam die Frage auf, wie die Kollegen eigentlich ihre Eltern nennen. Das Ergebnis: Zwei der Jüngeren sagen Mama und Papa. Eine Kollegin sagt Mami und Papi, verweist aber auf ihren Bruder, der als Erwachsener die Eltern mit Vornamen anspricht. Zwei der Älteren sagen Mutti und Vati – beide kommen aus dem Osten.



I am from the east, and I am 67. To me it is Mutti and Vati.

Die Wortwahl von Kindern hat sich verändert: Stirbt das Wort „Mutti“ aus?


> Grundsätzlich trifft für "Mama/Mami" und "Mutti" zu, was auch für "Samstag" und "Sonnabend" gilt: Ersteres gehört eher in den Süden, letzteres eher in den Norden. Das Wort "Mutter" ist ein indoeuropäisches Urwort und hat als solches eine etwa 2500 Jahre alte Geschichte.



However - I come from the south of "Mitteldeutschland" and say "Mutti".


I found a map.
ZEIT ONLINE 

They show Köln.
In Köln: ca. 80% Mama and Papa, 20% Mutti and Vati. (4 vs. 1)

I cannot quote the map here because of copyright.

As far as I know, today the most children do not use "Mutti" and "Vati". But the question was about adults.

Here is another map. mutti mama karte - Google Search


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## JClaudeK

Hutschi said:


> In my age it was very common to say Mutti and Vati to the parents


I used to say "Mutti" (my mother preferred "Mutti" to "Mama"   ) but to my father, I said "Papa".

My nephews and nieces say "Mama" and "Papa" to their parents.


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## berndf

bearded said:


> NgramViewer scheint Dir recht zu geben
> Google Books Ngram Viewer


Adding _Mami_ ot the graph. It shows a proportion of roughly 10 (_Mama_) : 2 (_Mutti_) : 1 (_Mami_). Taking written attestation for words that quintessentially belong to spoken registers has always to be taken with a grain of salt, but those numbers do not surprise me.


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## Perseas

"Mama" and "Papa" is what I mostly hear in the German speaking movies now.
"Mutti" and "Vati" are the forms I'd learned in the early '80s, when I started learning German as a teenager. Is it maybe so, because these forms seem "more German" than the others which seem "international"?


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## JClaudeK

berndf said:


> Adding _Mami_ ot the graph.


 
My grandchildren (living in Germany) say "Mami, Papi" to their parents, which always seems odd to me because in France you say "mamie, papy" to your grandparents.


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## berndf

JClaudeK said:


> My grandchildren (living in Germany) say "Mami, Papi" to their parents, which always seems odd to me because in France you say "mamie, papy" to your grandparents.


Yes, that is why my wife was keen that our daughter would *not *call her _Mami _in German as we live in a French speaking area.


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## Hutschi

Perseas said:


> "Mutti" and "Vati" are the forms I'd learned in the early '80s, when I started learning German as a teenager. Is it maybe so, because these forms seem "more German" than the others which seem "international"?


In English you have mother and father as cognates. Only that Mutti and Vati are diminutives as endearing forms of Mutter and Vater.

For Grandmother and grandfather, there exists a map:

Großeltern «  atlas-alltagssprache
Here is the picture for Grandma:







https://www.atlas-alltagssprache.de/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/f1_02a.jpg

You see, always everywhere "Oma" exists. Mami is not used in this sense at the map. But "Nani" exists in small areas.

Unfortunately they did not make a map for "Mutti" now.

In my childhood in Haselbach and in Dresden, the first was "Mama", this was replaced when I was 2 or 3 years old by "Mutti". I always refer to her as Mutti. (In Dresden, East, former GDR)

But in Köln it may be other, indeed it is most probably used in another way when I see the map in the link in #12.


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## JClaudeK

Perseas said:


> "Mutti" and "Vati" are the forms I'd learned in the early '80s, when I started learning German as a teenager.


In den französischen Lehrbüchern für _Deutsch als Fremdsprache_ dieser Zeit wurden   auch diese Bezeichnungen verwendet.

Aber


> *Mama* und *Papa* sind im Deutschen die gebräuchlichsten Kosewörter für Mutter und Vater und im Allgemeinen die beiden ersten Wörter, die ein Kleinkind erlernt bzw. spricht.
> Wikipedia





Edit:
Randbemerkung: Angela Merkel bekam den Spitznamen/ Kosenamen "Mutti", nicht "Mama". 


> „_Mutti_ war denn auch das Wort der vergangenen Woche, in der Angela Merkels zweite Kanzlerschaft begann.“
> Wiktionary


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## Hutschi

> *Mama* und *Papa* sind im Deutschen die gebräuchlichsten Kosewörter für Mutter und Vater und im Allgemeinen die beiden ersten Wörter, die ein Kleinkind erlernt bzw. spricht.
> Wikipedia



Das war in meiner Familie auch so. Der Übergang war mit 2...3 Jahren.

Ein Kosewort, das ich öfters hörte, auch von Erwachsenen,  war "Mutsch". Ich selbst habe es aber nicht verwendet.

*Question for additional context to *[B]Mikamocha[/B]



When is the handling of the novel, and how old are the parents at this time?


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## Hutschi

Mikamocha said:


> Oh, great! But I’d be okay to have her use Mama then as per Frank78? Since most of my readers are English speakers, I think the word Mutti might throw them off as it’s close to the word “mutt” (a type of dog). Are there any other options?
> Thank you all.


To make it explicite:
I think too: (as Frank in #7.
 "Mama" is a good solution for your audience/readers.  According to the map it is 4 times more frequently used in Köln than "Mutti". And your Audience will understand it.


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## Kajjo

Frank78 said:


> Some adults even call their parents still "Mama" and "Papa".


Not "even", but that is very standard in my experience.



Mikamocha said:


> Would she call her mother "Mutti"


In some regions maybe, but most people use "Mama" not "Mutti".


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## Thersites

_Mutti_ surely is old fashened and almost ironic. I think of comedian Otto Waalkes when I hear that term.

Surprised to learn that Germans use _Mami_ - I would have guessed that this was a Swiss-German phenomenon. 80 percent of all Swiss German speakers use _Mami_, followed by _Mama_ or _Müeti_ (which again is on the brink of sounding ironic).


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## berndf

Thersites said:


> Surprised to learn that Germans use _Mami_


Difference is that in Germany _Mami_ is feminine and not neuter as in German speaking Switzerland.


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## Kajjo

Thersites said:


> Surprised to learn that Germans use _Mami_


This is the diminutive and intended to sound even more endearing. Most people use ending -a, but some might use -i. Same applies to Oma/Omi, Opa/Opi.

Similar diminutive formation is found in Hans/Hansi, Willhelm/Willi and similar first names.


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## Sowka

Thersites said:


> _Mutti_ surely is old fashened and almost ironic. I think of comedian Otto Waalkes when I hear that term.


It's partly regional. My extended family (in Berlin and surroundings) use this term, even when speaking to me about my mother: "Deine Mutti hat doch früher immer gesagt ...". No irony intended or involved.

But I agree: If the story is set in Köln, the better term to use is "Mama".


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## Mikamocha

Sowka said:


> It's partly regional. My extended family (in Berlin and surroundings) use this term, even when speaking to me about my mother: "Deine Mutti hat doch früher immer gesagt ...". No irony intended or involved.
> 
> But I agree: If the story is set in Köln, the better term to use is "Mama".


YOu all are so helpful. Thank you so much!


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