# Swedish: Moder, mor, mamma



## oskhen

<thread split from here>



Tjahzi said:


> _Moder _is the eldest possible form, which was later shortened to _mor_ which was in turn replaced by _mamma_ which is standard today. Additionally, when referring to one's own mother, the possessive pronoun is normally omitted, which gives the following translation. To sum up, I'd always say _Jag gav glaset till mamma_.



Interesting. Do you use "mamma" in all contexts when talking about anyone's mother?


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## AutumnOwl

The only time I would use the word "moder" is when talking about an abbess or other kind of female religious leader.


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## JohanIII

My mother insists on being called mamma - "morsan" just won't do.
My father, _au contraire_, rather enjoys being called "farsan" (instead of pappa) as he grew up in Stockholm, in the then-worker southern central city.
I've never said mor / far.

I agree with AutumnOwl, with "moder" I get a slight twitch to genuflect  .


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## Muzze

oskhen said:


> <thread split from here>
> 
> 
> 
> Interesting. Do you use "mamma" in all contexts when talking about anyone's mother?



Yes, people actually say "mamma" in all kind of situations... but the word mor is getting a little bite more normal now I think. 

This is a reminder why you have to be very catious with new words, in the beginning you take them as a good thing that give the language "something extra" but then they take over and people feel trapped by them instead.


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## cocuyo

In the southern provinces, "mor" has prevalence over "mamma" in many places, but otherwise the above is correct.


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## mosletha

In Norwegian bokmål, this particular word is very interesting to me. You see, iIt's actually a bit difficult to use this word bokmål - despite us having a ton of different options for it, similar to Swedish. ​
*mora mi* (which sounds like slang - rude, even) 
*moren min* (which sounds very old, even somewhat fake) 
* min mor* (which sounds very odd)
*mi mor* (which doesn't even sound grammatically correct, despite being so)
* mammaen min* (one would not say this; one would say _mamman min_, which is not allowed in writing)
*moderen min* (this one is just horrible) 
*min moder* (this one is just even more horrible)

So the only version I know of that sounds all-round solid, natural and polite is the nynorsk version: "Ho mor mi". However, this is certainly not allowed in bokmål.


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## Muzze

cocuyo said:


> In the southern provinces, "mor" has prevalence over "mamma" in many places, but otherwise the above is correct.



I am from the south and unfortunaley "mamma" has taken over also here - the south have sourrendered, at least in the cities. 

I think many people doesnt understand how little dialectal words that are used in the south these days - of course with some beautiful exceptions. Many people from other places doesnt seem to understand this. 

Many people think (maybe unconsciously) that stockholm have to "accept" all words before they can begining to use them themselves - but then maybe they start to use them more then others.


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## Lugubert

Muzze said:


> I am from the south and unfortunaley "mamma" has taken over also here - the south have sourrendered, at least in the cities.


West coast here. Always "mamma" , very seldom "morsan". She is mainly of east coast origin.

My dad is from the deep south. He is "pappa", never "far", EXCEPT that I now and then find myself using "far min" for "my father" with reversed word order, probably because of that southern influence.


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## Zanahoria

Hi!
I'm from south of Sweden and I use both mor/far and mamma/pappa.
I actually prefer mor/far. Even when i talk informally... 
"Moder/fader", I don't use it that much, but sometimes it happens..
For example if I talk with my brother about a birthday present: Jaha, vad ska vi köpa för något till modern i år då? It sounds old style, we know it, but we use it in a normal way..

Morsan/farsan, well I would never say it, it sounds too teenager, atleast i used it when I was one..


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## Magb

I say "mamma" when talking to people in my family and friends, and "mora mi" to everyone else. Same deal with "pappa" and "faren min", or sometimes "far min".


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