# Mama, Papa / Mom, Dad...



## coquita

I find it really interesting that in most languages the words for _"mum_" and _"dad_" (in Spanish _"mamá"_ and_ "papá")_ are very similar. I can understand why Spanish is similar to Portuguese, French, etc. But how come that even in Chinese it's pronounced _"mama_" and "_baba_" ("b" is pronounced almost like a "p")?.

I'm wondering how these 2 words which are so ancient and essential, got to be so similar, especially when some centuries ago we didn't even know that there were other continents in the world. 

How do you say mum and dad in your own language?. Is there any language in which these 2 words are different? 

Thanks


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## übermönch

In Hungarian, Russian, German, Old English & Dutch it's "papa" & "mama"
In German there's also "Vati" & "Mutti"

In Polish, Ukrainian, Bosnian, Croatian & Serbian it's Tata and Mama.

In Turkic languages "father" is "Ata"
In Zulu and Latin "papa" is "Tata"


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## linguist786

In *Gujarati*, we say "mammi" and "pappa" (pronounced: mum-mee & pupp-paa)
In *Urdu/Hindi*, they say "maa" and "baap" (pronounced just like that)
In *French* they say "maman" and "papa" (pronounced: maa-mon (nasalised "n") & pa-pa)
In *German* they say "Mutti" and "Vati" (pronounced: Moo-tee & faa-tee)


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## Outsider

There was another thread in the forum about this, Coquita: All languages: mother, father. It's not always as similar to Western languages as you may be thinking.


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## Honour

Türkçe
Mum: Anne/Ana
Dad: Baba/Ata
formers are modern, latter ones are older (but not archaic)

edit:
i recalled that we also say *valide* for mum and peder for *dad*  but again they are not very common in daily lang.


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## cyanista

linguist786 said:
			
		

> In *German* they say "Mutti" and "Vati" (pronounced: Moo-tee & faa-tee)



I have only heard "Mama" and "Papa" in Cologne but perhaps it varies from region to region.


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## Whodunit

cyanista said:
			
		

> I have only heard "Mama" and "Papa" in Cologne but perhaps it varies from region to region.


 
I use Mama and Papa, too, but a friend of mine calls them Mutti and Vati. 

Many children also call them *Mami* and *Papi*.


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## tinkerbell0916

In Japanese, we say
"mama" and "papa," pronounced in the same way as English.
But usually, "mama" and "papa" are used by babies/kids or girls only.
We use お母さん and お父さん, "okaasan" &"otousan" which is "mother" and
"father."


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## Tisia

*Persian:* 
Father: baba *بابا*
Mother: maman  *مامان*

*Kurdish:*
Father: Bawk *باوک*
Mother: Day(e)k *دايک*

*Finnish:*
Father: Isä
Mother: Äiti

regards 
Tisia


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## anthodocheio

In Greek we say *μαμά* (mamá) y *μπαμπά* (babá, like in turkish were we have got it from)

Mother is: μητέρα (mitera) and
Father is: πατέρας (pateras)


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## Xerinola

Hello!

In catalan we say: Mama i Papa [ it's pronounced: máma and pápa], and we also have Mare i Pare (mother and father)!

Saludos!


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## Tisia

anthodocheio said:
			
		

> In Greek..... Mother is: μητέρα (mitera)


 
Mitra is name of deity worshipped by ancient Iranians (goddess of loving kindness) and a Iranian female name as well.

Tisia


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## panjabigator

Can you write mitra in the Farsi script?  It looks just like the Sanskritic word for friend!

In punjabi, there are several:
Mom: maataa, maa, mammii (pronounced: mummy), bebe (in the village), Jhaaii (said with the Punjabi tone, it sounds like "chhaaii"...also used in the village)
muslims say ammii

dad: pita, papaa, bapu, babul, pio (village), 
muslims say abba

In hindi:  Mata, maa, mammi,  (mom), 
Pita, papa, baap (dad),

baap is a bit crude though, so dont use it.


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## Nali

I think this is a very clear case of family relationships. In Latin and Sanskrit, from which our modern languages developed, the word  "father,"  for example, is "pater" and "pitar" respectively. 
Regards!


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## robbie_SWE

_Swedish_

Informal: *mamma* (mum)
*pappa* (dad)

Formal: *mor* (mother)
*far* (father)



_Romanian _

Informal: *mama* (mum)
*tata* (dad)

Formal: Aren't any! 

Strange that Romanian actually doesn't have a formal form!


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## panjabigator

In Marathi, mother is "aaii" but I dont know what father is...


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## Sina

In turkish its

Anne & Ana & Valide = Mother = Mama
Baba & Peder = Father = Papa


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## panjabigator

Muslims in India also use Valid and Valida for father and mother, respectively.


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## Nineu

Mother: ama
Father: aita/aite

Mum: amatxu/amatxo
Dad: aitatxu/aitetxu/aitatxo


			
				Tisia said:
			
		

> *Finnish:*
> Father: Isä
> Mother: Äiti


I thought that all the languages use the sound "m" to say "mum" since that's the first sound a baby is able to do...


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## panjabigator

The word for Father in Marathi is "vadiil"
You can hear it on this site: Marathi mitra family terms


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## viereaty_blienmest

in Vietnamese we say:
papa: ba, cha, bố
mama: mẹ, má

Glad to help you


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## Tisia

Nineu said:
			
		

> I thought that all the languages use the sound "m" to say "mum" since that's the first sound a baby is able to do...


 
Finnish teenagers say *faja* for *father* and *mutsi* for *mother* but these are only slang and not said by kids or used officially. 

Regards
Tisia


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## kriumif

Tisia said:
			
		

> *Persian:*
> Father: baba *بابا*
> Mother: maman *مامان*
> 
> *Kurdish:*
> Father: Bawk *باوک*
> Mother: Day(e)k *دايک*
> 
> *Finnish:*
> Father: Isä
> Mother: Äiti


yes, but these are "mother" and "father"... we are referring to Mum and Dad in this forum... Guess you still use Mama and Papa right? I know that the Bible refers to "Abba" as "Papa`"/Daddy


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## Tisia

^Only in Persian there is an equivalent for "mama and papa". In Kurdish and Finnish, kids say the same words as *father* and* mother*. They don't have equivalents for *mama *or *papa*.

Tisia


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## showerbabies

cantonese - maMA ,baBA
mardarin - MAma, BAba


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## panjabigator

I know in Farsi, they use the suffix "jan" as a term of endearment.  So would you say "ammijan" and "abbajan?"  They use them in Urdu.


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## linguist786

^Oh yes - I've heard that too. It's "jaan" by the way. (long a - "jaaaaan" if you like)


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## panjabigator

sorry...lazy transliteration!


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## vince

showerbabies said:
			
		

> cantonese - maMA ,baBA
> mardarin - MAma, BAba



Father: Cantonese: baa1*4 baa1 Mandarin: ba4 ba
Mother: Cantonese: maa1*4 maa1 Mandarin: ma1 ma


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## stargazer

Hello

In Slovenian, *mother* is MAMA (or MATI), and *father* is OČE (also ATA), but of course we use diminutives to refer to our parents. MAMI or MAMICA (for MOTHER), and ATI, ATEK, OČI, also OČKA.


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## Telugu

In Telugu
its Amma for MOM 
Nanna for Dad

In tamil

Amma n
Appa.

in tamil words are similar to the english words mama and papa but just the first two letters are reversed.


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## larosa

In Hungarian:

Anya - mother / anyu - mum
Apa - father / apu - dad 

"Mama" and "papa" are used for grandparents mostly. 

Grandma can be called "nagyi" as well.


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## shaloo

robbie_SWE said:
			
		

> _Romanian _
> 
> Informal: *mama* (mum)
> *tata* (dad)
> 
> Formal: Aren't any!
> 
> Strange that Romanian actually doesn't have a formal form!


 
And its equally strange that in Telugu(Dravidian/South Indian language),
we call one's grandfather(but not one's father) as *tata.*

*Telugu:*
Mom: *amma*
Dad: *naanna* (And in Hindi, one's maternal grandfather in called as naana
(with no stress on the second _n_).

Mother: *talli*
Father: *tandri*
(Both *t*'s here are pronounced like the French *t *but not the english one )

*Kannada:*
Mom: *amma*
Dad: *appa*

Mother: *Taayi *(In Marathi, its only aayi)
Father: *Tandey*
(t's here too are pronounced the same like in Telugu)

*Tamil:*
Mom/Mother: *amma*
Dad/Father: *appa*

*Malayalam*:
Mon/Mother: *amma*
Dad/Father: *achchan*

*EDIT: *Observe that mom is the same(*amma*) in all the *four major* Dravidian languages.


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## panjabigator

I always wondered how the word "aaii" was so different for Marathi's....I guess its because of their proximity with Karnatika.


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## shaloo

Yeah, after reading your post, even i feel the same.
(And by the way, its Karnataka not Karnatika.) 

And one more thing,(i donno if im off the topic, though) is that in Telugu, we say............ Akkada = there and Ikkada = here, which incidentally coincide with their Marathi equivalents.
This is also may be because Maharashtra shares its borders with Andhra Pradesh.

Shalu


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## panjabigator

Same with the word Nako right?
(I KNEW I SPELLED IT WRONG HEHE!...THANKS!)

What is father in Marathi?


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## shaloo

Nako in which language do u mean?( or is it nakko in hyderabadi hindi?)

And father........mmmmm i donno.But i can tell u in about a few minutes time, if u permit me.


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## panjabigator

Nakko in Hyderabadi Hindi right?

Aagyaa hai!!


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## shaloo

Kya??!

And yes, i just confirmed it with a Marathi friend.
She says nakko also exists in Marathi(and i guess its from there, perhaps, we hyderabadis got that word)

Father is Valeeda in Marathi. But dad  can be either pappa or baba.


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## panjabigator

Aagya ka matlab ijaazat hai na?
thanks for the info!

That is interesting...is your friend muslim by any chance?  Valid is the term for Father in Urdu, and Validah is the term for mother.

Is your Hindi more Hyderabadi or Standard?


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## shaloo

O Yeah. Its that.
But u know what? I just took a glance at your sentence and read it as 
----Aagaya hai! And i was wondering ki ab kya aagaya hai?!
Thats all.

No.She's not a muslim. She is from a Marathi brahmin family.

My hindi is more standard but i understand hyderabadi hindi very well.
There are some little differences between the two....
I'll post about it in the thread u started. OK?

Edit: I felt a new thread could be started about this topic.


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## Tensai

in old Chinese, they used to call
'die' 爹, 'a die' 阿爹 for father, (die is pronounced like the kana 'de' で in Japanese), 
'niang'娘, 'ah niang' 阿娘, 'niang qin' 娘親 for mother.

in modern Chinese
the formal way to say father is 'fu qin' 父親, mother is 'mu qin' 母親

these are mandarin pronounciations


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## linguist786

panjabigator said:
			
		

> Aagya ka matlab ijaazat hai na?
> thanks for the info!
> 
> That is interesting...is your friend muslim by any chance? Valid is the term for Father in Urdu, and Validah is the term for mother.
> 
> Is your Hindi more Hyderabadi or Standard?


It's "Waalid" and "Waalidah" (with a 'W').. "Vaalid(ah)" is such a punjabification!! (no offence like..!) - my punjabi friends say that too lol (I think of it like when Gujji's change 'z' into 'j' )


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## brian

*Latin:*

pater = father
mater = mother

*Ancient Greek:*

πατηρ = pater (long e) = father
μητηρ = meter (long e's) = mother

Oddly enough, Homer writes πατηρ in direct address as παππα:

_παππα φιλ', ουκ αν δη μοι εφοπλισσειας απηνην
υψηλην ευκυκλον..._

_Papa dear, won't you prepare for me a lofty, well-wheeled wagon?_

--_Odyssey, VI.57_

So that goes pretty far back.


Brian


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## Aristo

In Chinese:

mama = mother
papa = father


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## panjabigator

linguist786 said:
			
		

> It's "Waalid" and "Waalidah" (with a 'h').. "Vaalid(ah)" is such a punjabification!! (no offence like..!) - my punjabi friends say that too lol (I think of it like when Gujji's say change 'z' into 'j' )



Really?  Interesting hehe.  Do you use this term ?


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## linguist786

^No, but I hear it a lot. I don't speak Urdu at home, but we hear it at the mosques in speeches and stuff.
And sorry - I meant to say "with a 'w'" (not: "with a 'h') in my previous post. lol


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## karuna

*Latvian:*

papa – _tētis_
mama – _mamma _

Sometimes the vocative forms can be irregular: _tēt (_instead of _tēti), mammu (_instead of _mamma)!_

Often deminutive forms are used: _tētiņš, mammiņa, māmiņa_. 

For comparison the neutral terms: 
father – _tēvs _
mother – _māte_ 

There is also a word _paps _which roughly means _dad_.


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## elroy

In colloquial Palestinian Arabic, there are two possibilities:

Mama: *Maama* or *Yamma*
Papa: *Baaba* or *Yaaba*

In standard Arabic, one would say *Ummi* (أمي) and *Abi* (أبي).

In Hebrew, one says *Iima* (אמא) and *Aaba *(אבא).

_(vowels doubled to indicate length)_


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## Becker

In Sinhalese mother is *ammaa* and father is *taat-taa*

Some kids say *ammi* and *taat-tii* which I guess would correspond to "mummy" and "daddy" as opposed to the more formal "mother" and "father."


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## Not Ordinary Girl

*In Arabic....*


*Informal.... Mama, Papa*

*Formal ....  Omi (Mother),Abi(father)*


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## lightbluefeather

In Italy we have:

mamma and papà (in the north) or babbo (in Tuscany and in the south)


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## su.x.j.

yep...it s been thought of by me too...long time ago
in Chinese it's “妈妈”and “爸爸” pronounced as "mama" and "baba" ..


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## Aldin

In Bosnian there besides 'tata' there is 'babo' particularly used by Bosniacs(Bosnian Muslims,Slavic Muslims)


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## Confused Linguist

*Bengali:* *Mata* and *Pita* (very, very formal - something you find only in old novels and stuff like that)

*Ma* and *Baba* (colloquial - mostly heard in the Indian state of West Bengal which has a predominantly Hindu population)

*Amma* and *Abba* (colloquial - commonly used in Bangladesh which has a predominantly Muslim population)


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## kanojo_

stargazer said:
			
		

> Hello
> 
> In Slovenian, *mother* is MAMA (or MATI), and *father* is OČE (also ATA), but of course we use diminutives to refer to our parents. MAMI or MAMICA (for MOTHER), and ATI, ATEK, OČI, also OČKA.



..or even "TATA" for father, I use that all the time


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## Rogo

Hi...

Norwegian:

Informal (mum/dad): Mamma/pappa
Formal (mother/father): Mor/far
VERY informal (often used by teens): Muttern/fattern


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## unefemme1

I know in French they use 'maman' and 'papa'. A great but childish example is when Belle refered to her father as "papa" in Beauty and the Beast. (Told you it was a childish example)

I wonder if there are any other Mandarin speakers here? Anyhow, in my family we just call our parents 'mama' or 'baba', regardless of age or sex, and the 'b' sound is strong. However for young adults, I think the words differ, due to formalities. I've always called my parents by 'mama' and baba'.


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## HUMBERT0

coquita said:
			
		

> I find it really interesting that in most languages the words for _"mum_" and _"dad_" (in Spanish _"mamá"_ and_ "papá")_ are very similar.
> Thanks


 
Talking about spanish...
In northen México informally at home we also use:
Ma and Amá for Mum
Pa and Apá for Dad

For example: Amá ya me voy, or if I say, ¿Pa no ha visto las llaves?


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## su.x.j.

unefemme1 said:
			
		

> I wonder if there are any other Mandarin speakers here? Anyhow, in my family we just call our parents 'mama' or 'baba', regardless of age or sex, and the 'b' sound is strong. However for young adults, I think the words differ, due to formalities. I've always called my parents by 'mama' and baba'.


yes we say mama and baba~


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## ashley1607

In Chinese, "mama" is "媽媽" and "papa" is "爸爸". This is the most common and intelligible form to address our parents.
However, there are lots of dialects in Chinese. So the form of address varies from region to region.

In Hong Kong, Cantonese is the most widely spoken Chinese dialect. We usually use "老竇" or "阿爸" for "papa" and "阿媽" for "mama". However, Hong Kong is a British colony before 1997, the form to address parents has been influenced by English. "爹哋" and "媽咪" are Cantonese pronunciation of English words "daddy" and "mommy" respectively.


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## su.x.j.

yep true~~~~~
in Shanghai we say: "abe" for dad and "mmma" for mum (the pronounciation for mmma is like when u r thinking of something u say:mmm...and then open the mouth plus the " a"...) hiahia~~


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## SJAJ

In Serbian:

Formal:
mother = majka (мајка)    
(Pronounced differently it can also be used to reffer to grandmother! I am sorry I do not know how to put accents)
father = otac (отац)

Shorter and Neutral form:
mum = mama (мама)
dad = tata (тата)

Slang:
mother = keva (кева)
father = ćale (ћале)

In Macedonian:
father = татко
mother = мајка (not sure whether it is "majka" or "mama")

Also, I know that in Bosnia they use "stari" for father, and "stara" for mother! It is definitelly NOT FORMAL, but how informal it is... I prefer a native speaker to help us with the explanation!


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## aurette

robbie_SWE said:


> _Romanian _
> 
> Informal: *mama* (mum)
> *tata* (dad)
> 
> Formal: Aren't any!
> 
> Strange that Romanian actually doesn't have a formal form!


For Romanian, I would say *mamă *and *tată* are the most widelly used, but let's not forget about:
mummy=*mămică*
daddy=*tătic*
These are the diminutives of *mamă *and *tată*, some children use that, but I for one never called my parents that way and I don't think they are very common nowadays.

There is an archaic form for mother: *mumă*, but this gained a rather negative meaning especially in the expression: *muma pădurii*, which is used to talk about a very ugly women, usually an old one. (The literal translation would be "mother of the forest")
There is also another way of saying mother: *maică*, with the diminutive form măiculiţă. This one was used in the past centuries, it still exists in literary works, folklore songs, swearwords and prayers (I think this a very sweet way to call a mother, except it is no longer common). This form has a male counterpart: *taică*.

waw, more forms for mother that for father... does this mean we appreciate mothers more???

hope it helps


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## Lara2005

In Taglaog we say it..

Mother - Inay, Nanay or Inang
Father - Nanay, Tatay or Itang

But I call my parents, Daddy and Mama and my son call me Mom..


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## Stiannu

In *wolof*, dominant local language in Senegal (West-Africa):
Father - *Baay*, or *Pappa* (but the second could also be because of French influence during colonial times?)
Mother - *Yaay*, or less frequently *Ndey*

The words used for the mother definitely don't use the "m"... this case is quite different. Anyway, the word "yaay" must be quite easy for a little child to pronounce, it could even be confused with the baby's first indefinite sounds. Could that be the origin?


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## blandoso

These words are similar in many languages because these are the most simple fonetic constructions (mama, papa), the easiest and shortest words for babies to pronounce. You cant expect a baby to say "potukalominutur". And when they learn to speak, they start using the words such as "father, mother", or "otac, majka" (Serbian), etc. which are different and a little more difficult to say.


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## tori

In Thai, we say เเม่ [pronounced 'mare', as in mother horse] for mother and พ่อ [pronounced 'por'] for father.
B


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## orbiste

In Korean, mother is uma and father is upa.

In Thai, I would actually transliterate เเม่ (mother) as ma-eh, as one needs to combine two vowels to produce a sound equivalent to เเอ.  Similarly, พ่อ can be transliterated as paw.  While the official method of transliteration does included the letter "r" in both, the words don't actually contain an "r" sound.


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## DickHavana

In Basque (Euskara):

Formal (father/mother): aita/ama
Informal (dad/mum): aitaxto/amatxo


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## keepsakes

ashley1607 said:


> In Chinese, "mama" is "媽媽" and "papa" is "爸爸".


Or in simplified, 妈妈， 爸爸， 妈咪。


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## Chaska Ñawi

In Bolivian Quechua,

Mama = Mama
Papa = Tata 

You also frequently hear the possessive, even when the children are addressing their parents directly:  Mamay, Tatay.


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## samanthalee

ashley1607 said:


> In Chinese, "mama" is "媽媽" and "papa" is "爸爸". This is the most common and intelligible form to address our parents.


If I am not wrong, the use of Baba and Mama in Mandarin came after the Literary Revolution in the early 20th century (known as the 4th of May Movement). It is when Western vocabulary starts finding their way into the Chinese language. (Example, the words "Romantic" and "Humour")

So originally in Mandarin Papa = Diyeh-Diyeh 爹爹 and Mama = Niyang 娘


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## JerryNone

übermönch said:


> In Polish, Ukrainian, Bosnian, Croatian & Serbian it's Tata and Mama.


Well it took a while for me to find the other Polish spellings but here they are: Matka (Another Polish word for Mother.) but I was confused as to how to spell ojciec (Another Polish word for Father.) I already knew how to spell Matka, it was the word for Father that confused me.

ojciec = tata, tatu, i (and) tatus (The letter "s" has a pronounication mark on top of it for the last version of father.)
matka = mama i (and) mamusia

I found these spellings on-line.



coquita said:


> How do you say mum and dad in your own language?. Is there any language in which these 2 words are different?


 
Lets NOT forget the word Abba which meand Father.

I have seen some movies where they use the word mum or my mum or it could be me mum.
These are usually English speaking movies as in England NOT Americanizied English. I think it is either called the Queen's or King's English and maybe Oxfordian English.

I have also heard the word "Pop" being used for Father and another word that I have heard used is Pappa.
Although How did the word Pop become to be assoicated with Father I do NOT know since it can also mean soda pop depending on the context(?) that it is used in.
Some people like to use the plural form of Pop and call their Fathers, Pops.

Here are two examples:
My Pop is a great man.
I would like to buy a can of pop.


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## Anatoli

panjabigator said:


> Muslims in India also use Valid and Valida for father and mother, respectively.


I recognise the *Arabic* origin of the words - formally in Arabic it's "walid" (father) and "walida" (mother). There are also "ab" (father) and "umm" (mother). Mama and baba are the informal ones.

*Russian:*
отец (_a_t'*e*ts) - father
мать (mat') - mother
папа (p*a*pa) - dad
мама (m*a*ma) - mum
папочка (p*a*p_a_chka) - daddy
мамочка (m*a*m_o_chka) mummy


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## Thomas1

Anatoli said:


> [...]
> *Russian:*
> отец (_a_t'*e*ts) - father
> мать (mat') - mother
> папа (p*a*pa) - dad
> мама (m*a*ma) - mum
> папочка (p*a*p_a_chka) - mummy
> мамочка (m*a*m_o_chka) daddy


Isn't it all the way round by any chance, Anatoli? 
папочка (p*a*p_a_chka) - daddy
мамочка (m*a*m_o_chka) mummy

Tom


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## Anatoli

Of course, Tom, oczywiście!
Thanks for correcting my typo.


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## gigi1

brian8733 said:


> *Ancient Greek:*
> 
> πατηρ = pater (long e) = father
> μητηρ = meter (long e's) = mother


 
*Modern Greek:*
πατέρας  father (straight from πατήρ )
μητέρα mother (straight from μήτηρ)
μπαμπάς dad (I think its Turkish)
μαμά/ μάνα mum (this is Italian)


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## Miguelillo 87

In Náhuatl (Mexican language)

Mother.- Nantzin 

The one who raise the children.- Nana 

Father.- Tatah,   Saying it with affection.- Tahtzin


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## jeron

In Korean, we say Appa (Dad) and Umma (Mum) and Aberzi (Father) and Ummonee(Mother).


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## Eáránë

Hey!

in Dutch:

most people say: *mama* and *papa* (or the abbreviation *ma* and *pa*)
but some people also say: *moeke* ('oe' is pronounced /u:/) and *vake* (or the abbreviation *moe* and *va*)

=> However, I think this is only true for Belgium (the Flemish part).

In Italian:

*mamma* and *papà* (or *babbo* in Toscana)


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## Alijsh

Tisia said:


> Mitra is name of deity worshipped by ancient Iranians (goddess of loving kindness) and a Iranian female name as well.


Greek *mitera* is cognate with Old Persian *mâtar* -> New Persian *mâdar* (mother). The Old Persian word for this deity is *Mithra*. Yes, we have had *th* sound. In Middle Persian *th* evolved to *h*: Mithra -> Mihra -> Mihr (as you know mihr -> mehr is the name of 7th month. Mehr means Mithra and also sometimes "sun" in poetry as in Shâhnâme. For Mithraism we say mehrparasti.


Tisia said:


> *Persian:*
> Father: baba *بابا*
> Mother: maman *مامان*


Thanks Tisia. I must add that the original word for *mama* is *nane*. It's still in use but mostly in villages. We have *mâm* in Persian but anyway *mâmân* is a French loanword.


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## halfminded

In estonian:
*emme*=mommy*
issi*=daddy*

*


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## AkErBeLtZ

In Basque:
*aita (usually atta, aitta, aitte)* = dad
*ama *= mum


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## MarX

In Indonesian:

Mother:
*Mama
Mami
Nyokap
Ibu
Bunda*

Father:
*Papa
Papi
Bokap
Bapa
Bapak* (*-k* in this case = glottal stop)
*Babè(h)
Abah
Ayah


-Nyokap* & *Bokap* are Jakarta slang.
-*Ibu *& *Bapak*/*Pak* are also used to address strangers, like _@ senhor(a)_ in Portuguese, or _usted_ in Spanish.
-*Bunda *& *Bapa* are relatively poetic. The Lord's prayer uses *Bapa*.


Salam,


MarX


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## Isidore Demsky

tinkerbell0916 said:


> In Japanese, we say
> "mama" and "papa," pronounced in the same way as English.
> But usually, "mama" and "papa" are used by babies/kids or girls only.
> We use お母さん and お父さん, "okaasan" &"otousan" which is "mother" and
> "father."


But aren't those English loan words you just started using after WWII?


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## Messquito

I think it's borrowed from foreign countries in recent decades, and either 媽 or 爸 is a sound / meaning compound.
These words are created with a radical that indicates its sound and another that indicates the meaning; they are among the latest-created/newest characters in Chinese.
媽(ma1)＝女(meaning: female)+馬(sound:ma3) 
爸(pa4)＝父(meaning: father)+巴(sound: pa1)


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## Isidore Demsky

^I'm told (by Skatinginbc, on the Chinese forum) that





> It is definitely not borrowed from English. It is attested in the chapter "_Kinship Terminology_" 《释亲》 of the ancient dictionary _Guang-ya_ 《廣雅》, which was written in the Three Kingdoms Period 三國時代 (AD 220–280) long *before* the Angles and Saxons had migrated to England and _Beowulf_ had been composed.


What I'm interested in here is how and when this word entered the Japanese vocabulary.

Was it recently borrowed from the English/Americans, or was it borrowed earlier from Chinese or Hindi?


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## Cowrie

Isidore Demsky said:


> But aren't those English loan words you just started using after WWII?


By searching Aozora Bunko (a collection of copyright-free works), I found more than several books that are written in Japanese, include “mama” and “papa”, and were published before WWII.


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## Isidore Demsky

^
Thank you.


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## StrangerInAStrangeLand

Italian:
Father = Padre
Mother = Madre
Mom = Mamma
Dad = Papà
In this last one the "à" is important, It indicates the stress on the last syllable. While Papa, with the stress on the first syllable, means Pope


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## Medune

Portuguese:
Father = Pai
Mother = Mãe

mommy = mamá, mamãe
daddy = papá, papai
Portuguese and Brazilian versions, respectively -  neither is very used in southern Brazil, though.
There are also the far less common:
_Mãezinha
Paizinho_
And the northeastern Brazilian versions:
_Mãinha_ 
_Painho_
When you call for your parent (in Brazil):
_Manhê_...  [mɐ̃.'ɲe:]
_Paiê_... [pa.'je:]


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## catlady60

American English:
Mother = Mom, Mommy (small children), Mama (mostly Southern US)
Father = Dad, Dadddy (small children), Pop, Poppa, Pops.


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## danieleferrari

Morning everyone,

In *R. Jakobson*'s honour, how do you say "*mom*" and "*dad*" (the *informal and colloquial pair*) in your language? Thank you.


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## Dymn

In* Catalan*:

Calling them:
_mama, papa _(the most common option nowadays)
_mare, pare_ ("mother", "father"; considered cold and distant by those who don't use it) 
_mamà, papà _(upper classes, afaik putting the stress on the second syllable was an influence from French in Spain which didn't take much root in Catalonia)

Talking about them inside the family (same with the definite article): _la mama, el papa; la mare, el pare; la mamà, el papa_

Talking about them outside the family:
_[la / la meva / ma] mare, [el / el meu / mon] pare_ (using "_papa_" or "_mama_" would sound very childish)


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## apmoy70

Greek:

*«Mαμά»* [maˈma] (fem. nom. sing.), *«μπαμπάς»* [baˈbas̠] (masc. nom. sing.) are the most common names. In vocative (the grammatical case which is used for a noun that identifies a person being addressed) they're *«μαμά!»* [maˈma] (fem.) and *«μπαμπά!»* [baˈba] (masc.) respectively.
There also the hypocoristics *«μανούλα»* [maˈnula] (fem. nom. sinɡ.) --> _mommy_ (< Byzantine *«μάννα» mánna*, alternative for *«μάμμη» mámmē*) and *«μπαμπακούλης»* [babaˈkulis̠] (masc. nom. sinɡ.) --> _daddy_ respectively.

In Ancient Greek the names were *«μάμμη» mắmmē* (fem. nom. sinɡ.), *«πάππας» pắppăs* (fem. nom. sinɡ.). In vocative they're *«μάμμη!» mắmmē!* and *«πάππα!» pắppă!* respectively. The hypocoristics: *«Μαμμίᾱ» mămmíā* (fem.) --> _mommy_, *«παππίᾱς» păppíās* (masc.) --> _daddy_.


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## Awwal12

Rus. мама ['mamə], папа ['papə]. Another informal variant for "dad" is батя ['batʲə]. Several morphological derivatives (diminutive-affective, respective, familiar etc.) are possible.


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## Circunflejo

As you already posted my language, I'll post a neighbouring language.

Amatxo and aitatxo and  in Basque.


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## Welsh_Sion

*Mam* and *Dad *(but you already knew this!  )

However, you can have diminutives, *Mami, Tada* for example.

Also using the (implied pronoun equivalent of English, 'my') you get, *'Mam, 'Nhad*.

There is evidence that English *'Dad'* derives from Welsh *'Tad'*.


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## Penyafort

In Esperanto, -nj- is the affectionate diminutive suffix for females and -ĉj- for males. 

So: 
- mom is *panjo *['panjo], from _patrino _'mother'
- dad is *paĉjo* [ˈpat͡ʃjo], from _patro _'father'.


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## symposium

Dymn said:


> la mare, el pare


"La mare/el pare" are "the mother/the father" in Venitian, too! "Me mare/me pare" are "my mother/my father". What about Catalan?


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## Circunflejo

symposium said:


> "Me mare/me pare" are "my mother/my father". What about Catalan?


Ma mare, mon pare.


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## apmoy70

apmoy70 said:


> Greek:
> 
> ...
> There also the hypocoristics *«μανούλα»* [maˈnula] (fem. nom. sinɡ.) --> _mommy_ (< Byzantine *«μάννα» mánna*, alternative for *«μάμμη» mámmē*) and *«μπαμπακούλης»* [babaˈkulis̠] (masc. nom. sinɡ.) --> _daddy_ respectively.
> ...


Apologies for quoting myself, but I realised after checking online, that the affectionate «μπαμπακούλης» for _daddy_ is dialectal, I posted it based on my personal experience (but being of Thessalian stock, it's probably a Thessalian dialectal word). The Standard and mainstream is *«μπαμπάκας»* [baˈbakas̠] (masc.) --> _daddy_


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## Włoskipolak 72

Polish

mom = mama
mother = matka

father = ojciec
dad  = tata
daddy = tatuś [ˈtatuɕ]


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## ioanell

apmoy70 said:


> the affectionate «μπαμπακούλης» for _daddy_ is ... probably a Thessalian dialectal word.


Just for information: the diminutive «μπαμπακούλης» for _daddy_ is a common -and not dialectal- Modern Greek term of endearment used by kids, especially when they beg their father for his granting something special to them; it seems to be more affectionate than μπαμπάκας and grammatically is a diminutive derived in turn from another diminutive with the suffix -ούλης (used for producing masculine diminutives), that is as we have πατέρ-ας [father] > πατερ-ούλης, we likewise have μπαμπ-άς > [dim.] μπαμπ-άκας > [dim.] μπαμπακ-ούλης.


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## AndrasBP

In Hungarian:

*anyu */ˈɒɲu/ - Mum
*apu */ˈɒpu/ - Dad


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## AutumnOwl

Earlier thread:
mother, father


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## Mahaodeh

elroy said:


> In standard Arabic, one would say *Ummi* (أمي) and *Abi* (أبي).


Not to be picky, but that’s what translators use in MSA for mother and father, in CA that was how you referred to them in third person.

In CA you refer to them in second person as Mum: يا أُمُّ or يا أُمَّاه
Dad: يا أَبُ or يا أباه or يا أبتاه
That’s how they became: :يَمّا ويابا (PA), يامو ويابو (Syrian) يُوم ويابة (Iraqi), يُمَّة ويُبَة (khaliji) … ets.


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## Uncreative Name

I think the main reason these words are often similar is that they influenced one another.

In Proto-Indo-European, these words were _*méH₂tēr_ /ˈmeχteːr/ > /ˈmateːr/ and _*pH₂tér_ /pəˈter/, which were not related to one another; in most Indo-European descendants, however, these words influence each other, such as in the Latin _Mater_ and _Pater_.  Similar influences may have very likely happened in other languages, too.


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