Motherhood - Synonyms and Translations

Synonyms and Translations

The proverbial "first word" of an infant often sounds like "ma" or "mama". This strong association of that sound with "mother" has persisted in nearly every language on earth, countering the natural localization of language.

Familiar or colloquial terms for mother in English are:

• Mom and mommy are used in the United States, Canada, South Africa, Philippines, and India.
• Mum and mummy are used in the United Kingdom, Canada, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, India, Pakistan, Hong Kong and Ireland. Charles, Prince of Wales publicly addressed his mother Queen Elizabeth II as "Mummy" on the occasion of her Diamond Jubilee.
• Ma, mam, and mammy are used in Netherlands, Ireland, the Northern areas of the United Kingdom, and Wales; it is also used in some areas of the United States.

In many other languages, similar pronunciations apply:

• Maa, aai, amma, and mata are used in India
• Mamá, mama, ma, and mami in Spanish
• Mama in Polish, German, Russian and Slovak
• Māma (妈妈/媽媽) in Chinese
• Máma in Czech and in Ukrainian
• Maman in French and Persian
• Ma, mama in Indonesian
• Mamma in Italian, Icelandic, Latvian and Swedish
• Mamãe or mãe in Portuguese
• Mā̃ (ਮਾਂ) in Punjabi
• Mama in Swahili
• Em (אם) in Hebrew
• Ima (אמא) in Aramaic
• Má or mẹ in Vietnamese
• Mam in Welsh
• Eomma (엄마, ) in Korean
• In many south Asian cultures and the Middle East, the mother is known as amma, oma, ammi or "ummi", or variations thereof. Many times, these terms denote affection or a maternal role in a child's life.