linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

, mama and papa are considered a special case of

false cognate False cognates are pairs of words that seem to be cognates because of similar sounds and meaning, but have different etymologies; they can be within the same language or from different languages, even within the same family. For example, the Engl ...

s. In many

language Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of met ...

s of the world, sequences of sounds similar to and mean "

mother ] A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case of ges ...

" and "

father A father is the male parent of a child. Besides the paternal bonds of a father to his children, the father may have a parental, legal, and social relationship with the child that carries with it certain rights and obligations. An adoptive fathe ...

", usually but not always in that order. This is thought to be a coincidence resulting from the process of early

language acquisition Language acquisition is the process by which humans acquire the capacity to perceive and comprehend language (in other words, gain the ability to be aware of language and to understand it), as well as to produce and use words and sentences to ...

. Jakobson, R. (1962
"Why 'mama' and 'papa'?"
In Jakobson, R. ''Selected Writings, Vol. I: Phonological Studies'', pp. 538–545. The Hague: Mouton. Nichols, J. (1999
"Why 'me' and 'thee'?"
''Historical Linguistics 1999: Selected Papers from the 14th International Conference on Historical Linguistics'', Vancouver, 9–13 August 1999, ed. Laurel J. Brinton, John Benjamins Publishing, 2001, pages 253-276.Bancel, P.J. and A.M. de l'Etang. (2008
"The Age of Mama and Papa"
Bengtson J. D. In ''Hot Pursuit of Language in Prehistory: Essays in the four fields of anthropology.'' (John Benjamins Publishing, Dec 3, 2008), pages 417-438.Bancel, P.J. and A.M. de l'Etang. (2013
"Brave new words"
In ''New Perspectives on the Origins of Language'', ed. C. Lefebvre, B. Comrie, H. Cohen (John Benjamins Publishing, Nov 15, 2013), pages 333-377.

Etymology

'Mama' and 'papa' use speech sounds that are among the easiest to produce:

bilabial consonant In phonetics, a bilabial consonant is a labial consonant articulated with both lips. Frequency Bilabial consonants are very common across languages. Only around 0.7% of the world's languages lack bilabial consonants altogether, including Tlingi ...

s like , , and , and the

open vowel An open vowel is a vowel sound in which the tongue is positioned as far as possible from the roof of the mouth. Open vowels are sometimes also called low vowels (in U.S. terminology ) in reference to the low position of the tongue. In the cont ...

. They are, therefore, often among the first word-like sounds made by

babbling Babbling is a stage in child development and a state in language acquisition during which an infant appears to be experimenting with uttering articulate sounds, but does not yet produce any recognizable words. Babbling begins shortly after birth ...

babies (babble words), and parents tend to associate the first sound babies make with themselves and to employ them subsequently as part of their baby-talk lexicon. Thus, there is no need to ascribe to common ancestry the similarities of !Kung ''ba'',

Aramaic The Aramaic languages, short Aramaic ( syc, ܐܪܡܝܐ, Arāmāyā; oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; tmr, אֲרָמִית), are a language family containing many varieties (languages and dialects) that originated in ...

''abba'',

Mandarin Chinese Mandarin (; ) is a group of Chinese (Sinitic) dialects that are natively spoken across most of northern and southwestern China. The group includes the Beijing dialect, the basis of the phonology of Standard Chinese, the official language of ...

, and

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

''baba'' (all "father"); or

Navajo The Navajo (; British English: Navaho; nv, Diné or ') are a Native American people of the Southwestern United States. With more than 399,494 enrolled tribal members , the Navajo Nation is the largest federally recognized tribe in the United ...

''amá'',

, Swahili ''mama'',

Quechua Quechua may refer to: *Quechua people, several indigenous ethnic groups in South America, especially in Peru *Quechuan languages, a Native South American language family spoken primarily in the Andes, derived from a common ancestral language **So ...

''mama'', and

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

''mama'' (all "mother"). For the same reason, some scientists believe that 'mama' and 'papa' were among the first words that humans spoke. Linguist

Roman Jakobson Roman Osipovich Jakobson (russian: Рома́н О́сипович Якобсо́н; October 11, 1896Kucera, Henry. 1983. "Roman Jakobson." ''Language: Journal of the Linguistic Society of America'' 59(4): 871–883. – July 18,

Variants

Variants using other sounds do occur: for example, in Fijian, the word for "mother" is ''nana'', in Turkish, the word for mother is ''ana'', and in

Old Japanese is the oldest attested stage of the Japanese language, recorded in documents from the Nara period (8th century). It became Early Middle Japanese in the succeeding Heian period, but the precise delimitation of the stages is controversial. Old Jap ...

, the word for "mother" was ''papa''. The modern Japanese word for "father", ''chichi'', is from older ''titi'' (but ''papa'' is more common colloquially in modern Japanese). Very few languages lack labial consonants (this mostly being attested on a family basis, in the

Iroquoian The Iroquoian languages are a language family of indigenous peoples of North America. They are known for their general lack of labial consonants. The Iroquoian languages are polysynthetic and head-marking. As of 2020, all surviving Iroquoian ...

and some of the

Athabaskan languages Athabaskan (also spelled ''Athabascan'', ''Athapaskan'' or ''Athapascan'', and also known as Dene) is a large family of indigenous languages of North America, located in western North America in three areal language groups: Northern, Pacific C ...

), and only

Arapaho The Arapaho (; french: Arapahos, ) are a Native American people historically living on the plains of Colorado and Wyoming. They were close allies of the Cheyenne tribe and loosely aligned with the Lakota and Dakota. By the 1850s, Arapaho ba ...

is known to lack an open vowel /a/. The Tagalog ''-na-'' / ''-ta-'' ("mom" / "dad" words) parallel the more common ''ma'' / ''pa'' in nasality / orality of the consonants and identity of

place of articulation In articulatory phonetics, the place of articulation (also point of articulation) of a consonant is a location along the vocal tract where its production occurs. It is a point where a constriction is made between an active and a passive articula ...

Examples by language family

"Mama" and "papa" in different languages:

Afro-Asiatic languages

: ''Imma'' for mother and ''Abba'' for father *

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

: ''Ima'' for mother and ''Aba'' for father *

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

: ("Um") for mother and ("Ab") for father (formal). When actually talking to them, they are called ''Mama'' for Mother and ''Baba'' for Father * Berber: ''Yemma/Ma'' for mother and ''Aba/Baba'' for father

Austroasiatic languages

* Khmer has different words that indicate different levels of respect. They include the intimate ម៉ាក់ (''mak''/''meak)'' and ប៉ា (''pa)'', the general ម៉ែ (''mai''/''me)'' and ពុក (''puk)'', and the formal ម្ដាយ (''madaay)'' and ឪពុក (''ovpuk)''. *

Vietnamese Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia ** A citizen of Vietnam. See Demographics of Vietnam. * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overse ...

, ''mẹ'' is mother and ''bố'' is father. ''Má'' and ''ba'' or ''cha'' respectively in Southern Vietnamese.

Austronesian languages

* Tagalog, mothers can be called ''ina'', and fathers ''ama''. Two other words for the same in common use, ''nanay'' and ''tatay'', came from

Nahuatl Nahuatl (; ), Aztec, or Mexicano is a language or, by some definitions, a group of languages of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Varieties of Nahuatl are spoken by about Nahua peoples, most of whom live mainly in Central Mexico and have smaller ...

by way of Spanish. Owing to contact with Spanish and English, ''mamá'', ''papá'', ''ma(m(i))'', and ''dad'' or ''dádi'' are also used. *In

Indonesian Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to: * Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia ** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago ** Indonesian ...

, mother is called ''Emak'' (''mak'') or ''Ibu'' (''buk''), father is called ''Bapak'' or ''Ayah''. The modern Indonesian word for father is ''papi'' and mother is ''mami.'' The words ''mami'' and ''papi'' have been used since the days of the Dutch Indies Colonial, causing the mixing of the words "Papa & Mama", Europe to "Papi & Mami", Indonesia. *In

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

, Papa is the name of the

Earth goddess An Earth goddess is a deification of the Earth. Earth goddesses are often associated with the "chthonic" deities of the underworld. Ki and Ninhursag are Mesopotamian earth goddesses. In Greek mythology, the Earth is personified as Gaia, corres ...

in the creation myth, and as such is sometimes used to refer to the embodiment of motherhood. The sky father in the same myth is called Rangi.

Dravidian languages

* Though ''amma'' and ''nana'' are used in Tulu, they are not really Tulu words but used due to the influence of neighboring states' languages. The actual words for ''mother'' in Tulu is ''nane'' () and the word for ''father'' in Tulu is ''amme'' (). Note that the usage of these words is at odds with the usage pattern in other languages (similar to

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

in that sense). * In

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

, "''Thalli''" and "''Thandri''" are used for mother and father in formal Telugu. ''amma'' and ''nana or bapu'' are used for mother and father for the informal way. Notice how ''nana'' refers to ''maternal grandfather'' in Hindi, and how that differs from its Telugu meaning. "''Nayana''" is also used for father in informal Telugu in the Rayalaseema region of

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

and

Telangana Telangana (; , ) is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated on the south-central stretch of the Indian subcontinent, Indian peninsula on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India b ...

of India. Note that the usage of these words is at odds with the usage pattern in other languages (similar to Tulu and

in that sense). * In

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...

, the common word for mother is "''Amma''" and for father is "''Achan''". In scholastic usage, ''Mathav'' and ''Pithav'' are used respectively. "''Achan''" is either a transformed Malayalam equivalent of the Sanskrit "''Arya''" for "Sir/Master" (''Arya'' - >''Ajja'' -> ''Acha'') or originated from a native Dravidian word that means paternal grandfather (cf.Ajja in Kannada and Ajje in Tulu meaning grandfather and Achan is an uncommon word for father in Tamil). Other words like "''Appan''","''Appachan''","''Chaachan''" (all 3 forms common among Christians, Appan is also used by Hindus of Tamil influenced areas),"''Baappa/Vaappa''" ,"''Uppa''"(both common among Muslims) etc. are also used for father, and words such as "''Umma''"(among Muslims), "''Ammachi''"(among Christians) for mother. Christians use Achan to mean Church Father."''Thalla''" which means mother and "''Thantha''" which means father are currently never used formally and are considered derogatory/disrespectful. "''Thaayi''" is another old and extremely uncommon word for mother. * In

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

, "''thaayi''" and "''thanthai''" are the formal Tamil words for mother and father; informally "''amma''" or "''naina''" for mother and "''appa''" for father are much more common. *In the

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

language, "''thaayi''" for mother and "''thande''" for father are used formally. But to address them informally Kannadigas use ''amma'' for mother and ''appa'' for father.

Uralic languages

* Estonian ''ema'' for mother and ''isa'' for father. * Hungarian ''apa'' means "father" and ''anya'' means mother, which tends to use open vowels such as and . For formal usage, these words are applied, but both ''mama'' and ''papa'' are used as well, in informal speech. For family internal addressing, ''apu'' and ''anyu'' (variants of "apa" and "anya," respectively) are also used. *

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

''emä'' means mother, though it is archaic when applied to humans. The modern word is "äiti".

Indo-European languages

In the

Proto-Indo-European language Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family. Its proposed features have been derived by linguistic reconstruction from documented Indo-European languages. No direct record of Proto-Indo-E ...

, ''*mā́tēr'' (modern reconstruction: ''*méh₂tēr'') meant "mother" while ''*pǝtḗr'' (modern reconstruction: ''*ph₂tḗr'') and ''átta'' meant "father".

Romance

Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...

''mamà'' / ''mama'' and ''papà'' / ''papa'' * French ''maman'' / ''papa'' (mother / father) and ''mamie'' / ''papy'' (grandmother / grandfather) * Galician ''nai'', ''mai'' / ''pai'' *

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

''mamma'' and ''papà'' or ''babbo'' * Lombard ''mader'' *

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

''mãe'' / ''pai'' (mother / father); Portugal: ''mamã'' / ''papá''; Brazil: ''mamãe'' / ''papai'' *

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language *** Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language ** Romanian cuisine, tradition ...

''mama'' / ''mamă'' (mother) and ''tata'' / ''tată'' (father) * Sardinian ''mama'' and ''babbu'' * Spanish ''mamá'' and ''papá''

Balto-Slavic

* Belarusian мама (''mama'') for mom and тата (''tata'') for dad. *

Bulgarian Bulgarian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Bulgaria * Bulgarians, a South Slavic ethnic group * Bulgarian language, a Slavic language * Bulgarian alphabet * A citizen of Bulgaria, see Demographics of Bulgaria * Bul ...

мама (''mama'') for mom and татко (''tatko'') for dad; майка (''maika'') for mother and баща (''bashta'') for father; баба (''baba'') for grandmother and дядо (''dyado'') for grandfather. For aunt and uncle: стринка (''strinka'') for father's brother's wife and чичо (''chicho'') for father's brother / вуйна (''vuyna'') for mother's brother's wife and вуйчо (''vuycho'') for mother's brother
More words for relatives in Bulgarian
*

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...

''máma'' and ''táta'' * Lithuanian ''mama'' *

Rusyn Rusyn may refer to: * Rusyns, Rusyn people, an East Slavic people ** Pannonian Rusyns, Pannonian Rusyn people, a branch of Rusyn people ** Lemkos, a branch of Rusyn (or Ukrainian) people ** Boykos, a branch of Rusyn (or Ukrainian) people * Rusyn l ...

мама (''mama'') for mom and татo (''tato'') for dad. *

''mama'' and ''tata'' *

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

мама (''mama''). In Russian ''papa'', ''deda'' and ''baba'' mean "father", "grandfather" and "grandmother" respectively, though the last two can represent baby-talk (''baba'' is also a slang word for "woman", and a folk word for a married woman with a child born). In popular speech ''tata'' and ''tyatya'' for "dad" were also used until the 20th century. In some dialects, ''papa'' means "food". *

Serbo-Croatian Serbo-Croatian () – also called Serbo-Croat (), Serbo-Croat-Bosnian (SCB), Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian (BCS), and Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian (BCMS) – is a South Slavic language and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and ...

мама/''mama'' for mom, and тата/''tata'' for dad. * Slovak ''mama'' / ''tata'', also ''tato'' * Slovene ''mama'' / ''ata'', also ''tata'' *

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

мама (''mamа'') and тато (''tato'') (папа (''papa'') in South-eastern dialects).

Germanic

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

''mama'' / ''mam'' / ''ma'' and ''papa'' / ''pap'' / ''pa'' * English ''mama'' / ''mum/mummy'' (standard British) / ''mom/mommy'' (US/Canada/sometimes regional Irish) / ''momma'' / ''mam'' (regional British and regional Irish) / ''ma'' and ''dad'' / ''dada'' / ''daddy'' / ''papa'' / ''pa'' / ''da'' * Faroese ''mamma'' *

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

''Mama'' and ''Papa'' * Icelandic ''mamma''; ''pabbi'' *

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

''mamma'' and ''pappa'' *

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

''mamma'' and ''pappa'' * Swiss German ''mami'', but ''mame'' in the dialect from Graubünden and ''mamma'' in certain dialects from the

Canton of Bern The canton of Bern or Berne (german: Kanton Bern; rm, Chantun Berna; french: canton de Berne; it, Canton Berna) is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. Its capital city, Bern, is also the ''de facto'' capital of Switzerland. ...

Celtic

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

"Máthair" () *

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well as ...

màthair () / athair () *

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

''mam'' ''tad'' (mutates to ''dad'') *

Breton Breton most often refers to: *anything associated with Brittany, and generally ** Breton people ** Breton language, a Southwestern Brittonic Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken in Brittany ** Breton (horse), a breed **Ga ...

''mamm'' (mutates to ''vamm'') and ''tad'' (mutates to ''dad'' or ''zad'')

Indo-Aryan

Old Indo-Aryan The Indo-Aryan languages (or sometimes Indic languages) are a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages in the Indo-European language family. As of the early 21st century, they have more than 800 million speakers, primarily concentrated in India, Pa ...

(Sanskrit): ''Mātṛ'' / ''Ambā'' for "mother" and ''Pitṛ / Tātaḥ'' for "father". * Assamese has ''ma'' ("মা") and ''aai'' ("আই") as "mother" and ''deuta'' ("দেউতা") and ''pitai'' ("পিতাই") as "father". However, due to English borrowings, the words ''mamma'' and ''pappa'' are sometimes used today. *

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

, the words ''maa'' ("মা") and ''baba'' ("বাবা") are used for "mother" and "father". *

Gujarati Gujarati may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India * Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat * Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them * Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub ...

uses ''mātā'', or ''mā'', for mother and ''bāpuji'', or ''pitā'', for father. Informally, the terms ''mammi'' and ''pappā'' are also used, possibly due to English influence. *

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

has the word ''mātā'' and ''pitaji'' as the formal words for "mother" and "father", though the shorter informal term ''maa'' and ''pita'' is more common. Due to English borrowings, the words ''mamma'' and ''pappa'' are also common. *

Konkani language Konkani () is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Konkani people, primarily in the Konkan region, along the western coast of India. It is one of the 22 scheduled languages mentioned in the Indian Constitution, and the official language of ...

, the word "''aai''" for "mother" and "''baba''" "father" are used, given the language's close similarity to

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people *Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece See also * * ...

. However, due to English borrowings, the words ''mamma'' and ''pappa'' are much more common today. *

Maithili language Maithili () is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in parts of Languages of India, India and Languages of Nepal, Nepal. It is native to the Mithila region, which encompasses parts of the Indian states of Bihar and Jharkhand as well as Nepal's easte ...

has the word ''Mami'' and ''Papa'' to refer mother and father respectively, which were borrowed from English and are very popular in

Mithila Mithila may refer to: Places * Mithilā, a synonym for the ancient Videha state ** Mithilā (ancient city), the ancient capital city of Videha * Mithila (region), a cultural region (historical and contemporary), now divided between India and Nepal ...

federal state of

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...

and

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Be ...

state of India. *

Aai (“आई”) for mother and Baba (“बाबा”) for father. In some parts of

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

Amma ("अम्मा") for mother and Appa ("अप्पा") or Tatya ("तात्या") for father is also used. However, due to English borrowings, the words ''mummy'' and ''pappa'' are much more common today in urban areas. *

Nepali language Nepali (; , ) is an Indo-Aryan language native to the Himalayas region of South Asia. It is the official, and most widely spoken, language of Nepal, where it also serves as a '' lingua franca''. Nepali has official status in the Indian st ...

has the words "ama" or "ma" to refer to mother and "baba" or "ba" for father. * Odia uses ''bapa (ବାପା)'' for father and maa(ମା), bou (ବୋଉ) for mother. However, due to English borrowings, the words ''mamma/mommy'' and ''pappa'' are much more common today. *

Sinhalese Sinhala may refer to: * Something of or related to the Sinhalese people of Sri Lanka * Sinhalese people * Sinhala language, one of the three official languages used in Sri Lanka * Sinhala script, a writing system for the Sinhala language ** Sinha ...

, the word for mother originally was "''abbe''" ("''abbiyande''") and father was "''appa ''" ("''appanande''"). Use of "''amma''" for mother and "''nana''" for father is due to heavy influence of

. In some areas of Sri Lanka, particularly in the Central Province, Sinhalese use the word "''nanachhi''" for father. *

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

Albanian nena/nëna / mama * (Modern) Greek μάνα, μαμά (''mana'', ''mama'') and μπαμπάς (''babas'') * Hittite 𒀭𒈾𒀸 (''annaš'', "mother") and 𒀜𒋫𒀸 (''attaš'', "father") *

Pashto Pashto (,; , ) is an Eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family. It is known in historical Persian literature as Afghani (). Spoken as a native language mostly by ethnic Pashtuns, it is one of the two official languages ...

''moor'' مور is the word for Mother. ''Plaar'' پلار is the word for Father and ''baba'' بابا is used for father as well. *

''madar'' مادر is the formal word for mother, whereas مامان or ''maman'' is the informal word for mother. ''Pedar'' پدر is the formal word for father whereas ''baba'' or بابا is the informal word for father. *

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish languages *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern Kurdistan **Eastern Kurdistan **Northern Kurdistan **Western Kurdistan See also * Kurd (dis ...

''dayê'' and ''yadê'' or ''dê'' is the word for mother. * Lurish dā دا and dāleka دالکه is the word for mother, and is bowa or bawa is the word for father.

Kartvelian languages

is notable for having its similar words "backwards" compared to other languages: "father" in

is მამა (''mama''), while "mother" is pronounced as დედა (''deda''). პაპა ''papa'' stands for "grandfather".

Mayan languages

* Ch'ol: ''ña'' *

Tzotzil The Tzotzil are an indigenous Maya people of the central Chiapas highlands in southern Mexico. As cited by Alfredo López Austin (1997), p. 133, 148 and following. As of 2000, they numbered about 298,000. The municipalities with the largest Tzo ...

: ''me * Tzeltal: ''me''

Niger-Congo languages

Igbo Igbo may refer to: * Igbo people, an ethnic group of Nigeria * Igbo language, their language * anything related to Igboland, a cultural region in Nigeria See also * Ibo (disambiguation) * Igbo mythology * Igbo music * Igbo art * * Igbo-Ukwu, a ...

: ''Mama'' / ''Nne'' / ''Nma'' * Swahili: ''Mama'' and ''Baba'' *

Yoruba The Yoruba people (, , ) are a West African ethnic group that mainly inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The areas of these countries primarily inhabited by Yoruba are often collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitute ...

: ''Màmá'' / ''Ìyá'' and Bàbá * Zulu: ''Mama'' and ''Baba''

Sino-Tibetan languages

Bodo Bodo may refer to: Ethnicity * Boro people, an ethno-linguistic group mainly from Northwest Assam, India * Bodo-Kachari people, an umbrella group from Nepal, India and Bangladesh that includes the Bodo people Culture and language * Boro cu ...

, बिमा (''bi-ma'') and बिफा (''bi-fa'') are the words for "mother" and "father" respectively. However, parents are usually referred to by their children as आइ/आइयै (''aai/aywi'') or मा (''ma'') and आफा (''afa'') or बाबा (''baba'') — "Mom" and "Dad." * Burmese, (''mi khin'') and (''pha khin'') are the words for "mother" and "father" respectively. However, parents are usually referred to by their children as (''may may'') and (''phay phay'') — "Mom" and "Dad." *

Cantonese Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding are ...

, (''móuchàn'') and (''fuchàn'') are the formal words for "mother" and "father" respectively. (''màmà'') or (''a mā'') and (''bàbā'') or (''a bà'') are used informally for "Mom" and "Dad" respectively. *

, () and () are for "mother" and "father" respectively. Note that the ''f'' sound was pronounced bilabially (as with p or b) in older and some other forms of Chinese, thus ''fu'' is related to the common "father" word ''pa''. In addition, parents are usually referred to by their children as (') and () — "Mom" and "Dad". And sometimes in informal language, they use ''mā'' and ''bà'' for short. *

Taiwanese Hokkien Taiwanese Hokkien () (; Tâi-lô: ''Tâi-uân-uē''), also known as Taigi/Taigu (; Pe̍h-ōe-jī/Tâi-lô: ''Tâi-gí / Tâi-gú''), Taiwanese, Taiwanese Minnan, Hoklo and Holo, is a variety of the Hokkien language spoken natively by about 70% ...

, () and () refer to "mother" and "father" respectively. Note that some of the ''b'' sounds in modern Taiwanese was pronounced as ''m'' in older Chinese languages, hence is related to the common "mother" word ''m''. Additionally, parents are also referred as () / () and (''pâ'') / (''a-pah''), equivalents to "Mom" and "Dad", respectively. *

Tibetan Tibetan may mean: * of, from, or related to Tibet * Tibetan people, an ethnic group * Tibetan language: ** Classical Tibetan, the classical language used also as a contemporary written standard ** Standard Tibetan, the most widely used spoken dial ...

uses ''amma'' for mother and ''nana'' for father.

Kra–Dai languages

Thai Thai or THAI may refer to: * Of or from Thailand, a country in Southeast Asia ** Thai people, the dominant ethnic group of Thailand ** Thai language, a Tai-Kadai language spoken mainly in and around Thailand *** Thai script *** Thai (Unicode block ...

, "mother" is แม่ (''mê'' ) and "father" is ''พ่อ'' (phô ). ''มะ๊'' (Má ) and ''บะ'' (ba ) or ''ฉะ'' (cha ) respectively in Southern Thai. Colloquially, mamà and papà are also used. * Lao, "mother" is ແມ່ (''maê'') and "father" is ພໍ່ (''phô'').

Turkic languages

* In Turkish, both ''anne'' and ''ana'' mean mother, and ''baba'' and ''ata'' means father. Also, ''nene'' can be used for grandma and ''dede'' for grandpa. * Uyghur, an

East Asia East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea and ...

n Turkic language, uses ''ana'' or ''apa'' for mother, and ''ata'' or dada for father.

Other families and language isolates

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

: ''ama'' for mother and ''aita'' for father. *

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

, 父 (''chichi'') and 母 (''haha'') are for "father" and "mother" respectively in formal style. They are the basic words which do not combine with

honorific An honorific is a title that conveys esteem, courtesy, or respect for position or rank when used in addressing or referring to a person. Sometimes, the term "honorific" is used in a more specific sense to refer to an honorary academic title. It ...

s ''*papa'' (modern Japanese derives from the

Voiceless bilabial fricative The voiceless bilabial fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is . Features Features of the voiceless bilabial fricative: Occ ...

) which in turn is from the older * p.) Japanese has also borrowed informal ''mama'' and ''papa'' along with the native terms, stemming from American influence post-

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Before the borrowing became common, a child usually called its mother おかあさん (‘’okāsan’’), かあちゃん (‘’kāchan’’), or so, and it’s father おとうさん (‘‘otōsan’’), とうちゃん (‘’tōchan’’), etc.. On the other hand, マンマ(‘’mamma’’) means “food” in baby talk. *

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

, 엄마 (eom-ma) and 아빠 (a-bba) are mom and dad in informal language, whereas the formal words are 아버지 (a-beo-ji) and 어머니 (eo-meo-ni) for father and mother. Korean is usually considered a language isolate with no living relatives, but some authorities differ. *

Kutenai The Kutenai ( ), also known as the Ktunaxa ( ; ), Ksanka ( ), Kootenay (in Canada) and Kootenai (in the United States), are an indigenous people of Canada and the United States. Kutenai bands live in southeastern British Columbia, northern ...

, a

language isolate Language isolates are languages that cannot be classified into larger language families. Korean and Basque are two of the most common examples. Other language isolates include Ainu in Asia, Sandawe in Africa, and Haida in North America. The num ...

of southeastern

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, uses the word ''Ma.'' * Sumerian: 𒀀𒈠 / ''ama'' * Mapudungun: ''Chachay'' and ''papay'' are respectively "daddy" and "mommy",1916. Fray Félix José de Augusta. ''Diccionario Araucano-Español y Español-Araucano''. Santiago: Imprenta Universitaria ''Chaw'' and ''Ñuke'' being "father" and "mother", respectively. ''Chachay'' and ''papay'' are also terms of respect or sympathy towards other members of the community.

References

{{reflist Phonology Language acquisition Language comparison Kinship terminology Parenting