# ماما
## Arabic
### Etymology

From baby talk.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /maː.maː/

### Noun

مَامَا • (māmā) f
* (childish, familiar) mum, mummy, mama
    تُحَضِّرُ مَامَا أَفْضَلَ كَعْكَةٍ بِٱلشُّوكُولَاتَةِ.tuḥaḍḍiru māmā ʔafḍala kaʕkatin bi-š-šukulātati.Mom prepares the best chocolate cake.

#### See also

* أُمّ (ʔumm)
* وَالِدَة (wālida)

## Baluchi
### Etymology

Borrowed from Urdu مَامَا (māmā), ultimately Derived from Proto-Dravidian *māma.

### Noun

ماما • (mámá)
* maternal uncle (some dialects)

### See also

* ناکو (náko)
* کاکہ (káka)

## Brahui
### Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Dravidian *māma.

### Noun

مَامَا (māmā)
* maternal uncle

## Hijazi Arabic
### Etymology

From baby talk.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈmaː.ma/, [ˈmɑː.mɑ]

### Noun

ماما • (māma) f
* mum, mom
    Synonyms: أم (umm), والدة (wālda)

## Pashto
### Etymology

Borrowed from Urdu مَامَا (māmā), ultimately Derived from Proto-Dravidian *māma.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /mɑˈmɑ/

### Noun

ماما • (mâmâ) m
* maternal uncle

#### Declension
## Persian
### Etymology 1

Akin to Pashto, Baluchi, and Urdu ماما (māmā), as well as Sanskrit and Hindi मामा (māmā). All with the same meaning. Ultimately derived from Proto-Dravidian *māma.

#### Pronunciation

* (Dari, formal) IPA: [mɑː.mɑ́ː(j)]

#### Noun

ماما • (māmā) (plural ماما‌ها (māmā-hā)) (Dari)
* (chiefly Dari) maternal uncle
    Synonym: دایی (dâyi)
    Coordinate terms: عمو ('amu), کاکا (kâkâ), کاکو (kâko), (archaic) افدر (afdar)

##### Inflection

$^△$ Colloquial Dari.
$^△$ Colloquial.

#### See also

* When referring to older family members, both بزرگ (buzurg) and کلان (kalān) are correct, but the latter is more common in Afghanistan.
* In many dialects, cases of word final ـا (-ā) may be shortened to ـه (-a).
* In many dialects, all family names ending in ـه (-a) may have an epenthetic ـی (-y) added, e.g. عمه (amma) -> عمی (ammay) (unrelated to ezafe).

### Etymology 2
#### Noun

ماما • (mâmâ)
* (Iran) midwife

## South Levantine Arabic
### Alternative forms

* یامّا (yāmma)

### Etymology

From baby talk.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /mˤaː.mˤa/, [ˈmɑˤː.mˤɑ]
* Audio (Ramallah):(file)

### Noun

ماما • (ṃāṃa) f
* (childish) mom, mum, mama
* an affectionate form of address used by a mother to her child

#### See also

* إم (umm, “mother”)
* بابا (ḅāḅa, “dad”)

## Urdu
### Pronunciation

* (Standard Urdu) IPA: /mɑː.mɑː/
* Rhymes: -ɑː
* Hyphenation: ما‧ما

### Etymology 1

Inherited from Sanskrit माम (māma), from Proto-Dravidian *māma.

#### Alternative forms

* مامُوں (māmū̃), مامُو (māmū)

#### Noun

ماما • (māmā) m (feminine مامی (māmī) or مُمانی (mumānī), Hindi spelling मामा)
* (mildly vulgar, colloquial, Hindu speech) maternal uncle

##### Usage notes

ماما (māmā) is considered colloquial, perhaps even impolite. It is often used by Urdu-speaking Hindus, although the term might be associated with Hindi due to it being highly colloquial. مامُوں (māmū̃) is more commonly used in Urdu.

##### References

* “ماما”, in اُردُو لُغَت (urdū luġat) (in Urdu), Ministry of Education: Government of Pakistan, 2017.
* Turner, Ralph Lilley (1969–1985) “māma”, in A Comparative Dictionary of the Indo-Aryan Languages, London: Oxford University Press, page 578

### Etymology 2

From ماں (mā̃), from Sauraseni Prakrit 𑀫𑀸𑀤𑀸 (mādā), from Sanskrit मातृ (mātṛ, “mother”), from Proto-Indo-Iranian *máHtā, from Proto-Indo-European *méh₂tēr.

#### Alternative forms

* مَمّا (mammā), مَمّاں (mammā̃)

#### Noun

ماما • (māmā) f (Hindi spelling मामा)
* (endearing) mum
    Synonyms: ماں (mā̃), اَمّاں (ammā̃), اَمّی (ammī)
* (childish) mummy
* a household female servant

##### Declension
### Further reading

* “ماما”, in اُردُو لُغَت (urdū luġat) (in Urdu), Ministry of Education: Government of Pakistan, 2017.
* “ماما”, in ریخْتَہ لُغَت (rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary [Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English], Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2025.
* Fallon, Platts, Qureshi, Shakespear (2024) “ماما”, in Digital Dictionaries of South Asia [Combined Urdu Dictionaries]

## Ushojo
### Etymology

Borrowed from Pashto ماما (māmā), ultimately Derived from Proto-Dravidian *māma.

### Noun

ماما (māmā)
* maternal uncle