baba
The Afrikaans word for baby is baba.
baba is used to refer to a very young human being. In informal contexts, one might use poppie specifically when referring to a baby girl.
Meaning: very young human being (noun)
How does it change in a sentence?
To indicate possession for baba, add 's to the end of the word, resulting in baba's.
Did you know?
- In some Afrikaans dialects, calling someone a baba can be used sarcastically to imply they are being acting childish or overly sensitive, rather than actually being a young child.
- The diminutive form babietjie is often used by adults to describe anything small and precious, such as a tiny piece of jewelry or a small kitten, not just a human baby.
- The word baba is a cognate of the multilingual 'baby' sounds used in many languages worldwide, rooted in the early babbling stages of human speech development.
Examples in context
- Die baba het vir my geglimlag.The baby smiled at me.Tatoeba #1857685 by wwkudu, translation #272361 by CK
- Die ma kan haar baba hoor huil.The mother can hear her baby cry.Tatoeba #13006240 by Tom9358, translation #4755717 by DostKaplan
- Ek hou baie van my baba.I love my baby very much.
- Ek is so lief vir my poppie.I adore my little girl.
- Ek hou baie van my broetjie.I love my little brother very much.
- Hallo, ek is Tannie Susan. Hoe gaan dit, my baba?Hello, I am Aunt Susan. How are you, my baby?
- Die baba slaap in die wieg.The baby is sleeping in the crib.
Example conversation
Stefan and Anika are looking at a photograph.
- StefanWie is hierdie oulike baba?Who is this cute baby?
- AnikaDit is my nefie, Stefan.That is my nephew, Stefan.
- StefanHy is 'n baie mooi baba.He is a very beautiful baby.
- AnikaDankie, hy is baie spesiaal.Thank you, he is very special.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “baby” translations and entries baba, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
