媽媽
má-ma
The Hokkien word for mom is 媽媽 (má-ma).
The phrase is used to refer to a person's female parent. In casual conversation, you may also drop the repetition and simply say 媽.
Which one should you use?
The standard form is 媽媽. For more informal contexts, you can use 阿母 or 老媽.
How do you pronounce it?
má-ma
Did you know?
- In some Hokkien dialects, especially in Taiwan, the term 阿母 is often used to refer to any elderly woman of a certain age, regardless of whether she is the speaker's biological parent.
- In certain formal Hokkien contexts, a person might refer to their mother as 家母 ('house mother') when speaking to outsiders to show humility and respect.
- Because Hokkien is a tonal language, changing the pitch of 媽 can completely change the meaning of the word, potentially turning 'mom' into a word for 'hemp' or 'scold'.
Example conversation
Guoqiang and Meiling are talking about their families.
- 國強 Kok-kiang美玲，妳媽媽在哪裡？Bí-lêng, lí mā-má tī tó-lo̍h?Meiling, where is your mom?
- 美玲 Mei-ling我媽媽在逛街。guá mā-má tī kuàng-ke.My mom is shopping.
- 國強 Kok-kiang我媽媽也在逛街。guá mā-má iā tī kuàng-ke.My mom is shopping too.
- 美玲 Mei-ling那我們一起去找她們。na-lí gún it-kí khì chē in.Then let's go look for them together.
