ཨ་མ
a ma/*ʔa.ma/
The Tibetan word for "mom" is ཨ་མ (a ma).
ཨ་མ is an informal word for a female parent.
How does it change in a sentence?
In its base state, ཨ་མ is used as a noun and does not change its form for plural or possessive functions.
How do you pronounce it?
The pronunciation is /ʔa.ma/. It has 2 syllables.
Did you know?
- In Tibetan Buddhist contexts, the concept of 'Mother' is often used metaphorically to describe the nature of reality or the source of wisdom.
- While ཨ་མ means 'mother', the word for a steamed dumpling in Tibetan and Nepali is also 'momo', which is often jokingly associated with the word for 'mother' because of their phonetic similarity.
- Tibetan has specific honorific terms for 'mother' used when speaking about the mothers of high-ranking lamas or nobility, making ཨ་མ too casual for those contexts.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry ཨ་མ, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
