"Mama" is the same in English and Spanish
mama is the same in engish and spanish
7 Answers
And in many other languages, too.
Q included the accent mark in his version, which distinguishes the noun from the verb but it doesn't change your original assertion (since it can be pronounced the same way in English - no mark required).
Don't we have about three ways to pronounce it? The baby's first effort at ma ma, the kids má ma, the loftier ma má. We speak it that way, we just don't write it that way.
But in some languages, the accent mark coaches you on the pronunciation, which can be terribly critical if you are using Mandarin. You don't want to call someone's mother a horse simply for lack on intonation.
Well, there is an English word that is spelled pretty much the same (in Spanish it's mamá with an accent on the 'A') and English it's 'mama'. So the accent is on the first syllable English and the second syllable in Spanish, but there is one more difference. The Spanish mamá is really more like the English 'mom' than 'mama' which seems regional or informal or something.
Mamá is the most usual, but mama (MAma) use as well. RAE:
mamá.
(Adapt. del fr. maman).
- f. coloq. madre (? respecto de sus hijos). U. m. en leng. infant.
mama.
(Del lat. mamma, voz infantil).
f. coloq. madre (? respecto de sus hijos). U. m. en leng. infant.
f. Anat. teta (? órgano glanduloso).
Mamá when you call your mother
Mama , you call your mother with affection ( normaly for ask something you want)
Mamá in Spanish unless you are discussing the conjugated form of the verb mamar (to suckle) where I would surmise that the word came from originally (or a similar Latin verb).
Well I used to call my mother just mam, I have heard mum and mummy and Al Jolson used to sing: I'd walk a million miles for one of your smiles my maarmy, well that's how it sounded to me.
The words mama and papa are very similar in many languages, including French, Swahili, Chinese, Russian, Swedish, Dutch, Hindi, Koran... and many many more.
a todos:
Who would have thought the 1st word most of us speak would need so many replies?
My dictionaries tell me this.
In English,
Mama = an old fashioned and informal word fo mother. In the US of A it may be spelt as "mamma".
In Spanish,
The English "mama" = La mamá (note the accent[tilde] over the final a {á}). The Spanish noun "mamá" may also mean the English words "mum", "mummy", "mom" or "mommy".
The Spanish noun "La mama" (no accents) means mammary gland, breast or udder. Be careful choosing as between the two nouns"mamá" and "mama". Also, be careful pronouncing the two different nouns and respect the emphasis suggested by the tilde in "mamá".
