maman French · revision 16389

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=reduplication|attested=1256, Aldebrandin de Sienne, Régime du corps}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ma.mɑ̃/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''maman''' ''f'' (plural mamans)^(Wiktionary)

+ ''Mamme'' (1560) and ''mam-ma'' (1584) are also found in the 16th century; the form was unstable at first.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a word of children's language formed by doubling the syllable “ma”, found in many languages: [[la|mamma|t=mother; breast]], [[grc|μάμμη|tr=mámmē]], [[it|mamma]], [[es|mamá]], [[ru|ма́ма|tr=máma]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Littré 1873) Rey derives it from Latin “mamma”, while the GLLF hesitates between that and a native childish formation.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)^(FEW|6/1, 134a) The initial “m”, a labial, probably evokes sucking, as in [[m|la|māter]].^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ Wiktionary adds that it may have been influenced by Latin “mamma”, through Middle French “memmen”.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is first found in 1256 in Aldebrandin de Sienne's ''Régime du corps'', a treatise on health.^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is the child's name and form of address for its mother, kept by adults for their own mother.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007) With a determiner (''sa maman'') it is in Madame de Sévigné (1687), and ''la maman'' for the mother of a family in Rousseau (1769).^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989) From 1756 it was also an affectionate name without kinship, a use now old-fashioned in Europe; in sub-Saharan Africa ''maman'' is a respectful name for an older married woman.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ Compounds include ''belle-maman'' (1673), ''grand-maman'' (1690) and ''bonne-maman'' (1821).^(DHLF 1992) The popular ''m'man'' is recorded in 1835.^(BHVF) Italian ''mamma'' was taken up about 1950 for the Italian mother as a social type.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1256 – ''Maman'' in Aldebrandin de Sienne.^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+ * 1584 – The form ''mam-ma''.^(Grand Robert 2005)

+ * 1673 – ''Belle-maman''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1687 – With a determiner, in Madame de Sévigné.^(TLFi)

+ * 1690 – ''Grand-maman''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1756 – An affectionate name without kinship.^(TLFi)

+ * 1821 – ''Bonne-maman''.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|mum]], [[m|en|mommy]]: what a child calls its mother: ''maman, viens voir !''^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A mother, in the context of childhood: ''c'est ta maman qui me l'a dit'', ''une future maman''.^(Larousse)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''(Africa)'' A respected older woman.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[mère]]

+ * [[mamie]]

+ * [[mamelle]]

+ * [[papa]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}