мама

Forms

ма́ма (máma) f anim or f inan (genitive ма́мы, nominative plural ма́мы, genitive plural мам, possessive adjective ма́мин, diminutive ма́мочка or ма́менька or ма́монька, hypocorism маму́ля or маму́ня or маму́ся or ма́мик, expressive term мама́ша or мама́ня or маме́нция)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Slavic *mama, a word of children's speech.^[2][3][1] It is found in all the Slavic languages: Ukrainian мама (mama), Belarusian мама (mama), Bulgarian мама (mama), Serbo-Croatian мама (mama), Czech máma and Polish mama.^[2][3] ESRJa explains it as an expressive doubling of the syllable ⟨ma-⟩, which also underlies Proto-Slavic *mati (“mother”), the source of мать.^[3][4] Shansky and Bobrova compare the doubled syllables of баба, дядя and тятя.^[5]

Nursery words of the same shape are found across Indo-European: Lithuanian mama and eastern Lithuanian moma, Latvian mama, Latin mamma (“mother; breast”), Ancient Greek μάμμη (mámmē, “mother, grandmother”), Albanian mëmë (“mother”) and Sanskrit माम (māma, “uncle”), and with a long vowel Old High German muoma (“aunt”).^[2][3][4] Wiktionary takes the chain back through Proto-Balto-Slavic *mā́ˀmāˀ to Proto-Indo-European *méh₂-méh₂, a doubling of the root of *méh₂tēr (“mother”).^[1] Chernykh notes that such words also occur outside Indo-European, for example Turkish mama (“food (nursery word)”).^[6]

The form stressed on the last syllable is a separate loan, from French maman or German Mama.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Sreznevsky's Old Russian materials have мама only in the sense “wet nurse”, and Chernykh dates that record late, to the 17th century.^[7][6] Shaposhnikov puts the word in Russian from the 17th century, both as “mother” and as “wet nurse”, and also as “brood mare”.^[4]

Semantic evolution

In the 18th century the word meant a mother, mostly in children's speech, and also the woman in charge of a noble child's nurses;^[8] Pososhkov quotes children taught to call their mother names, мама кака.^[8] Chernykh finds “mother” in Pushkin's unfinished Russian Pelham (1834–1835), and notes that Pushkin also called his nanny Arina Rodionovna мама.^[6] The nurse's sense has since passed to the derivative мамка.^[6][9]

Under French influence the gentry also said мама́, with final stress and no declension, as in Zhukovsky's “papa, mama” of 1845.^[10][2] In Ryazan dialect мама старая is a grandmother.^[11] Youth slang uses мама for a girlfriend, and computer slang for a motherboard.^[12][1]

Timeline

• 17th century – мама “wet nurse” in Old Russian.^[7][6][4]
• 1795 – a newspaper advertises a widow seeking a place в мамы, as a children's nurse.^[8]
• 1834–1835 – мама “mother” in Pushkin's Russian Pelham.^[6][4]
• 1845 – the French-stressed мама́ in Zhukovsky.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. mum, mother: the usual word in addressing one's mother or in children's talk about her.^[13][14]
2. (colloquial) The mother of one's husband or wife.^[4]
3. (dated) A wet nurse or nanny, the same as мамка.^[9][4]
4. (slang) A girlfriend, as young people address one another.^[12]
5. (computing slang) A motherboard.^[1]

Word family

• мамка
• мамаша
• мамочка
• мамин
• маменька
• мамуля

Related words

• мать
• папа
• баба

Usage notes

Common endearing forms are ма́мочка, маму́ля and маму́ся, and the adjective is ма́мин.^[13]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Vasmer, Max (1964–1973), Ètimologičeskij slovar' russkogo jazyka, transl. and suppl. by O. N. Trubačev, 4 vols., Moskva: Progress, p. 2, 565
3. ^ a b c d e Shansky, N. M.; Zhuravlev, A. F. (eds.) (1963–2007), Ètimologičeskij slovar' russkogo jazyka [Этимологический словарь русского языка], vols. 1–10 (A–M), Moskva: Izdatel'stvo Moskovskogo universiteta, p. 10, s.v. мама
4. ^ a b c d e f g Shaposhnikov, A. K. (2010), Ètimologičeskij slovar' sovremennogo russkogo jazyka [Этимологический словарь современного русского языка], 2 vols., Moskva: Flinta / Nauka, p. 1, 492
5. ^ Shansky, N. M.; Bobrova, T. A. (2004), Škol'nyj ètimologičeskij slovar' russkogo jazyka [Школьный этимологический словарь русского языка], 7th ed., Moskva: Drofa, p. s.v. мама
6. ^ a b c d e f Chernykh, P. Ya. (1993), Istoriko-ètimologičeskij slovar' sovremennogo russkogo jazyka [Историко-этимологический словарь современного русского языка], 2 vols., Moskva: Russkij jazyk, p. 1, s.v. мама
7. ^ a b Sreznevsky, I. I. (1893–1912), Materialy dlja slovarja drevne-russkago jazyka po pis'mennym pamjatnikam [Материалы для словаря древнерусского языка по письменным памятникам], 3 vols., Sankt-Peterburg: Imperatorskaja Akademija nauk, p. 2, s.v. мама
8. ^ a b c Sorokin, Yu. S. et al. (eds.) (1984–), Slovar' russkogo jazyka XVIII veka [Словарь русского языка XVIII века], vols. 1–24, Leningrad / Sankt-Peterburg: Nauka, p. s.v. мама
9. ^ a b Ushakov, D. N. (ed.) (1935–1940), Tolkovyj slovar' russkogo jazyka [Толковый словарь русского языка], 4 vols., Moskva: Sovetskaja ènciklopedija / OGIZ, p. s.v. мама
10. ^ a b Epishkin, N. I. (2010), Istoričeskij slovar' gallicizmov russkogo jazyka [Исторический словарь галлицизмов русского языка], Moskva: ÈTS, p. s.v. мама
11. ^ Filin, F. P.; Sorokoletov, F. P.; Myznikov, S. A. (eds.) (1965–), Slovar' russkix narodnyx govorov [Словарь русских народных говоров], vols. 1–51, Moskva / Leningrad / Sankt-Peterburg: Nauka, p. 17, 349
12. ^ a b Elistratov, V. S. (2000), Slovar' russkogo argo [Словарь русского арго], Moskva: Russkie slovari, p. s.v. мама
13. ^ a b Ozhegov, S. I.; Shvedova, N. Yu. (1997), Tolkovyj slovar' russkogo jazyka [Толковый словарь русского языка], 4th ed., Moskva: Azbukovnik, p. s.v. мама
14. ^ Evgen'eva, A. P. (ed.) (1981–1984), Slovar' russkogo jazyka v četyrex tomax [Словарь русского языка в 4 тт.] (MAS), 2nd ed., Moskva: Russkij jazyk, p. s.v. мама