words used for mother

Given the number of Kiwis in Australia however, should they return, the accent may well change back to a variation of Australian. Then again we could both be right and your ‘back vowel’ may be of Dutch origin. Instead it was the Australian accent which prevailed. If it were about phonetics one would expect some variety of spelling. In years since, I have thought that “Mummy”, or “Mum” was felt to be more “posh” by the Irish young people…just as it became common for them to return to Ireland, having spent a short 2-3 months in England, but already sporting the London accent !…, Given that the South Africans also say Mom I suspect the use of it in the US is sourced in Dutch immigrants. Latin died (OK, mortally wounded then) because the Romans would not let it evolve. A lot of the American slaves came from Angola – a place where I lived for four years – and the Portugese word for mother is – mamae. Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog: http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/blog/2006/04/mum-and-mom.html, http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/sounds/text-only/england/danesford/, http://sounds.bl.uk/File.aspx?item=021T-C0900X15068X-0100A1.pdf, Arrr, Matey! If you were correct that the language Americans speak and the language other English speakers use were different languages, then they would not be in essence, spelling aside, exactly the same language with the same rules, structure and vocabulary. In honor of Mother's Day, we asked HuffPost Teen's Pheed and Twitter followers to describe their moms to us using just three words.

Given that both the US and South Africa use ‘mom’ there is a fair bet that the word has derived from Dutch or Nederlands given the preponderance of Dutch settlers in both countries.

I’m from Pittsburgh, Pa. Born and raised and I call my mother mum, mummy, or ma.

The rural western accent tends to pronounce LOT/THOUGHT as a rounded back vowel, while more urban accents tend to be unrounded. If I was talking about her, I would say “Mother” (pronounced “Muthah”). Just to muddy the waters, here in B. C. I hear mostly ‘mum’, but most people spell it ‘mom’. What are some descriptive words for Mother & Mom ? I first visited Canada in the early 70’s – Vancouver, Alberta, Montreal, Quebec City and Calgary and would agree with your comment then. Good cite! Given that her accent was probably non-rhotic (i.e. I live in Manchester and some of my family live in Sheffield and we say ‘mam’ instead of mum. Don’t mean to suggest all three are merged. I would agree with rya about the homogeneity of English from Ontario (except maybe the Ottawa valley, which I’m not familiar with) westward to BC. Yes, We say Mam in South Wales ! Whether you understand the IPA symbols above or not, the point is that in these three dialects, the words are quite close in pronunciation. It would be interesting to know why. It’s awesome to pay a visit this site and reading the views of all colleagues about this article, while I am

Alas, WordPress and unicode have a tempestuous relationship …. But I think in some cases Canadian STRUT can be more open than it is in my accent (I don’t know about yours or anyone else’s).

They do all have the same meaning but why some do mum and others do mom was the original question.

I do catch myself saying Mum now and then though. It could also have come from African slaves who were often wet-nurses and nannies. All rights reserved. I’m from Manitoba Canada myself. A ‘win for the ex-colonials perhaps. So sorry, We do say m but I was miss informed and the word Mangi not Mamgi means Grandmother and not Mam. But of course I can’t say every Canadian pronounces it the same way. My colleague Jonnie (who is accents and dialects king) is originally from outer Birmingham and calls his mother ‘mom’. I’m not saying it’s totally impossible — just that Ockham’s Razor suggests otherwise . Oh no!

It really sounds like a good human child calling to his mother ” Ma !” Then again that happened over thousands of years and has decreased in recent centuries in the age of communication. I’m curious if perhaps mam is the earliest of these, and mom and mum were just different ways of rendering this. American spelling may make it easier for the less bright to learn to spell but it rather subtracts from the substance and depth of the words which have been tinkered with. But modern communications have gone a long way toward diminishing accent differences and therefore helping all of us English speakers to understand each other. Canadians, Australians, New Zealanders, Americans, and the British all speak English as do a few other countries which have taken it on as their national language as ex colonials, including India where it is still a major language and the language of most higher education.

No longer. Although, I only say “Mum” when I’m talking to my mother directly. We don’t hear midlands dialects much at all in the States, so this is my first time hearing Brummie “mom!”, PS I meant for their to be a centralized diacritic on the ɔ above. I won’t dispute your observation that the Vancouver accent is “very, very American”, since that was your experience. Like his friend I am also from outer Birmingham and have always pronounced and written the word in question as “mom”. The OED seems to share your guess, but without substatiating it: mama, n.1 (and int.) A possible spanner in the works is the East Midlands (at least certainly in Nottingham), where we use “mum”, but pronounced in a *northern* manner, i.e. But that no doubt is because of the vastly and ever-increasing capacity for connection and communication which kept people in touch so that language had neither need or opportunity to wander off on its own merry way. I don’t know but perhaps Birmingham had more than others, or rather, the percentage was high enough, as opposed to London, to influence accent. Any thoughts? Interesting point about the Irish informal “mom” word! …since the vowels in “strut,” “lot” and “caught” all seem to hover around in a similar vowel space. The interesting thing is the spelling. They used mam. I always find it interesting listening to old – 30’s, 40’s – radio and television programmes where the American accent is much less pronounced and quite English. Manchester, UK: “mam” — [mam]. And with threads like this, American changes to their spelling aside, we all talk the same language and we all understand each other pretty much. I grew up in Birmingham and am reasonably familiar with its history. Then, of course, there are all the regional variations and the influences of languages from all over the world. I always thought they were just different ways of writing/pronouncing the same word. Ma is the root word meaning breasts and teats. Etymology: Of uncertain origin, but probably ultimately < a (reduplicated) syllable /ma/ which is characteristic of early infantile vocalization and regarded by some as a development of the sound sometimes made by a baby when breastfeeding. A mother is a person who loves and cares for you. As is pointed out above, Birmingham accent in England also has “Mom” (which there signifies a rounded not-fully-open back vowel).

The “butt” vs. “bum” question is interesting too. I did not see your comment before I replied above but I made a similar point. Then again, this vowel is a bit “all over the place” in most accents of English. General American: “mom” — [mɑm] If I talk with my parents, I always say MAH.

But nowhere has English developed in such variety of form as the United Kingdom. Mama is the first word many babies will use, like Dada, and so no doubt Mam or Mammee or Mama comes from this. It’s something like [ɐ] in some Canadian accents I’ve heard. preceding technologies, it’s amazing article. I also add R to some schwa’s while constantly dropping R after some schwa’s, 2, Selena=Selener, quoted as saying from Nicki Minaj ft. Justin Bieber “But I gotta keep an eye on SelenER”. Can this or does this derive from the Welsh word for mother? The introduction, like Canada and the US, of dozens of different nationalities from the mid 1800’s has no doubt done the rest of the work although the Australian accent of today is different, as I said earlier, to that of forty years ago.

In my part of America, ‘mom’ is most common. Pretty sure there’s no Dutch influence there. The Words You Use To Describe Your Mom (WORD CLOUD) In honor of Mother's Day , we asked HuffPost Teen's Pheed and Twitter followers to describe their moms to us using just three words. This is because “cot” and “caught” merge in a low and far back position and this leaves the low central area open. Western Ireland, for example, would probably pronounce it so it sounds like “ma’am.” But the difference between how a Londoner says “mum” and someone from Northern England says “mam” is much more minimal. Mr Webster (of American dictionary fame) decided to compile his dictionary with the specific objective of distinguishing his inherited language from its origins. The homogenous nature of the Australian accent has been easier to maintain because we don’t share any close borders with anyone, let alone another English speaking nation. Don’t be so sure. There were two substantial waves of Dutch immigrants to England – one in the 12th century and another in the 16th century.