Mum Ma Mother Mummy

Antonio   Fri Mar 24, 2006 8:11 pm GMT
Hainshenspiekensh:

Yes, we do have better things to talk about. But this was an honest question from someone willing to learn. Any question on English is just fine and acceptable on this forum. And German is nice, even and enjoyable tongue, although certainly not the best sprache in der Welt.
Anyway, what the hell does your name (nick) means... something to do with hens, cocks and homossexuality? oooopsss...
Guest   Sat Mar 25, 2006 8:36 am GMT
Mummy is what very young children call their Mums. I presume that Mum came from the first syllable of mother, yet Mom seems to be pronounced "Mahm" rather than Mom by those who use the term. Such people also seem to pronounce ma'am as mam instead of mum.

Odd.
Tim   Sat Mar 25, 2006 4:27 pm GMT
I don't necessarily agree that only young children call their mother Mummy, as I find it's usage preferable to mum which is too common or mother which is too formal and I'm sure many adults still refer to their mothers as Mummy.
Bella   Wed Mar 29, 2006 7:00 am GMT
Does your mummy also call you 'Timothy'?!! I personally do not know any adults that refer to their mothers as 'mummy' although I suspect that there are some among the middle to upper classes in England, mainly females.
C6292SB   Wed Mar 29, 2006 7:30 am GMT
"Deutscher ist die beste Sprache in der Welt"

Sure, just like everybody else's native language.

Ho hum.
Rick Johnson   Wed Mar 29, 2006 8:01 am GMT
Canadians seem to write Mom, but pronounce it Mum.
Tiffany   Wed Mar 29, 2006 8:10 am GMT
Really? Where? I'm Canadian and I pronounce it "Mom". But I'm American too, so perhaps I'm disqualified on that count. However, I have many many Canadian cousins. All seem to say "Mom" or "Ma".
Uriel   Wed Mar 29, 2006 9:26 am GMT
Mom and mum have different pronunciations. It's not just a spelling change.
Kirk   Wed Mar 29, 2006 10:43 am GMT
My Canadian cousins say [mVm] and write "mum" but not all Canadians say "mum." I have a Canadian friend who says "mom." Personally, I have [mAm] or something in between [mAm] and [mOm].
Zoe   Sun May 28, 2006 5:08 am GMT
I'm a 15 year old English girl and I must agree with Tim up above as I still call my Mummy..... well....... Mummy!! :) Most of the time anyhow. I do call her Mum, but use Mummy quite often, then again, I'm an only child. Dunno if that has any relevance. *shrugs and wakes up Mum* "Mummy!! Brekkie please!!" ;) See? Hee hee!
Rick Johnson   Sun May 28, 2006 6:50 am GMT
I only found this out very recently, but "Mom" is well used in the English West Midlands. It appears in the personal columns of local newspapers.

I've just had a look on the Express and Star website (Wolverhampton) and come across a whole page of "moms"!

"ROBINSON
Gertrude May
Mom
One year today.
It has been a very hard year Mom, without you. You were my Mother, Friend and confidante. I miss and love you every day. Our only hope is that you are free of pain, peaceful and with dear
Dad and David.
From your brokenhearted Daughter Carole, Son-in-law Roger and Granddaughters Claire and Alison.
Love you. XXXX."

http://adonline.blackcountry.com/adonline.asp?WCI=search2&WCE=form

So there you have it- not an Americanism at all!
Bond   Sun May 28, 2006 8:32 am GMT
We (the rest of the English-speaking world) write Mum, and say Mum.

They write Mom (presumably originally short for Momma, which may have come from various continental European versions of Mama and Mamma) but have lost the ability to say a short O, so instead say Mahm.

It is time American spelling caught up with its pronunciation.

Mom should be spelt Mahm
Bomb should be spelt bahm (or even balm: how many other words do they mispronounce as others?)
Cot=caht (cart to the rest of us)
Same with caught of course (or is that of cahse or of carse?)

It really is time for another Noah Webster, this time not to reform the spelling, but to reflect the current pronunciation of Amerrrcans, which has diverged much further from standard English than is reflected in their present spelling differences.
Guest   Sun May 28, 2006 9:47 am GMT
Bond, Hansen, Ned, ... your narrow-mindedness is becoming routine. If you bothered to read what Rick Johnson wrote, the rest of the English speaking world doesn't have just "mum". Mom also exists in England.

>>...but have lost the ability to say a short O, so instead say Mahm. <<

That's like saying nonrhotic speakers have lost the ability to pronunce R where written.

>>Cot=caht (cart to the rest of us)<<

That's hypocritical considering you don't pronounce the R in "cart". Your reasoning is childish as it doesn't pertain to all accents outside of American ones. Anyway, the Irish, Canadians and some rural English accents share this "ah" pronunciation of O, so there goes your theory.
Guest   Sun May 28, 2006 10:41 am GMT
'Was dieses ganzes dumme ist, sprechen Sie über Mutter und die unterschiedlichen Weisen des Sagens es, es scheint, daß Sie Halteseile nicht die besseren Sachen zum Sprechen haben. Ich wundere mich, warum dieses Forum diesem viel Unsinn erlauben. Wir Deutsche nennen es Mutter und für jedermann, das es nicht mag, gehen zu schlafen. Deutscher ist die beste Sprache in der Welt, ich lieben es gerade'.

I take it you're not actually a native Geman speaker then?
Guest   Sun May 28, 2006 10:42 am GMT
sorry, I meant German