Etymology Explorer › Tok Pisin

Where does “mama” come from?

mama (Tok Pisin) comes from English mama, from Xhosa umama, from Proto-Bantu *mààmá.

mama (Tok Pisin): mother

Definitions

  1. mother

Ancestry of “mama”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishmamaMother, female parent
2Xhosaumamamom, mother
3Proto-Bantu*mààmá—

Words derived from “mama”

  • papamama
Every word from Proto-Bantu *mààmá →