mama vs mamma

Side by side

mama or mamma?

What is the difference between mama and mamma?

mama means "informal terms for a mother". mamma means "informal terms for a mother". They are pronounced identically — /ˈmɑmə/ — so only the spelling and the meaning separate them.

Which is more common, mama or mamma?

mama is the more common of the two — banded "Core" against "Familiar" for mamma. Commonness is measured against a large corpus of everyday English, not judged.

Are mama and mamma pronounced the same?

Yes. Both are /ˈmɑmə/, said MAH-muh. Words that sound alike and are spelled differently are homophones, and they are the commonest source of written mix-ups in English.

Can mama and mamma be used in the same place in a sentence?

Both work as nouns, so they are grammatically interchangeable. That is exactly what makes the meaning difference worth checking.

Full entry for mama · Full entry for mamma · More comparisons