Occurrence edit

Language Word IPA Meaning Notes
Adyghe мазэ [maːza] 'moon'
Arabic Standard[1] مطابخ [maˈtˤaːbɪχ] 'kitchens' See Arabic phonology
Armenian Eastern[2] մայր [mɑjɾ] 'mother'
Assyrian Neo-Aramaic mara [maːra] 'owner'
Basque maitatu [majt̪at̪u] 'to love'
Bengali মা [ma] 'mother' See Bengali phonology
Bulgarian мъгла [mɐɡla] 'fog'
Catalan[3] mare [ˈmaɾə] 'mother' See Catalan phonology
Cherokee [ama˦] 'water'
Chinese Cantonese / māau [maːu̯˥] 'cat' See Cantonese phonology
Mandarin / māo [mɑʊ̯˥] See Mandarin phonology
Czech m [mʊʃ] 'man' See Czech phonology
Dutch[4] mond [mɔnt] 'mouth' See Dutch phonology
English him [hɪm] 'him' See English phonology
Esperanto tempo [ˈtempo] 'time' See Esperanto phonology
Filipino manok [maˈnok] 'rooster' See Filipino phonology
Finnish minä [ˈminæ] 'I' See Finnish phonology
French[5] manger [mɑ̃ʒe] 'to eat' See French phonology
Georgian[6] სა [ˈsɑmi] 'three'
German Maus [maʊ̯s] 'mouse' See Standard German phonology
Greek[7] μάζα / maza [ˈmaza] 'clump' See Modern Greek phonology
Gujarati મો / mōr [moːɾ] 'male peacock' See Gujarati phonology
Hawaiian[8] maka [maka] 'eye' See Hawaiian phonology
Hindi धु [məd̪ʱuː] 'honey' See Hindi-Urdu phonology
Hebrew אמא [ˈʔimäʔ] 'mother' See Modern Hebrew phonology
Hungarian ma [mɒ] 'today' See Hungarian phonology
Indonesian[9] masuk [ˈmäsʊʔ] 'enter'
Italian[10] mamma [ˈmamma] 'mommy' See Italian phonology
Japanese[11] 乾杯 / kampai [kampai] 'cheers' See Japanese phonology
Kabardian мазэ [maːza] 'moon'
Kagayanen[12] manang [manaŋ] 'older sister'
Korean 마을 / maeul [mɐɯl] 'village' See Korean phonology
Kurdish Northern giyanewer [ˈgʲɪjä:ˈnɛwɛˈɾ] 'animal' See Kurdish phonology
Central گیانلەبەر [ˈgʲiːäːnˈlæbæˈɾ]
Southern [ˈgʲiːäːnˈlabaˈɾ]
Macedonian мајка [ˈmajka] 'mother' See Macedonian phonology
Malay malam [mäläm] 'night'
Malayalam[13] കമ്മി [kəmmi] 'shortage'
Maltese ilma [ilma] 'water'
Marathi [mən] 'mind' See Marathi phonology
Mutsun muruṭ [muɾuʈ] 'night'
Norwegian mamma [ˈmɑmːɑ] 'mom' See Norwegian phonology
Ojibwe [ənaːˈmɪm] 'accuse' See Ojibwe phonology
Oriya ମା [maː] 'mother'
Persian مادر [mɒdær] 'mother' See Persian phonology
Pirahã baíxi [ˈmàí̯ʔì] 'parent' allophone of /b/
Polish[14] masa [ˈmäsä] 'mass' See Polish phonology
Portuguese[15] mato [ˈmatu] 'bush' See Portuguese phonology
Punjabi ਮੈਂ [mɛ̃ː] 'I'
Russian[16] муж [muʂ] 'husband' Contrasts with palatalized version. See Russian phonology
Serbo-Croatian[17] мој / moj [mȏːj] 'my' See Serbo-Croatian phonology
Slovak m [mu̞ʃ] 'man'
Slovene m [míʃ] 'mouse'
Spanish[18] grumete [ɡɾuˈme̞te̞] 'cabin boy' See Spanish phonology
Swahili miti [ˈmiti] 'trees'
Swedish mask [mask] 'worm' See Swedish phonology
Toki Pona mani [mani] 'money'
Tsez мец [mɛ̝t͡s] 'tongue'
Turkish benim [be̞nim] 'mine' See Turkish phonology
Ukrainian[19] молоко [mɔɫɔˈkɔ] 'milk' See Ukrainian phonology
Urdu مکان [məkaːn] 'house' See Hindi-Urdu phonology
Uyghur مهن [mæn] 'I'
Vietnamese[20] muối [mwoj˧ˀ˥] 'salt' See Vietnamese phonology
Welsh mam [mam] 'mother' See Welsh phonology
West Frisian mar [mar] 'lake' See West Frisian phonology
Yi / ma [ma˧] 'bamboo'
Zapotec Tilquiapan[21] man [maŋ] 'animal'
  1. ^ Thelwall (1990:37)
  2. ^ Dum-Tragut (2009:19)
  3. ^ Carbonell & Llisterri (1992:53)
  4. ^ Gussenhoven (1992:45)
  5. ^ Fougeron & Smith (1993:73)
  6. ^ Shosted & Chikovani (2006:255)
  7. ^ Newton (1972:10)
  8. ^ Ladefoged (2005:139)
  9. ^ Soderberg & Olson (2008:210)
  10. ^ Rogers & d'Arcangeli (2004:117)
  11. ^ Okada (1999:117)
  12. ^ Olson et al. (2010:206–207)
  13. ^ Ladefoged (2005:165)
  14. ^ Jassem (2003:103)
  15. ^ Cruz-Ferreira (1995:91)
  16. ^ Padgett (2003:42)
  17. ^ Landau et al. (1999), p. 67.
  18. ^ Martínez-Celdrán, Fernández-Planas & Carrera-Sabaté (2003:255)
  19. ^ Danyenko & Vakulenko (1995), p. 4.
  20. ^ Thompson (1959:458–461)
  21. ^ Merrill (2008:108)