From Proto-Semitic *ʔimm-. Cognate with Hebrew אם (em).

• IPA^(key): /ʔumm/

أُمّ • (ʔumm) f (dual أُمَّانِ (ʔummāni), plural أُمَّهَات (ʔummahāt) or أُمَّات (ʔummāt), masculine أَب (ʔab))

1. mother
2. origin
3. source

• Maltese: omm
• → Malayalam: ഉമ്മ (umma)

Univerbation of the interrogative particle أَ (ʔa) and the conjunction *ٱِم (*im). Compare إِمَّا (ʔimmā) for disjunction.

• IPA^(key): /ʔam/

أَمْ • (ʔam)

1. (chiefly after interrogatives) indicates an exclusive disjunction introduced with أَ (ʔa), as in alternative questions

   أَمِنَ الْعِراقِ أَنْتَ أَمْ مِنْ مِصْرَ؟

   ʔamina l-ʕirāqi ʔanta ʔam min miṣra?

   Are you from Iraq or Egypt?

   لَا أَدْرِي أَشَقِيٌّ صَاحِبُكَ أَمْ سَعِيدٌ.

   lā ʔadrī ʔašaqiyyun ṣāḥibuka ʔam saʕīdun.

   I do not know whether your friend is happy or downhearted.

   أَمُحَمَّدٌ أَوْ إِبْرَاهِيمُ أَفْضَلُ أَمْ سَمِيرٌ؟

   ʔamuḥammadun ʔaw ʔibrāhīmu ʔafḍalu ʔam samīrun?

   Is Muhammad or Ibrahim better [than Samir] or is Samir better [than either of them]?

   • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 21:109:

     فَإِن تَوَلَّوْا فَقُلْ آذَنْتُكُمْ عَلَى سَوَاءٍ وَإِنْ أَدْرِي أَقَرِيبٌ أَم بَعِيدٌ مَّا تُوعَدُونَ

     fa-ʔin tawallaw fa-qul ʔāḏantukum ʕalā sawāʔin wa-ʔin ʔadrī ʔa-qarībun ʔam baʕīdun mā tūʕadūna

     But if they turn away, then say, “I have announced to [all of] you equally. And I know not whether near or far is that which you are promised.”

   • 2017 November 4, “مستشار في حملة ترامب يعترف باجراء اتصالات مع مسؤولين روس”, in Al-Quds‎^[1], archived from the original on 4 November 2017:

     كان قد نفى او تجنب الاجابة في مقابلات سابقة مع الصحيفة حول ما اذا كان قد التقى مسؤولين روسا ام لا.

     He had denied or avoided answering in previous interviews with the paper regarding whether he had met Russian officials or not.

2. indicates an inclusive disjunction introduced with أَ (ʔa) that denotes sameness, indistinguishability, unimportance, insignificance, or indifference

   أَنَا أُحِبُّكَ سَوَاءٌ (أَ)أَحْبَبْتَنِي أَمْ لَمْ تُحِبَّنِي.

   ʔanā ʔuḥibbuka sawāʔun (ʔa)ʔaḥbabtanī ʔam lam tuḥibbanī.

   I love you, no matter whether you love me or whether you do not love me.

   سَأَفُوزُ سَوَاءٌ (أَ)شِئْتَ أَمْ أَبَيْتَ

   saʔafūzu sawāʔun (ʔa)šiʔta ʔam ʔabayta

   I will win whether you like it or not.

   • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 63:6:

     سَوَاءٌ عَلَيْهِمْ أَسْتَغْفَرْتَ لَهُمْ أَمْ لَمْ تَسْتَغْفِرْ لَهُمْ لَن يَغْفِرَ ٱللّٰهُ لَهُمْ

     sawāʔun ʕalayhim ʔastaḡfarta lahum ʔam lam tastaḡfir lahum lan yaḡfira llāhu lahum

     It is the same for them whether you pray for their forgiveness or whether you do not: Allah will not forgive them.

• أَمَّا (ʔammā)
• أَمَّن (ʔamman)

• أَوْ (ʔaw)
• إِمَّا (ʔimmā)

• → Swahili: ama

• Tropper, Josef (2003) “Sekundäres wortanlautendes Alif im Arabischen”, in Kogan, Leonid, editor, Studia Semitica (Orientalia: Papers of the Oriental Institute; III), Moscow, →ISBN, pages 201–202

• IPA^(key): /ʔam.ma/

أَمَّ • (ʔamma) I (non-past يَؤُمُّ (yaʔummu), verbal noun أَمّ (ʔamm))

1. to go, to go to see, to repair (to a place)

   أم مدينة لندن ― to go to London

• قَصَدَ (qaṣada)

أَمَّ • (ʔamma) I (non-past يَؤُمُّ (yaʔummu), verbal noun أَمّ (ʔamm) or إِمَامَة (ʔimāma))

1. to lead the way, to lead by example

   الناس ― an-nās ― to lead the people

   1. to lead in prayer

أَمّ • (ʔamm) m

1. verbal noun of أَمَّ (ʔamma) (form I)

أَمَّ • (ʔamma) I (non-past يَؤُمُّ (yaʔummu), verbal noun أُمُومَة (ʔumūma))

1. to become a mother

• IPA^(key): [(ʔ)omː], [(ʔ)omːe] (before a consonant), [(ʔ)om] (sentence-final)

أمّ • (umm) f (plural أمّهات (ummahāt))

1. mother, mom

   Synonyms: ماما (māma) (familiar), والدة (walda) (formal)

   Coordinate term: أبّ (abb, “father, dad”)

See usage notes of أبّ (abb).

أمّ • (umm)

1. feminine of أبو (abū)

• امّ (alternative spelling)

From Learned borrowing from Arabic أُمّ (ʔumm).

أم • (ʔumm) f

1. alternative form of إم (ʔimm)

   اللغة الأم ― il-luḡa il-ʔumm ― native language, mother tongue

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