This time in Language Day we go through one word in daily use all over the world: grandmother! Let’s see the official (in bold) and the colloquial word (in italics) for these darlings in some of the countries in detail. Note that some languages make a distinction between maternal and paternal grandmothers (and grandfathers for that matter). The colloquial use given here are the most common ones. There may always be local and cultural variations.
PS. Grandmother in Latin is avia. Sounds a bit like a bird, but then again, grandmothers do get to go around a lot, health and interest abiding.
Part of AFRICA (Swahili) the Swahili word for grandmother is Bibi.
AUSTRALIA ?? (maternal&paternal) grandmother. Colloquial: grandma, nanna, nana
BELGIUM ?? (maternal&paternal) grand-mère in the French-speaking art of Belgium. In the northern part of Belgium (Flanders) Flemish is spoken, and there Bomma and Bommi are common, but also Oma and Omi.
CANADA ?? (maternal&paternal) grandmother, in French Canada: Mémé
CHINA ?? (maternal&paternal) zumu 祖母. Colloquial use: NaiNai 奶奶. Also Ma Ma, Po Po and Wai Po. Much depends upon the region, the language and whether a grandmother is on the maternal or paternal side.
DENMARK ?? (maternal&paternal) bedstemor, (paternal) farmor. Colloquial: bedste.
ENGLAND ??????? (maternal&paternal) grandmother. Colloquial: nana
ESTONIA ?? (maternal&paternal) vanaema. Also (maternal) emaema, (paternal) isaema.
FINLAND ?? (maternal&paternal) isoäiti. The colloquial word for grandmother comes from the Swedish “mormor”, and has several variations: mummo, mummu, mummi, mumma. Also mamma (Swedish for the word “mother”). In some parts of Finland also used of paternal grandmother: fammu (<- Swed. farmor).
FRANCE ?? (maternal&paternal) grand-mère. Colloquial: mamie, aïeule
GERMANY ?? (maternal&paternal) Großmutter. Colloquial use: oma, omi
GREECE ?? (maternal&paternal) γιαγιά, μάμμη.
HAWAII (maternal&paternal) kuku wahine. Colloquial use: tutu
HOLLAND ?? (maternal&paternal) grootmoeder. Colloquial use: oma, omoe
ICELAND ?? (maternal&paternal) amma. Also: (maternal) móðuramma, (paternal) föðuramma. Colloquial use: amma
IRELAND ?? (maternal&paternal) seanmháthair. Colloquial use: maimeó or móraí, Naturally, the English words are used as well.
ISRAEL ?? Jewish grandmothers typically choose either the Hebrew Savta or the Yiddish Bubbe. Both have several variant spellings.
ITALY ?? (maternal&paternal) nonna. Colloquial: nonna
JAPAN ?? (maternal&paternal) generally obāsan お婆さん, by smaller children obāchan, or baba ばば . When speaking of one’s own grandmother, one would say (politely): sobo 祖母 そぼ, and colloquailly: gai-sobo 外祖母 がいそぼ
KOREA ?? Halmoni is commonly used, although it can be spelled as Halmeoni or shorted to Halmi.
NORWAY ?? (maternal&paternal) bestemor. Colloquial use:
PHILIPPINES ?? Colloquail use: lola
PORTUGAL ?? (maternal&paternal) most common: avó. Colloquial use: avozinha, vovó or just vo. Both grandmothers and grandfathers are referred to as avo, but the pronunciation is different (more here)
RUSSIA ?? (maternal&paternal) бабушка (babushka). Colloquial use: бабка (babka)
SPAIN ?? (maternal&paternal) abuela (materna&paterna). Colloquial use (among others): yaya, nana, nona, abue, abuelita, güeli, abu, nena, licha, puza, tita, mamita, mimi, mamá (+name of the grandmother)
SWEDEN ?? (maternal) mormor, (paternal) farmor. Colloquial use: gumma
UNITED STATES ?? (maternal&paternal) grandmother. Colloquial: grandma, granny, nana, mawmaw, etc. Read more in this excellent article by Coventry Direct about grandparents across the U.S.A.
Hopefully you walk away with something new from this simple list.
And how about looking at something else! Not all grandmothers knit like the lady in the clip art above. Not all of them ever learn to. Or would want to. Let’s take a look at another kind of grandma! A kind of which will most likely become increasingly common as there will be more and more senior citizens who grew up with video games and the like:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3A5XlyF7UY8&vl=en
Updated 29.1.2021
LINKS
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grandparent
https://www.verywellfamily.com/choose-the-perfect-grandmother-name-1695527