ابا

See also: أبا, آپا, اتا, آٹا, and ابّا

Baluchi

Noun

ابا • (abbá)

1. father

See also

• پت (pit)
• پس (pis)

Early Old Oghuz

Etymology 1

Kashgarî recorded as mother, however descendants have the meaning of grandmother instead, just like Kashgarî recorded Early Old Oghuz دَدا (dede) as father, however descendants have the meaning of grandfather instead. According to the Mamluk-Kipchak source, it originally means grandmother but also refers to mothers for respect.

Noun

اَبا (ebē)

1. (Family) mother

   Antonym: دَدا (dede, “father”)

Descendants

• Old Anatolian Turkish: ابه (“grandmother”)
  • Classical Azerbaijani:
    • → Khalaj: əbə
  • Ottoman Turkish: ابه (“grandmother”)
    • Turkish: ebe (“midwife; (dialectal) grandmother”)
  • → Mamluk-Kipchak: [script needed] (ebe)

Etymology 2

Clauson and Tekin suggest a native Turkic origin, reconstructable to Proto-Common Turkic *ōpa. On the other hand, Räsänen, Eren and Nişanyan consider it a borrowing from Middle Mongol ᠣᠪᠤᠭ᠎ᠠ (obug-a, “pile, mass; boundary”) from ᠣᠪᠤᠶᠢᠬᠤ (obuyiqu, “to pile up”).

Noun

اُبا (obā)

1. (anthropology) clan, tribe

Descendants

• Old Anatolian Turkish: اوبا
  • Azerbaijani: oba
  • Ottoman Turkish: اوبا
    • Turkish: oba
• Turkmen: ōba

Further reading

• al-Kashgarî, Mahmud (1072–1074), Besim Atalay, transl., Divanü Lûgat-it-Türk Tercümesi [Translation of the “Compendium of the languages of the Turks”] (Türk Dil Kurumu Yayınları; 521)‎^[1] (in Turkish), 1985 edition, volume I, Ankara: Türk Tarih Kurmu Basımevi, published 1939–1943, page 86

Karakhanid

Etymology 1

Inherited from Proto-Common Turkic *apa (“ancestor”).Kashgari's attempt at tying it with Arabic أَب (ʔab) and Tibetan པ་ཕ (pa pha) are folk etymology based on similar phonology. The meaning "bear" is a result of taboo speech, compare Yakut эһэ (ehe) with similar semantic shift.

Noun

اَبا (apā)

1. father

   Synonym: اَتا (atā)

Etymology 2

Cognate to Chuvash упа (up̬a).

Noun

اَبا (apā)

1. (Kipchak) bear

   Synonym: اَذِغْ (aδïğ)

References

• Clauson, Gerard (1972), An Etymological Dictionary of pre-thirteenth-century Turkish, Oxford: Clarendon Press, →ISBN, →OCLC, pages 5-6

Further reading

• al-Kashgarî, Mahmud (1072–1074), Besim Atalay, transl., Divanü Lûgat-it-Türk Tercümesi [Translation of the “Compendium of the languages of the Turks”] (Türk Dil Kurumu Yayınları; 521)‎^[2] (in Turkish), 1985 edition, volume I, Ankara: Türk Tarih Kurmu Basımevi, published 1939–1943, page 86

Persian

Etymology

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): /ʔa.ˈbaː/

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [ʔä.bɑː]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [ʔä.bɑː]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [ʔä.bɑː]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [ʔä.bɔː]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [ʔæ.bɒː]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [ʔä.bɔ]

Readings
Classical reading?	abā
Dari reading?	abā
Iranian reading?	abâ
Tajik reading?	abo

Noun

ابا • (abā / abâ) (Tajik spelling або)

1. obsolete form of با (bā / bâ, “with”)

Punjabi

Pronunciation

• (Majhi) IPA^(key): /əbː.äː/
• Rhymes: -ɑː

Noun

اَبّا • (abbā) f (Gurmukhi spelling ਅੱਬਾ)

1. (Pakistan) father, dad

   ابّا کِتّھے ہَے؟

   Where is dad?

References

• “ابا”, in Punjabi-English Dictionary, Patiala: Punjabi University, 2026

Urdu

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic أَب (ʔab).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /əbː.ɑː/

Noun

اَبّا • (abbā) m (Hindi spelling अब्बा)

1. father

Synonyms

• اَبُّو (abbū, “dad”)

Further reading

• “ابا”, in اُردُو لُغَت (urdū luġat) (in Urdu), Ministry of Education: Government of Pakistan, 2017.