Ways to say it
| Uzbek | Pronunciation | Meaning | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| ona | o-NA | mother | Standard and written. |
| ota | o-TA | father | Standard and written. |
| oyi | o-YI | mum | Colloquial, Tashkent. |
| dada | da-DA | dad | Colloquial. |
| ota-ona | o-TA o-NA | parents | Literally “father-mother”. |
| buvi / bobo | bu-VI / bo-BO | grandmother / grandfather | |
| onam, otam | o-NAM, o-TAM | my mother, my father | What you say about your own parents: the -m ending means “my”. |
Capital letters mark the stressed syllable. Uzbek stress usually falls on the last syllable.
In a real exchange
- Host: Ota-onangiz qayerda yashaydi?
Where do your parents live? - You: Onam va otam Londonda yashaydi.
My mother and father live in London. - Host: Ota-onangiz nima ish qiladi?
What do your parents do? - You: Otam shifokor, onam oʻqituvchi.
My father is a doctor, my mother is a teacher.
Good to know
- Onam, otam: the -m ending means “my”. Onangiz, otangiz: “your” (polite).
- Ona tili is “mother tongue”; Vatan, the homeland, is often called Ona yurt.
- Asking after someone's parents is polite small talk, not prying.
- Onajon and otajon add -jon, an affectionate “dear”: o-na-JON, o-ta-JON.
Common mistakes
- Writing ana for mother. That is Turkish; the Uzbek word is ona.
- Saying ona for “my mother”. Ona alone is the general word; for your own, say onam.