On 30/12/12 09:29, Lisi Reisz wrote:

>> I didn't see that you ever got an answer to the above question. The
>> answer is that it's both. "Mom" is American and "Mum" is British. I
>> don't know what they use in English Canada.
>
> He did get one.  I was the OP and I replied.
>
> I said what you said, but with the addition that I pointed out that because of
> local accents, Mum and Mom are usually pronounced to sound almost exactly the
> same.

Not in my experience. Do you mind if I ask what country you are in?

As an Australian, we get a lot of British and American television, and the British
"mum" (sounds like "drum" or "dumb" or "rum") and American "mom" (sounds like "Tom"
or "bomb" or "prom") is very distinct. My wife has spent half her life travelling
backwards and forwards between England and the US, and she agrees that the two are
pronounced very differently.

For what it's worth, here in Australia and despite the influence of American
television and movies, we stick with the British "mum" or "mummy".

Oh, and there are also regional north English dialects that use "mam", as do
the Irish.



-- 
Steven