父母

Chinese

		father	female; mother
simp. and trad. (父母)		父	母

Etymology 1

Dvandva of 父 (fù, “father”) + 母 (mǔ, “mother”)

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Standard)
(Pinyin): fùmǔ

(Zhuyin): ㄈㄨˋ ㄇㄨˇ

(Dungan, Cyrillic and Wiktionary): фуму (fumu, III-I)
Cantonese
(Guangzhou–Hong Kong, Jyutping): fu⁶ mou⁵

(Taishan, Wiktionary): fu⁵ mu⁴
Gan (Wiktionary): 'fu⁵ mu³
Hakka
(Sixian, PFS): fu-mû

(Meixian, Guangdong): fu⁴ mu¹
Southern Min
(Hokkien, POJ): hū-bú / hǔ-bió / hū-bó / hū-bió / hū-bó͘

(Teochew, Peng'im): bê⁶ bho²
Wu (Northern, Wugniu): ⁶vu-mu₆ / ⁴vu-mu₄

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: fùmǔ
  - Zhuyin: ㄈㄨˋ ㄇㄨˇ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: fùmǔ
  - Wade–Giles: fu⁴-mu³
  - Yale: fù-mǔ
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: fuhmuu
  - Palladius: фуму (fumu)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /fu⁵¹ mu²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
- (Dungan)
  - Cyrillic and Wiktionary: фуму (fumu, III-I)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /fou⁴⁴ mou²⁴/
  (Note: Dungan pronunciation is currently experimental and may be inaccurate.)
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: fu⁶ mou⁵
  - Yale: fuh móuh
  - Cantonese Pinyin: fu⁶ mou⁵
  - Guangdong Romanization: fu⁶ mou⁵
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /fuː²² mou̯¹³/
- (Taishanese, Taicheng)
  - Wiktionary: fu⁵ mu⁴
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /fu³² ᵐbu²¹/
Gan
- (Nanchang)
  - Wiktionary: 'fu⁵ mu³
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ˈfu¹¹ mu²¹³/
Hakka
- (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
  - Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: fu-mû
  - Hakka Romanization System: fu mu^ˊ
  - Hagfa Pinyim: fu⁴ mu¹
  - Sinological IPA: /fu⁵⁵ mu²⁴/
- (Meixian)
  - Guangdong: fu⁴ mu¹
  - Sinological IPA: /fu⁵³ mu⁴⁴/
Southern Min
- (Hokkien: Xiamen)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: hū-bú
  - Tâi-lô: hū-bú
  - Phofsit Daibuun: huxbuo
  - IPA (Xiamen): /hu²²⁻²¹ bu⁵³/
- (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: hǔ-bió
  - Tâi-lô: hǔ-bió
  - IPA (Quanzhou): /hu²² bio⁵⁵⁴/
- (Hokkien: Zhangzhou)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: hū-bó
  - Tâi-lô: hū-bó
  - Phofsit Daibuun: huxboir
  - IPA (Zhangzhou): /hu²²⁻²¹ bo⁵³/
- (Hokkien: General Taiwanese)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: hū-bió
  - Tâi-lô: hū-bió
  - Phofsit Daibuun: huxbioir
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /hu³³⁻²¹ biɤ⁴¹/
  - IPA (Taipei): /hu³³⁻¹¹ bio⁵³/
- (Hokkien: variant in Taiwan)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: hū-bó͘
  - Tâi-lô: hū-bóo
  - Phofsit Daibuun: huxbor
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /hu³³⁻²¹ bɔ⁴¹/
  - IPA (Taipei): /hu³³⁻¹¹ bɔ⁵³/
- (Teochew)
  - Peng'im: bê⁶ bho²
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: pĕ bó
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /pe³⁵⁻¹¹ bo⁵²/
Wu
- (Northern: Shanghai)
  - Wugniu: ⁶vu-mu₆
  - MiniDict: vu^去 mu^去
  - Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ³vu-mu₃
  - Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /vu²² mu⁴⁴/
- (Northern: Jiaxing)
  - Wugniu: ⁴vu-mu₄
  - MiniDict: vu^上 mu^上
  - Sinological IPA (Jiaxing): /vu²² mu¹³/

Middle Chinese: bjuX muwX

Rime
Character	父	母
Reading #	2/2	1/1
Initial (聲)	並 (3)	明 (4)
Final (韻)	虞 (24)	侯 (137)
Tone (調)	Rising (X)	Rising (X)
Openness (開合)	Closed	Open
Division (等)	III	I
Fanqie	扶雨切	莫厚切
Baxter	bjuX	muwX
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/bɨo^X/	/məu^X/
Pan Wuyun	/bio^X/	/məu^X/
Shao Rongfen	/bio^X/	/məu^X/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/buə̆^X/	/məw^X/
Li Rong	/bio^X/	/mu^X/
Wang Li	/bĭu^X/	/məu^X/
Bernhard Karlgren	/bʱi̯u^X/	/mə̯u^X/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	fù	mǒu
Expected Cantonese Reflex	fu⁶	mau⁵

Old Chinese
(Baxter–Sagart): /*[N-p](r)aʔ məʔ/

(Zhengzhang): /*baʔ mɯʔ/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	父	母
Reading #	2/2	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	fù	mǔ
Middle Chinese	‹ bju^X ›	‹ muw^X ›
Old Chinese	/*[N-p](r)aʔ/	/məʔ/ (? or mˁoʔ)
English	father	mother
Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system: * Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence; * Square brackets "[]" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. [t] as coda may in fact be -t or -p; Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix; * Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary; * Period "." indicates syllable boundary.

Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character	父	母
Reading #	2/2	1/1
No.	3504	9288
Phonetic component	父	母
Rime group	魚	之
Rime subdivision	0	0
Corresponding MC rime	父	母
Old Chinese	/*baʔ/	/*mɯʔ/

Noun

父母

parents; mother and father; mum and dad
生身父母 ― shēngshēn fùmǔ ― biological parents

父母恩情比天大。 [MSC, trad. and simp.]
Fùmǔ ēnqíng bǐ tiān dà. [Pinyin]
Parental affection knows no bounds.

我父母三年前分居了。 [MSC, trad. and simp.]
Wǒ fùmǔ sān nián qián fēnjū le. [Pinyin]
My parents separated three years ago.

為什麼我的父母從來不為我考慮？ [MSC, trad.]
为什么我的父母从来不为我考虑？ [MSC, simp.]
Wèishénme wǒ de fùmǔ cónglái bù wèi wǒ kǎolǜ? [Pinyin]
Why don't mum and dad ever take me into consideration?

子女忤逆不孝實在令父母寒心。 [MSC, trad.]
子女忤逆不孝实在令父母寒心。 [MSC, simp.]
Zǐnǚ wǔnì bùxiào shízài lìng fùmǔ hánxīn. [Pinyin]
Wayward children who are unfilial are a disappointment to their parents.
short for 父母官 (fùmǔguān)

Synonyms

(parents): (polite, non-face-to-face term of address) 老人家 (lǎorenjia)

Dialectal synonyms of 父母 (“father and mother; parents”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Classical Chinese		父母, 爺娘, 怙恃, 雙親
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		父母, 雙親, 父母親
Northeastern Mandarin	Beijing	爹媽, 老家兒
	Taiwan	爸媽
	Singapore	爸媽, 家長
Jilu Mandarin	Jinan	老的兒, 爹媽
Jiaoliao Mandarin	Yantai (Muping)	老兒的
Central Plains Mandarin	Xi'an	媽爸
Lanyin Mandarin	Yinchuan	娘老子
	Lanzhou	娘老子, 老漢們
	Ürümqi	娘老子
Southwestern Mandarin	Chengdu	娘老子, 媽老漢兒
	Chongqing	媽老漢兒
	Wuhan	娘老子, 兩老
	Liuzhou	娘老子
Jianghuai Mandarin	Nanjing	娘老子
	Yangzhou	娘老子
	Nantong	爺娘
Cantonese	Guangzhou	老豆老母
	Hong Kong	老豆老母, 爹哋媽咪, 阿爸阿媽
	Yangjiang	老子阿奶
Gan	Nanchang	爺娘
Gan	Pingxiang	娘爺
Hakka	Meixian	爺哀
	Xingning	爺哀
	Huidong (Daling)	阿爸阿姆
	Dongguan (Qingxi)	阿姆阿爸
	Shaoguan (Qujiang)	爺哀
	Lianshan (Xiaosanjiang)	阿爸阿姆
	Liannan	爺哀
	Jiexi	爺哀
	Zhao'an (Xiuzhuan)	爺哀
	Changting	爹哀, 爺哀
	Wuping	爺哀
	Wuping (Yanqian)	爺哀
	Wuping (Pingyu)	爺哀
	Ninghua	爹母
	Ningdu	爹姐
	Ruijin	哀爹, 爺娘, 爺哀
	Shicheng	爹哀
	Shangyou (Shexi)	爺姐
	Tonggu (Sandu)	娘爺
	Ganzhou (Panlong)	爺姐
	Dayu	爺佬姐佬
	Miaoli (N. Sixian)	爺哀, 爺娘, 兩老
	Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian)	爺哀, 爺娘, 兩老
	Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu)	爺哀, 爺娘, 兩老
	Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu)	爺哀, 爺娘, 兩老
	Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping)	爺哀, 爺娘, 兩老
	Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an)	爺哀, 爺母, 兩老
	Hong Kong	阿爸阿姆
	Yangxi (Tangkou)	老子阿奶
	Yangchun (Sanjia)	父母
	Xinyi (Sihe)	爺哀
	Xinyi (Qianpai)	爺哀
	Gaozhou (Xindong)	爸媽
	Maoming (Shalang, Dianbai)	父母親
	Huazhou (Xin'an)	爺哀
	Lianjiang (Shijiao)	爺哀, 爸哀
	Lianjiang (Qingping)	爸哀
	Luchuan	爸媽
Huizhou	Jixi	娘老子, 老子娘, 老子爺娘
Jin	Taiyuan	爹娘
Jin	Xinzhou	老子娘
Northern Min	Jian'ou	爹奶
Eastern Min	Fuzhou	爸奶
Eastern Min	Matsu	爸奶
Southern Min	Xiamen	爸母, 老爸母
	Quanzhou	爸母, 老爸母
	Jinjiang	爸母
	Zhangzhou	爸母, 老爸母
	Zhao'an	爸母
	Taipei	爸母
	New Taipei (Sanxia)	爸母
	Kaohsiung	爸母
	Yilan	爸母
	Changhua (Lukang)	爸母
	Taichung	爸母
	Tainan	爸母
	Hsinchu	爸母
	Kinmen	爸母
	Penghu (Magong)	爸母
	Penang (Hokkien)	爸母
	Singapore (Hokkien)	爸母
	Manila (Hokkien)	爸母
	Chaozhou	父嬡, 爸母
	Jieyang	父嬡
	Singapore (Teochew)	爸母
Wu	Shanghai	爺娘
	Suzhou	爺娘
	Danyang	娘啊老子, 爺娘 rare
	Hangzhou	娘老子
	Ningbo	爹娘
	Wenzhou	奶阿伯, 阿伯奶
Xiang	Changsha	爺娘
Xiang	Shuangfeng	爺娘

Derived terms

再生父母 (zàishēng fùmǔ)
嗣父母
在家靠父母，出外靠朋友
天下父母心 (tiānxià fùmǔ xīn)
恩同父母
父母之命
父母之命，媒妁之言
父母之邦
父母國 / 父母国
父母在，不遠遊 / 父母在，不远游
父母子女
父母官 (fùmǔguān)
父母恩勤
父母親 / 父母亲 (fùmǔqīn)
父母雙亡 / 父母双亡
父母養我們小，我們養父母老 / 父母养我们小，我们养父母老
父母骨肉
生身父母 (shēngshēn fùmǔ)
直升機父母 / 直升机父母 (zhíshēngjī fùmǔ)
衣食父母 (yīshífùmǔ)
親生父母 / 亲生父母
重生父母 (chóngshēng fùmǔ)
養父母 / 养父母 (yǎngfùmǔ)
養身父母 / 养身父母

Etymology 2

For pronunciation and definitions of 父母 – see 爸母 (“father and mother; parents”). (This term is a variant form of 爸母).

Japanese

Kanji in this term
父	母
ふ Grade: 2	ぼ Grade: 2
on'yomi

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) ふぼ [fúꜜbò] (Atamadaka – [1])^[1]
IPA^(key): [ɸɯ̟bo̞]

Noun

父(ふ)母(ぼ) • (fubo) : lit. "father-mother"

parents; father and mother

Synonyms

親(おや) (oya) (lit. "relatives, parents, close relations")
両(りょう)親(しん) (ryōshin), 両(ふた)親(おや) (futaoya) (both parents)

References

^ NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN

Korean

Hanja in this term
父	母

Noun

父母 • (bumo) (hangeul 부모)

hanja form^? of 부모 (“parent, parents”)

Vietnamese

chữ Hán Nôm in this term
父	母

Noun

父母

chữ Hán form of phụ mẫu (“parents”)

[NHK-1] NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN

[1]

Chinese

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

Noun

Synonyms

Derived terms

Etymology 2

Further reading

Japanese

Pronunciation

Noun

Synonyms

References

Korean

Noun

Vietnamese

Noun