母, Haha - Meaning in Japanese

The word haha means "mother" in Japanese (or it's a laugh, haha). It's somewhat synonymous with okaasan お母さん, but differs in usage. (see haha vs. okaasan). The "father" counterpart would be chichi 父.

• Kanji
• Derived Words

Kanji

The word haha written with kanji is haha 母.

Given that haha is written with a very basic kanji, it's unlikely to be written without kanji, but here's how you'd write it with kana anyway just in case:

• haha はは (hiragana)
• haha ハハ (katakana)

Note that haha ハハ is more likely to be a laugh, literally "haha," rather than somebody's mother because onomatopoeia are usually written with katakana.

Derived Words

A number of Japanese words derive from haha 母 and also mean mother.

The word hahaoya 母親 is usually an indirect way to refer to one's mother, referring to them as a "parent," oya 親, rather than directly.

The word hahaue 母上 is a respectful word that was more common in the past but isn't really used nowadays. In anime, its usage usually denotes the character comes from a more traditional family, anachronistic.

The words hahagimi 母君 and hahago 母御 are also rather old-fashioned ways to refer to one's mother. They may be found in writing sometimes.