# Hindi speakers **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 19, 2012, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hindi-speakers/644577 "2012-12-19T21:44:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sahirrnee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sahirrnee/32/13937_2.png) [@Sahirrnee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sahirrnee)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2012, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hindi-speakers/644577/1 "2012-12-19T21:44:45Z")
How would you translate the word ucha or uccha? Also, whenever I go in the corner store the Indian owner and his wife refer to me as Mama, with the emphasis on the second syllable. Is this because I usually have my son with me or does it mean something else? ---
**Author:** ![Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/4bbf92/32.png) [@Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heart_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2012, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hindi-speakers/644577/2 "2012-12-19T21:47:48Z")
Not at all a Hindi speaker, but perhaps you mean [accha](http://goindia.about.com/od/learningthelanguag1/tp/accha-hindi-meaning.htm). I usually hear the first syllable pronounced more like “uh” than “ah”, though really somewhere in between. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2012, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hindi-speakers/644577/3 "2012-12-19T21:52:16Z")
**Heart of Dorkness** beat me to the pañc. I was going to say acchā also. Well… good! ---
**Author:** ![Sahirrnee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sahirrnee/32/13937_2.png) [@Sahirrnee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sahirrnee)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2012, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hindi-speakers/644577/4 "2012-12-19T22:01:39Z")
I think there is a ucha as well which means exaltation or something similar. I’m not sure. ---
**Author:** ![Dervorin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Dervorin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dervorin)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2012, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hindi-speakers/644577/5 "2012-12-20T12:22:52Z")
Third guess for accha, which means: “good” or, depending on context, “okay (in the sense of agreeing with someone)” Ma (or Amma) in Hindi, just means “mother”; what’s confusing is that “mama”, with emphasis on the first syllable, means “uncle”. It’s a common form of address for someone who is male and older than you, whether related to you or not. Edited to add: Mamma, with emphasis on the second syllable, is indeed a word for mother; I misread the OP.