25953
Consider the following conversation quoted from a textbook used in my class.
鈴木 is the mother of 鈴木伸.

> 鈴木：伸ちゃん、 **お母さん** が試着{しちゃく}している間、ここで待っていてね。
>
> 鈴木伸：うん。

In my understanding, お母さん is used to refer to mothers of other people, and 母
is used to refer to the speaker's own mother. So 母 is not possible in this
case.

When referring to herself, is there any pronoun other than お母さん when speaking
to her children?
CC BY-SA 4.0
2015-07-26T03:47:31.423
25947
2021-10-19T04:13:04.140
2021-10-19T04:13:04.140
30454
9896
question
nouns
When referring to herself, is there any pronoun other than お母さん when speaking to her children?
Actually, it is natural to use お母さん in the situation. Although お母さん means
mother, but the usage is different from English. In Japanese family, when you
say お母さん, it does NOT mean my お母さん, but it is お母さん of the youngest child in
the family.

Here is why お母さん can refer to herself:  
お母さん of the youngest child in the family  
= お母さん of 伸  
= herself  

This calling system based on the youngest child is common in Japan because
people in the family want the youngest child to remember what to call them.

So in the situation, all the word which means "mother" can refer herself. お母さん
and ママ are very common.

Off course, the mother also can say 私 to refer herself. It sounds the child
(伸) is more mature as his mother already finished the education on how to call
his mother.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-07-26T05:28:15.840
25948
2015-07-26T05:28:15.840
9608
25947
answer
It's 私.

It's not necessarily impossible to use はは in that case, though it sounds
outrageously out-dated.

You use お母さん when you are in a position where you should look up to her. So,
you use it when you refer to your own mother in speaking to her or other
member of your own family.

On the other hand, you use はは when you should look up to the listener compared
with your mother, that is, when you are speaking to people outside your own
family.

Kids are allowed to be ignorant at Standard Japanese. So they may always say
お母さん.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-07-26T07:27:39.520
25950
2015-07-26T07:36:14.647
2015-07-26T07:36:14.647
4092
4092
25947
answer
The short answer is that the list would be somewhat long if not endless.

Why so? Because whatever word a kid uses to address his/her own mom with, the
mom will use that word to refer to herself with _**as if it were a first-
person pronoun**_. You would almost need to forget English to appreciate this
phenomenon in Japanese.

(Your second paragraph from the bottom worries me slightly because, frankly,
the 母{はは} vs. お母{かあ}さん issue has nothing to do with the matter.)

How kids address their moms differ from one family to another. The more common
words would include:

「お母さん」、「母さん」、「おかあちゃん」、「かあちゃん」、「ママ」, etc.

None of these are "pronouns" by the book, but regardless of what dictionaries
may name them, they are used just like first-person pronouns in real life.
When speaking to their own kids, moms use those words to refer to themselves
while the kids are young.

When the kid reaches a certain age, the mom starts using a "real" first-person
pronoun such as 「わたし」, 「あたし」, etc. to refer to herself when talking to her own
kid. When that happens, again, differs from one family to another.

In my own case, my mother, who had originally referred to herself only as
「お母さん」 when talking to me, started using a combination of 「お母さん」 and 「わたし」
while I was in junior high or high school and she completely switched to 「わたし」
after I graduated from high school if I remember correctly.
CC BY-SA 4.0
2015-07-26T11:41:54.390
25953
2021-10-19T03:00:29.077
2021-10-19T03:00:29.077
25947
answer