"هَل أَنْتِ دُكْتورة يا أُسْتاذة؟"
Translation:Are you a doctor, ma'am?
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mea domina -> ma dame -> madam -> ma’am (for centuries one word).
I don't see the point in using "ma'am" rather than "madam".
Ok from what I see in Wiktionary it's rather an American way of politeness. My English education is mainly British so I was very puzzled:
Wiktionary: In British English, ma'am has become uncommon In American English, the full form madam is limited as a form of address to certain highly formal environments, while ma'am is the usual term. Ma'am is not often used in the other sense of madam, but is used as a polite form of address toward: - a female teacher or school official in a school which emphasizes formality
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Only in Egypt say that, in other countries it sounds really weird. Saying are you a doctor, professor? Will make people laugh at you
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Ma'am should really be one word. Also, as a female, a doctor, and a professor, its really confusing wording/phrasing -- even if it (maybe?) is culturally appropriate.
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I think this must be an epic joke on the part of Duolingo. Of course they know that ma'am is one word, but they separate it into two words for a joke, and they must think it's a pretty good joke, since they don't correct it, and watch the students arguing over it. Actually, it makes me laugh each time I see it, so I suppose it is quite a good joke.
My problem, being from England, is that there isn't really an equivalent in English English. We simply don't address people as ma'am or sir (although I notice that "sir" is creeping - back - into the language, but it sounds American). So to translate أُسْتاذة here we have to resort to the American ma'am.
PLEASE READ: 1. The usage of "ma'am" in the South is NOT slang. It is the expected and polite way to address a woman, just as "sir" is used to address a man. It is reinforced in the schools, by parents, and heard everywhere in the South. 2. "Thank you, ma'am" is also heard in restaurants or retail stores in other parts of the United States, especially when food is served, money is paid, or anything else is done for another person by a woman. I know this, because I've lived in several states in different parts of the country, not just the South.
I hope I fully agree with you, Mr. Michelle. Translations are done as per rules of the language. Addressing a woman, a teacher, a nurse or any working woman in any establishment or in official capacity, they are now a days addressed as "ma'am" and not the old practice as "madam". Madam is still in use for addressing a lady. As per the liguistic rules, when a word, not only english word, but any word from other languages also, comes in common use, it becomes part of the literary script as also in the common usage. This is what I have studied as a student of English litrature. Thanking you.