мая

Belarusian

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [maˈja]

Pronoun

мая́ • (majá)

nominative feminine singular of мой (moj)

Bulgarian

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *majati.

Bulgarian Etymological Dictionary distinguish the meaning “to delay, to dally” (under мая¹) from “to mesmerise, to wonder” (under мая²).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ˈmajɐ]

Verb

ма́я • (mája) first-singular present indicative, impf

(transitive, intransitive, primary meaning) to waver, to sway
1. (transitive, intransitive, obsolete) to beacon, to signal
2. (transitive, colloquial) to divert someone's attention, to distract
3. (transitive, colloquial) to delay, to detain somebody from doing something
4. (reflexive with се, obsolete) to roam back and forth
5. (reflexive with се) to dawdle, to loiter, to dally
(transitive, secondary meaning) to mesmerise, to amaze
1. (transitive, dialectal) to charm, to enchant
2. (transitive, dialectal) to stun, to surprise
3. (reflexive with се) to wonder, to dither, to ponder
  чу́дя и се ма́я (phraseologism) ― čúdja i se mája ― to be contemplating [over some question, dilemma]

Usage notes

Only the passive мая се (maja se) is widely used within the standard language. The (ambi)transitive meanings are mostly colloquial or dialectal.

Conjugation

Conjugation of ма́я (conjugation 1.6, imperfective, transitive)

participles		present active participle	past active aorist participle	past active imperfect participle	past passive participle	verbal noun	adverbial participle
masculine	indefinite	ма́ещ máešt	ма́ял, мая́л¹ májal, majál¹	ма́ел máel	ма́ян májan		ма́ейки máejki
	definite subject form	ма́ещият máeštijat	ма́ялият, мая́лият¹ májalijat, majálijat¹	—	ма́яният májanijat
	definite object form	ма́ещия máeštija	ма́ялия, мая́лия¹ májalija, majálija¹	—	ма́яния májanija
feminine	indefinite	ма́еща máešta	ма́яла, мая́ла¹ májala, majála¹	ма́ела máela	ма́яна májana
feminine	definite	ма́ещата máeštata	ма́ялата, мая́лата¹ májalata, majálata¹	—	ма́яната májanata
neuter	indefinite	ма́ещо máešto	ма́яло, мая́ло¹ májalo, majálo¹	ма́ело máelo	ма́яно májano	ма́ене máene
neuter	definite	ма́ещото máeštoto	ма́ялото, мая́лото¹ májaloto, majáloto¹	—	ма́яното májanoto	ма́енето máeneto
plural	indefinite	ма́ещи máešti	ма́яли, мая́ли¹ májali, majáli¹	ма́ели máeli	ма́яни májani	ма́ения, ма́енета máenija, máeneta
plural	definite	ма́ещите máeštite	ма́ялите, мая́лите¹ májalite, majálite¹	—	ма́яните májanite	ма́енията, ма́енетата máenijata, máenetata

person		singular			plural
person		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		аз	ти	той/тя/то	ние	вие	те
present		ма́я mája	ма́еш máeš	ма́е máe	ма́ем máem	ма́ете máete	ма́ят májat
imperfect		ма́ех máeh	ма́еше máeše	ма́еше máeše	ма́ехме máehme	ма́ехте máehte	ма́еха máeha
aorist		ма́ях, мая́х¹ májah, majáh¹	ма́я, мая́¹ mája, majá¹	ма́я, мая́¹ mája, majá¹	ма́яхме, мая́хме¹ májahme, majáhme¹	ма́яхте, мая́хте¹ májahte, majáhte¹	ма́яха, мая́ха¹ májaha, majáha¹
future	pos.	Use ще followed by the present indicative tense
future	neg.	Use ня́ма да followed by the present indicative tense
future in the past	pos.	Use the imperfect indicative tense of ща followed by да and the present indicative tense
future in the past	neg.	Use ня́маше да followed by the present indicative tense
present perfect		Use the present indicative tense of съм and ма́ял/мая́л¹ m, ма́яла/мая́ла¹ f, ма́яло/мая́ло¹ n, or ма́яли/мая́ли¹ pl
past perfect		Use the imperfect indicative tense of съм and ма́ял/мая́л¹ m, ма́яла/мая́ла¹ f, ма́яло/мая́ло¹ n, or ма́яли/мая́ли¹ pl
future perfect		Use the future indicative tense of съм and ма́ял/мая́л¹ m, ма́яла/мая́ла¹ f, ма́яло/мая́ло¹ n, or ма́яли/мая́ли¹ pl
future perfect in the past		Use the future in the past indicative tense of съм and ма́ял/мая́л¹ m, ма́яла/мая́ла¹ f, ма́яло/мая́ло¹ n, or ма́яли/мая́ли¹ pl
renarrative		аз	ти	той/тя/то	ние	вие	те
present and imperfect		Use the present indicative tense of съм (leave it out in third person) and ма́ел m, ма́ела f, ма́ело n, or ма́ели pl
aorist		Use the present indicative tense of съм (leave it out in third person) and ма́ял/мая́л¹ m, ма́яла/мая́ла¹ f, ма́яло/мая́ло¹ n, or ма́яли/мая́ли¹ pl
future and future in the past	pos.	Use the present/imperfect renarrative tense of ща followed by да and the present indicative tense
future and future in the past	neg.	Use ня́мало да and the present indicative tense
present and past perfect		Use the present/imperfect renarrative tense of съм and ма́ял/мая́л¹ m, ма́яла/мая́ла¹ f, ма́яло/мая́ло¹ n, or ма́яли/мая́ли¹ pl
future perfect and future perfect in the past		Use the future/future in the past renarrative tense of съм and ма́ял/мая́л¹ m, ма́яла/мая́ла¹ f, ма́яло/мая́ло¹ n, or ма́яли/мая́ли¹ pl
dubitative		аз	ти	той/тя/то	ние	вие	те
present and imperfect		Use the present/imperfect renarrative tense of съм and ма́ел m, ма́ела f, ма́ело n, or ма́ели pl
aorist		Use the aorist renarrative tense of съм and ма́ял/мая́л¹ m, ма́яла/мая́ла¹ f, ма́яло/мая́ло¹ n, or ма́яли/мая́ли¹ pl
future and future in the past	pos.	Use the present/imperfect dubitative tense of ща followed by да and the present indicative tense
future and future in the past	neg.	Use ня́мало било́ да and the present indicative tense
present and past perfect		none
future perfect and future perfect in the past		Use the future/future in the past dubitative tense of съм and ма́ял/мая́л¹ m, ма́яла/мая́ла¹ f, ма́яло/мая́ло¹ n, or ма́яли/мая́ли¹ pl
conclusive		аз	ти	той/тя/то	ние	вие	те
present and imperfect		Use the present indicative tense of съм and ма́ел m, ма́ела f, ма́ело n, or ма́ели pl
aorist		Use the present indicative tense of съм and ма́ял/мая́л¹ m, ма́яла/мая́ла¹ f, ма́яло/мая́ло¹ n, or ма́яли/мая́ли¹ pl
future and future in the past	pos.	Use the present/imperfect conclusive tense of ща followed by да and the present indicative tense
future and future in the past	neg.	Use ня́мало е да and the present indicative tense
present and past perfect		Use the present/imperfect conclusive tense of съм and ма́ял/мая́л¹ m, ма́яла/мая́ла¹ f, ма́яло/мая́ло¹ n, or ма́яли/мая́ли¹ pl
future perfect and future perfect in the past		Use the future/future in the past conclusive tense of съм and ма́ял/мая́л¹ m, ма́яла/мая́ла¹ f, ма́яло/мая́ло¹ n, or ма́яли/мая́ли¹ pl
conditional		аз	ти	той/тя/то	ние	вие	те
conditional		Use the first aorist indicative tense of бъ́да and ма́ял/мая́л¹ m, ма́яла/мая́ла¹ f, ма́яло/мая́ло¹ n, or ма́яли/мая́ли¹ pl
imperative		-	ти	-	-	вие	-
imperative			май maj			ма́йте májte

¹Dialectally marked.

Alternative forms

ма́ям (májam) — with generalized a-conjugation

Derived terms

майо́сам (majósam) майо́тя (majótja), маю́вам (majúvam) (dialectal)
замая pf (zamaja), замайвам impf (zamajvam)
- главозама́я pf (glavozamája), главозама́йвам impf (glavozamájvam, “to blow one's mind”) (figurative)
измая се pf (izmaja se), измайвам се impf (izmajvam se, “to dawdle”) (dialectal)
намая се pf (namaja se), намайвам се impf (namajvam se)
омая pf (omaja), омайвам impf (omajvam)
помая pf (pomaja), помайвам impf (pomajvam)
премая pf (premaja), премайвам impf (premajvam, “to lure”) (dialectal)
размая се pf (razmaja se), размайвам се impf (razmajvam se, “to moon about”) (dialectal)
смая pf (smaja), смайвам impf (smajvam, “to astound”)
ма́еж (máež) (action noun)
мая́к (maják, “beacon”) (Russian loanword)
маи́ло (maílo), маи́лка (maílka, “dilly-dally, indolent behaviour”) (dialectal)

Related terms

ма́мя (mámja, “to deceive, to swindle”)
ма́хам (máham, “to waver, to remove”)

References

“ма̀я, ма̀я се (гл.)”, in Речник на българския език [Dictionary of the Bulgarian Language] (in Bulgarian), Sofia: Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 2014
“ма̀я (гл.)”, in Речник на българския език [Dictionary of the Bulgarian Language] (in Bulgarian), Chitanka, 2010
Nayden Gerov (1899) “ма́ѭ, -ешь; ма́ꙗлъ”, in Рѣчникъ на Блъгарскꙑй язꙑкъ. Съ тлъкувание рѣчи-тꙑ на Блъгарскꙑ и на Русскꙑ. [Dictionary of the Bulgarian language]‎^[1] (in Bulgarian), volume 3, Plovdiv: Дружествена печꙗтница "Съгласие.", page 56
Georgiev, Vladimir I., editor (1986), “мая¹, мая²”, in Български етимологичен речник [Bulgarian Etymological Dictionary] (in Bulgarian), volume 3 (крес¹ – мѝнго¹), Sofia: Bulgarian Academy of Sciences Pubg. House, page 701

Russian

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ˈmajə]

Etymology 1

Noun

ма́я • (mája) m inan

genitive singular of май (maj)

Etymology 2

Participle

ма́я • (mája)

present adverbial imperfective participle of ма́ять (májatʹ)