See also: 麻将

Chinese

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(to have) pins and needles; tingling; hemp
(to have) pins and needles; tingling; hemp; numb; to bother
 
phonetic
trad. (麻將)
simp. (麻将)
 
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Etymology

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From 麻雀 (máquè, “sparrow”), with a Wu diminutive suffix /ŋ̍/ (syllabic velar nasal), retained in some Wu languages (compare Wenzhounese /ŋ̍/). This suffix then fused with the preceding syllable, and was conserved in the form of a nasal coda /-ŋ/. As an example compare Shanghainese (old pron.: /t͡ɕia̠ʔ⁵/) + /-ŋ̍/ /t͡ɕiã⁵³/.

The game of mahjong was called 馬吊马吊 (mǎdiào) during the Ming and Qing dynasties, where the second syllable presumably represented a Wu pronunciation of (niǎo) ("bird", see there for more).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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麻將

  1. mahjong
  2. (chiefly Wu, dated in Shanghainese) sparrow

Synonyms

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  • (mahjong):
  • (sparrow):

Derived terms

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Descendants

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Sino-Xenic (麻將):
  • Korean: 마장(麻將) (majang)

Others: