麻將

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 雀 (old pron.: /t͡ɕia̠ʔ⁵/) + /-ŋ̍/ → 將 /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 鳥／鸟 (niǎo) ("bird", see there for more).

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麻將

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

• (mahjong):

Lua error in Module:utilities at line 142: attempt to perform arithmetic on local 'h' (a nil value)

• (sparrow):

Lua error in Module:utilities at line 142: attempt to perform arithmetic on local 'h' (a nil value)

Others:

• → English: mahjong
• → Japanese: 麻(マー)雀(ジャン) (mājan)