ま


ま U+307E, ま
HIRAGANA LETTER MA
← ぽ
[U+307D] 		Hiragana み →
[U+307F]

Japanese
Stroke order
3 strokes

Pronunciation
    • IPA(key): [ma̠]

    Etymology 1

    Derived in the Heian period from writing the man'yōgana kanji 末 in the cursive sōsho style.

    Syllable

    ま • (ma) 

    1. The hiragana syllable ま (ma). Its equivalent in katakana is マ (ma). It is the thirty-first syllable in the gojūon order; its position is ま行あ段 (ma-gyō a-dan, “row ma, section a”).
    See also

    Etymology 2

    Alternative spelling
    間

    Pronunciation

    Noun

    ま • (ma) 

    1. 間: space; room
    Synonyms
    Derived terms

    Etymology 3

    Alternative spelling
    目

    From Old Japanese.[3] Appears to be the older, bound form of 目 (me2). See that entry for further details.

    Probably cognate with 見る (miru, “to see”) and 芽 (me, “bud”). Never found in isolation in modern Japanese. Remains as the first syllable of various compounds.

    Pronunciation
    • IPA(key): [ma̠]

    Noun

    ま • (ma) 

    1. 目, 眼: prefixal bound form of め (me, “eye”)
    Derived terms
    Derived terms

    Etymology 4

    Alternative spelling
    真

    From Old Japanese. Attested since at least the Kojiki of 712 CE.[3]

    Pronunciation

    (noun):

    (prefix):

    • IPA(key): [ma̠]
    (pitch accent depends on the entire prefixed word)

    Noun

    ま • (ma) 

    1. [from 712] 真: the truth, reality, genuineness
      Synonyms: 真実 (shinjitsu), 本当 (hontō)
    Idioms

    Prefix

    ま • (ma-) 

    1. [from 720] 真: real, genuine
      真(ま)心(ごころ) ― magokoro ― one's real mind, one's real thoughts and feelings about something
    2. [from 759] 真: pure, unadulterated
      真(ま)白(しろ) ― mashiro ― pure white
    3. [from 1595] 真: definitely, certainly, exactly, precisely, directly
      真(ま)上(うえ) ― maue ― directly above
    4. [date unknown] 真: true, real, main (appended to words for animals or plants to indicate the representative type)
      真(ま)竹(たけ) ― matake ― true bamboo
    5. [from 759] 真: (archaic, possibly obsolete, honorific) great, excellent
      真(ま)熊(くま)野(の) ― makumano ― great Kumano
    Derived terms
    Derived terms

    Etymology 5

    For pronunciation and definitions of ま – see the following entry.
    【魔】S
    [affix] demon, devil, evil spirit, evil influence
    (This term, ま, is the hiragana spelling of the above term.)
    For a list of all kanji read as ま, see Category:Japanese kanji read as ま.)

    References
    1. Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
    2. NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK Publishing, →ISBN
    3. Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
    This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.