麻將

Etymology
From, with a Wu diminutive suffix (syllabic velar nasal), retained in some Wu languages (compare Wenzhounese ). This suffix then fused with the preceding syllable, and was conserved in the form of a nasal coda. As an example compare Shanghainese (old pron.: ) +  →.

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

Noun

 * 1) mahjong
 * 2)  sparrow

Synonyms




Descendants
Others: