馬打

Chinese

		phonetic
trad. (馬打)		馬	打
simp. (马打)		马	打
alternative forms		馬達／马达

Etymology

Borrowed from Malay mata-mata (“police”).

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): mǎdǎ

  (Zhuyin): ㄇㄚˇ ㄉㄚˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): maa³ daa¹ / maa⁵ daa¹
• Southern Min

  (Hokkien, POJ): má-tâ / mā-tà

  (Teochew, Peng'im): ma¹ da⁶

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: mǎdǎ [Phonetic: mádǎ]
    • Zhuyin: ㄇㄚˇ ㄉㄚˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: mǎdǎ
    • Wade–Giles: ma³-ta³
    • Yale: mǎ-dǎ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: maadaa
    • Palladius: мада (mada)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /mä²¹⁴⁻³⁵ tä²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: maa³ daa¹ / maa⁵ daa¹
    • Yale: ma dā / máh dā
    • Cantonese Pinyin: maa³ daa¹ / maa⁵ daa¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: ma³ da¹ / ma⁵ da¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /maː³³ taː⁵⁵/, /maː¹³ taː⁵⁵/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Singapore, Penang)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: má-tâ
    • Tâi-lô: má-tâ
    • Phofsit Daibuun: mafdaa
    • IPA (Penang): /ma⁴⁴⁵⁻³³ ta²³/
    • IPA (Singapore): /ma⁴²⁻²⁴ ta²⁴/
  • (Hokkien: Penang)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: mā-tà
    • Tâi-lô: mā-tà
    • Phofsit Daibuun: maxdax
    • IPA (Penang): /ma²¹ ta²¹/
  • (Teochew)
    • Peng'im: ma¹ da⁶
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: ma tă
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ma³³⁻²³ ta³⁵/

Noun

(deprecated template usage) 馬打

1. (Singapore, Malaysia) police; police officer

   • 駕車又驚馬達追，驚會抓去吹口哨 [Hokkien, trad.]
     驾车又惊马达追，惊会抓去吹口哨 [Hokkien, simp.]

     From: 2004, 黃一飛與喵喵組合, 搖來搖去

     hōaⁿ-chhia iū kiaⁿ má-tâ tui, kiaⁿ ē lia̍h khì pûn pi-pi [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]

     When driving, I'm afraid that the police will chase after me, that they will catch me and blow their whistles.

   • 馬打便招了你老弟去問問作作記錄好交差。 [MSC, trad.]
     马打便招了你老弟去问问作作记录好交差。 [MSC, simp.]

     From: 2010 September 6, 敦符国荣博士 (Tun Dr Foo Kok Yong), 黄明志老弟，你是可以的。

     Mǎdǎ biàn zhāo le nǐ lǎodì qù wènwèn zuòzuò jìlù hǎo jiāochāi. [Pinyin]

     So the police beckoned your younger brother for interrogation so that he could get a record to report on.

Synonyms

Dialectal synonyms of 警察 (“police; police officer”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		警察, 警官, 警員
Northeastern Mandarin	Beijing	警察, 雷子 argot
	Taiwan	警察
	Chifeng	警察
	Hulunbuir (Hailar)	警察
	Harbin	警察
	Shenyang	警察
	Malaysia	警察, 馬打
	Singapore	警察, 馬打 dated
Jilu Mandarin	Tianjin	警察
	Tangshan	警察
	Cangzhou	民警
	Baoding	警察
	Shijiazhuang	警察
	Jinan	警察
Jiaoliao Mandarin	Yantai (Muping)	警察
	Qingdao	警察
Central Plains Mandarin	Luoyang	警察
	Wanrong	警察
	Zhengzhou	警察
	Xi'an	警察
	Xining	警察
	Xuzhou	警察
Lanyin Mandarin	Yinchuan	警察
	Lanzhou	警察
	Ürümqi	警察
Southwestern Mandarin	Chengdu	警察
	Chongqing	警察
	Wuhan	警察
	Guiyang	警察, 警士 dated, 警士先生 dated face-to-face, 貓菜 dated nickname
	Kunming	警察
	Guilin	警察
	Liuzhou	警察, 警伯 playful
	Binyang (Nanjie)	警察, 走狗 argot
	Xiangtan (Jiangnan Industries Group koine)	警察
	Dagudi (Maliba)	警察
	Reshuitang (Longling)	警察
	Mae Salong (Lancang)	警察
	Mae Sai (Tengchong)	警察
Jianghuai Mandarin	Nanjing	警察
	Yangzhou	警察
	Nantong	警察
	Hefei	警察
Cantonese	Guangzhou	警察, 差人, 差佬 male, 老二 dated
	Hong Kong	警察, 差人, 阿Sir male, madam female, 差佬 male, slightly derogatory, 差婆 female, slightly derogatory, 警犬 derogatory, 狗 derogatory, 龜 derogatory, 老更 dated
	Taishan	警察
	Dongguan	阿Sir, 差佬
	Qinzhou	警察, 差佬
	Beihai (Qiaogang - Cô Tô)	警察, 公安
	Beihai (Qiaogang - Cát Bà)	警察, 公安, 差佬
	Fangchenggang (Fangcheng)	警察
	Kuala Lumpur (Guangfu)	馬打
	Singapore (Guangfu)	馬打
	Ho Chi Minh City (Guangfu)	公安, 綠衣, 警察
	Móng Cái	警察, 公安
Gan	Lichuan	警察
Hakka	Meixian	警察
	Yudu	警察
	Miaoli (N. Sixian)	警察
	Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian)	警察
	Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu)	警察
	Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu)	巡查, 警察
	Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping)	警察
	Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an)	巡查
Huizhou	Jixi	警察
	Shexian	警察
Jin	Taiyuan	警察
	Xinzhou	警察, 小對子 dated
	Linhe	警察
	Jining	警察
	Hohhot	警察
	Zhangjiakou	警察
	Handan	警察
Eastern Min	Fuzhou	警察
	Fuqing	警察
	Matsu	警察
Southern Min	Xiamen	警察, 馬打 dated, 烏跤 dated, derogatory
	Quanzhou	警察
	Zhangzhou	警察, 烏跤 dated, derogatory
	Taipei	大人
	Kaohsiung	警察
	Yilan	警察
	Changhua (Lukang)	警察
	Taichung	巡查
	Taichung (Wuqi)	警察
	Tainan	大人, 賊頭 GT, derogatory
	Hsinchu	警察
	Kinmen	馬打
	Penghu (Magong)	大人
	Penang (Hokkien)	馬打
	Singapore (Hokkien)	馬打, 大狗
	Manila (Hokkien)	兵, 警察, 臭兵 derogatory
	Guilin (Biyange)	警察
	Chaozhou	警察
	Shantou	警察
	Johor Bahru (Teochew)	馬打
	Singapore (Teochew)	馬打, 大狗, 大狗兄
	Batam (Teochew)	馬打
	Haikou	警察
Central Min	Nanping (Wangtai, Yanping)	警察
Zhongshan Min	Zhongshan (Longdu, Shaxi)	警察, 差佬
Southern Pinghua	Nanning (Tingzi)	警察
Wu	Shanghai	警察, 黑貓警長, 黑貓, 老貓
	Shanghai (Chongming)	警察
	Suzhou	警察
	Danyang	警察
	Ningbo	警察, 警察爛眼 derogatory
	Wenzhou	警察
	Jinhua	警察
Xiang	Changsha	警察
	Loudi	警察
Note	GT - General Taiwanese (no specific region identified)

Descendants

• → Thai: หมาต๋า (mǎa-dtǎa)