mā

See also: Appendix:Variations of "ma"

Ashkun

Etymology

From Common Nuristani *māi, probably an early borrowing of Middle Chinese 米 (mej^X). Compare Tregami myä, Waigali mä, Kamkata-viri mo.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmaː/

Noun

mā (Sanu)

1. husked rice

Hokkien

For pronunciation and definitions of mā – see 嘛 (“also”). (This term is the pe̍h-ōe-jī form of 嘛).

Japanese

Romanization

mā

1. Rōmaji transcription of まあ

Mandarin

Alternative forms

• ma — nonstandard

Romanization

mā (ma¹, Zhuyin ㄇㄚ)

1. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 媽 / 妈
2. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 嬤 / 嬷
3. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 孑
4. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 抵
5. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 摨
6. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 擳 / 𰓜
7. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 虿
8. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 蚂
9. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 麵 / 面
10. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 抹

Maori

Etymology 1

Contraction of marama.

Noun

mā

1. (colour/color) white

See also

• tea

Colors in Maori · ngā tae (layout · text)

tea, mā	kiwikiwi	pango
mea, kura, whero	karaka; parauri	kōwhai, renga
	kāriki, kākāriki	kārikiuri
	kikorangi	kahurangi
tūāuri	waiporoporo	māwhero

Etymology 2

Particle

mā

1. for (representing future possession)

   Mā Mū tēnei pukapuka. ― This book is for Mū.

2. by, made by, acted on (combined with e to indicate future tense for who will perform an action)

   Mā tōku matua koe e whakahoki. ― My father will take you back.

3. (used with hei to show a relationship)

   Hei irāmutu a Aroha mā Hēni. ― Aroha is Jane's niece.

4. by way of; via; through

   Ka haere rātou mā Taupō. ― They'll go via Taupō.

5. by means of; on (followed by runga)

   Haere ai tō mātau pāpā ki tana mahi mā runga hōiho. ― Our father went to his work by horseback.

6. (used in names to represent the points of a compass)

   marangai mā tonga ― southeasterly wind

References

• “mā” in John C. Moorfield, Te Aka: Maori–English, English–Maori Dictionary and Index, 3rd edition, Longman/Pearson Education New Zealand, 2011, →ISBN.

Marshallese

Pronunciation

• (phonetic) IPA^(key): [mʲæ]
• (phonemic) IPA^(key): /mʲæj/
• Bender phonemes: {may}

Noun

mā

1. breadfruit.

References

• Marshallese–English Online Dictionary

Namuyi

Etymology

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *d-maq.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [mã˧˩]
• Hyphenation: mā

Noun

mā

1. army

References

• Štěpán Pavlík (2017) The Description of Namuzi Language‎^[4], Prague: Charles University (PhD Thesis), page 39

Pali

Alternative forms

Alternative scripts

• 𑀫𑀸 (Brahmi script)
• मा (Devanagari script)
• মা (Bengali script)
• මා (Sinhalese script)
• မာ or မႃ (Burmese script)
• มา (Thai script)
• ᨾᩣ (Tai Tham script)
• ມາ (Lao script)
• មា (Khmer script)
• 𑄟𑄂 (Chakma script)

Etymology 1

Inherited from Sanskrit मा (mā, “do not”).

Particle

mā

1. (prohibitive) do not

Etymology 2

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

mā f

1. mother
2. moon

Samoan

Pronoun

mā

1. First person dual exclusive

   we (he/she and I, but not you)

See also

Samoan personal pronouns

			singular	dual	plural
1st person			aʻu, ʻou	māʻua, mā (exclusive) tāʻua, tā (inclusive)	mātou (exclusive) tātou (inclusive)
2nd person			ʻoe, ʻe	ʻoulua	ʻoutou, tou
3rd person			ia, na	lāʻua	lātou

Tocharian B

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *meh₁ (prohibitive particle). Cognate with Sanskrit मा (mā), Avestan 𐬨𐬁 (mā), Ancient Greek μή (mḗ), Albanian mo, Old Armenian մի (mi), Old Persian 𐎶𐎠 (m-a /⁠mā⁠/), Persian مـ (ma-).

Particle

mā

1. no, not
2. (before an adjective) un-, in-

Tokelauan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈmaː]
• Hyphenation: mā

Etymology 1

From Proto-Polynesian *maqa.

Noun

mā

1. (to a male) brother-in-law (one's sister's husband)
2. (to a male) cousin-in-law (one's cousin's husband)

Etymology 2

From Proto-Polynesian *ma. Cognates include Tuvaluan maa and Samoan mā.

Noun

mā

1. shame
2. embarrassment

Verb

mā (plural mamā)

1. (stative) to be ashamed
2. (stative) to be embarrassed

Etymology 3

From Proto-Polynesian *maqa. Cognates include Maori mā and Samoan mā.

Preposition

mā

1. Marks the intent of an alianably possessed object; for, about

See also

• mō

Etymology 4

From Proto-Polynesian *ma. Cognates include Tuvaluan maa and Samoan mā.

Pronoun

mā

1. we two (exclusive)

See also

Tokelauan personal pronouns

independent	singular	dual		plural
		long	short
1st person (exclusive)	au, kita1	ki māua	ki mā	ki mātou
1st person (inclusive)	―	ki tāua	ki tā	ki tātou
2nd person	koe	koulua		koutou
3rd person	ia	ki lāua	ki lā	ki lātou
agentive clitic	singular	dual		plural
1st person (exclusive)	kō	ki mā		ki mātou
1st person (inclusive)	―	ki tā		ki tātou
2nd person	kē	koulua		koutou
3rd person	ia	ki lā		ki lātou

¹⁾ Sympathetic
Pronouns preceded by ki may drop this preposition when in a possessive phrase.

Tokelauan possessive pronouns

inalienable (O-type)	singular	dual		plural
		long	short
1st person (exclusive)	o oku, o kita1	o māua	o mā	o mātou
1st person (inclusive)	―	o tāua	o tā	o tātou
2nd person	o ōu, o koe	o koulua		o koutou
3rd person	o ona	o lāua	o lā	o lātou
alienable (A-type)	singular	dual		plural
		long	short
1st person (exclusive)	a aku, a kita1	a māua	a mā	a mātou
1st person (inclusive)	―	a tāua	a tā	a tātou
2nd person	a āu, a koe	a koulua		a koutou
3rd person	a ana	a lāua	a lā	a lātou

¹⁾ Sympathetic
Only the singular pronouns differ from the personal pronouns.

Tokelauan possessive determiners

Definite inalienable (O-type)
		singular reference				plural reference
		sg	du		pl	sg	du		pl
			long	short			long	short
1st person	excl.	toku, tota1	to māua	to mā	to mātou	oku, ota1	o māua	o mā	o mātou
	incl.	―	to tāua	to tā	to tātou	―	o tāua	o tā	o tātou
2nd person		tō	toulua		toutou	ō	oulua		outou
3rd person		tona	to lāua	to lā	to lātou	ona	o lāua	o lā	o lātou
Definite alienable (A-type)
		singular reference				plural reference
		sg	du		pl	sg	du		pl
			long	short			long	short
1st person	excl.	taku, tata1	ta māua	ta mā	ta mātou	aku, ata1	a māua	a mā	a mātou
	incl.	―	ta tāua	ta tā	ta tātou	―	a tāua	a tā	a tātou
2nd person		tau	taulua		tautou	au	aulua		autou
3rd person		tana	ta lāua	ta lā	ta lātou	ana	a lāua	a lā	a lātou
Indefinite inalienable (O-type)
		singular reference				plural reference
		sg	du		pl	sg	du		pl
			long	short			long	short
1st person	excl.	hoku, hota1	ho māua	ho mā	ho mātou	ni oku, ni ota1	ni o māua	ni o mā	ni o mātou
	incl.	―	ho tāua	ho tā	ho tātou	―	ni o tāua	ni o tā	ni o tātou
2nd person		hō	houlua		houtou	ni ō	ni oulua		ni outou
3rd person		hona	ho lāua	ho lā	ho lātou	ni ona	ni o lāua	ni o lā	ni o lātou
Indefinite alienable (A-type)
		singular reference				plural reference
		sg	du		pl	sg	du		pl
			long	short			long	short
1st person	excl.	haku, hata1	ha māua	ha mā	ha mātou	ni aku, ni ata1	ni a māua	ni a mā	ni a mātou
	incl.	―	ha tāua	ha tā	ha tātou	―	ni a tāua	ni a tā	ni a tātou
2nd person		hau	haulua		hautou	ni au	ni aulua		ni autou
3rd person		hana	ha lāua	ha lā	ha lātou	ni ana	ni a lāua	ni a lā	ni a lātou

¹⁾ Sympathetic

Etymology 5

Verb

mā

1. (transitive) to presume, assume, think

Etymology 6

Borrowed from Samoan ma'a.

Noun

mā

1. object made of stone

References

• R. Simona, editor (1986), Tokelau Dictionary‎^[5], Auckland: Office of Tokelau Affairs, page 198

Tongan

Etymology

From Proto-Oceanic *mara (“to spoil, to go foul [of food]” – compare with Maori mara “food preserved by steeping in water”, Samoan mala “soft [of food]” and Fijian mara “stench of a corpse”). For sense of bread, compare with Fijian madrai for similar semantic evolution.

Noun

mā

1. preserve of fermented breadfruit, bananas or plantain stored in pits prior
   1. grain-based bread introduced by Westerners