mah

See also: Mah, mäh, mah-, and mAh

Translingual

Etymology

Abbreviation of English Marshallese.

Symbol

mah

1. (international standards) ISO 639-2 & ISO 639-3 language code for Marshallese.

See also

• Wiktionary’s coverage of Marshallese terms

English

Etymology 1

Determiner

mah

1. (African-American Vernacular, Southern US) Pronunciation spelling of my.
   • 2014 June 26, Yacht Club Games, Shovel Knight: Shovel of Hope, Nintendo 3DS, level/area: Streetpass Arena:

     Adventurer: 'AFTER YEARS OF ADVENTURING... I HAVE FINALLY ARRIVED AT THE STREETPASS ARENA. ONCE I REST MAH HOOFS, I'M GOING TO RECORD MY SECRET BATTLE TECHNIQUE.'

Etymology 2

From Cantonese 嘛 (maa³).

Alternative forms

• ma

Pronunciation

• (Singapore, Malaysia) IPA^(key): /mɑː˧/

Particle

mah

1. (Manglish, Singlish) Asserts that there is a straightforward or self-evident reason for something.

   Synonym: (Singlish) what (sense 2)

   — The plants are all dying already.
   — No one here to water them mah...

   • 2003, ANGELL, “SIA PILOT ISSUE”, in soc.culture.singapore‎^[1] (Usenet):

     […] Alternatively train SBS bus drivers to become pilots also since they are already bus captains. Anyone can become a pilot mah. Its so easy. Everybody should give it try-but not with me on board.

   • 2014, Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan, Singapore Noir, Akashic Books, →ISBN, page 89:

     Especially today—we holiday, mah, so don’t bring them to town until tomorrow.

   • 2018 July 13, Shaun Tan, quoting Kurt Tay, “Does Someone Like Kurt Tay Deserve To Be A Father?”, in ricemedia.co‎^[2], archived from the original on 9 August 2024:

     In response, I ask if he thinks that his future child would be embarrassed about the online reputation that he has built for himself after all these years. “Why? All of this is just acting mah, I got nothing to be ashamed about.”

   • 2024 March 28, Benjamin Tan, quoting Ursula Soh, “In Their Own Skin: Portraits of Eczema in Singapore”, in ricemedia.co‎^[3], archived from the original on 26 November 2024:

     If I’m running around for errands, I want to look cute also mah. I used to wear shorts, but now I’d rather not. It’ll look like I’ve got thousands of cat scratches.

See also

Discourse particles in colloquial Singaporean and Malaysian English
⟵ More assertiveLess assertive ⟶
Objection	what	Assertive emphasis	lah1–14	Self-evident answer	lor2–3	Resignation	lor1, ah6–7	Uncertainty	leh1–2
Self-evident reason	mah	Declarative emphasis	leh3–6, one1–3, hor1, know, nia, only	Discontent; shock; coarseness	sia	Agreement-seeking	hor2	Confirmation-seeking	ah1–3, hah1–3
Skepticism	meh			Confident speculation	ba2	Tentative judgment	leh7–11, ba1
Non-pragmatic
Aspectual					liao, already
References Gupta, A. F. (1992), “The pragmatic particles of Singapore colloquial English”, in Journal of Pragmatics, volume 18, number 1, →DOI

References

• Low, Ee Ling; Brown, Adam (2005), English in Singapore: An Introduction, →ISBN
• Lim, Lisa with Wee, Lionel (2004), “Reduplication and discourse particles”, in Singapore English: A grammatical description, →ISBN, page 125

Etymology 3

From Mandarin 嗎／吗 (ma) or Cantonese 嗎／吗 (maa⁵).

Alternative forms

• ma

Pronunciation

• (Singapore, Malaysia) IPA^(key): /mɑː˦/

Particle

mah

1. (colloquial, Chinese Malaysian and Singaporean) Used at the end of an affirmative declarative sentence to change it into a yes–no question.
   • 2024 December 8, endlssorrow, “U guys bring smart watch oversea mah”, in HardwareZone Forums‎^[4]:

     Coz must charge daily lei

Anagrams

• HAM, HMA, Ham, MHA, ham

Bavarian

Etymology

Possibly from the possessive pronoun mei.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mɑ/

Interjection

mah

1. (chiefly East Central Bavarian) Used to express surprise, shock or amazement.

   Mah, der håd me gschreckt! ― Damn, he gave me a fright!

   Mah, schmeckt des guad! ― Blimey, this is delicious!

Besisi

Etymology

From Proto-Aslian *səmaaʔ (“human”).

Noun

mah

1. human
2. people

Derived terms

• Mah Meri

Indonesian

Etymology

Borrowed from Dutch maag.

Noun

mah (plural mah-mah)

1. stomach

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈma/, which may be followed by [h] or [ʔ] or trigger syntactic gemination.
• Rhymes: -a
• Hyphenation: mah

Interjection

mah

1. an expression of doubt or uncertainty
2. an expression of disapproval or resignation

Anagrams

• ahm

Old English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mɑːx/

Verb

māh

1. first/third-person singular preterite indicative of mīgan

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *maxъ, from Proto-Slavic *maxati.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mâːx/

Noun

mȃh m inan (Cyrillic spelling ма̑х)

1. swing, wave, sweep (motion)
2. moment, instant

   Synonyms: čȁs, trȅn

   U taj mah. ― At that instant.

Declension

Declension of mah

	singular	plural
nominative	mȃh	máhovi
genitive	mȃha	máhōvā
dative	mȃhu	máhovima
accusative	mȃh	máhove
vocative	mȃše	máhovi
locative	mȃhu	máhovima
instrumental	mȃhom	máhovima

References

• “mah”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2025

Slovene

Etymology 1

From Proto-Slavic *mъxъ.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /máːx/
• Rhymes: -aːx
• Hyphenation: mah
• Homophone: mach

Noun

mȃh m inan

1. moss (plants of the division Bryophyta)

   Synonyms: mahovina, mahovje, meh

2. (geography) raised bog
3. (regional) bog, marsh^[→SSKJ]

   Synonyms: barje, morost

4. (hunting) velvet (fine fur on a deer's antlers)^[→SSKJ]
5. (rare) down, fluff^[→SSKJ]

   Synonyms: puh, puhec, puhek

Declension

First masculine declension (hard o-stem, inanimate, -ov- infix) , long mixed accent, ending -u in genitive singular
nom. sing.	mȃh
gen. sing.	mahȗ
	singular	dual	plural
nominative imenovȃlnik	mȃh	mahȏva	mahȏvi
genitive rodȋlnik	mahȗ	mahóv	mahóv
dative dajȃlnik	mȃhu, mȃhi	mahȏvoma, mahȏvama	mahȏvom, mȃhȏvam
accusative tožȋlnik	mȃh	mahȏva	mahȏve
locative mẹ̑stnik	mȃhu, mȃhi	mahȏvih	mahȏvih
instrumental orọ̑dnik	mȃhom	mahȏvoma, mahȏvama	mahȏvi
(vocative) (ogȏvorni imenovȃlnik)	mȃh	mahȏva	mahȏvi

• in singular also

First masculine declension (hard o-stem, inanimate) , fixed accent
nom. sing.	mȃh
gen. sing.	mȃha
	singular	dual	plural
nominative imenovȃlnik	mȃh	–	–
genitive rodȋlnik	mȃha	–	–
dative dajȃlnik	mȃhu, mȃhi	–	–
accusative tožȋlnik	mȃh	–	–
locative mẹ̑stnik	mȃhu, mȃhi	–	–
instrumental orọ̑dnik	mȃhom	–	–
(vocative) (ogȏvorni imenovȃlnik)	mȃh	–	–

Derived terms

• mahovína
• mahovȋt
• mahȏvje
• planinski mah
• šotni mah

Etymology 2

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *maxъ.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /máx/, /máːx/
• Rhymes: -ax, -aːx
• Hyphenation: mah
• Homophone: mach

Noun

mȁh or mȃh m inan

1. gerund of máhniti
2. (obsolete) growth, development^[→SSKJ]

   Synonyms: razmah, razmahnitev, omah, polet, procvit, razcvet, razvetje, razcvit, razrast, vzmah, zamah

3. (archaic) time (an instance or occurrence)
4. (obsolete) moment, instant

   Synonyms: trenutek, hip, moment, tren, trenutje

Declension

First masculine declension (hard o-stem, inanimate) , fixed accent
nom. sing.	mȁh
gen. sing.	máha
	singular	dual	plural
nominative imenovȃlnik	mȁh	máha	máhi
genitive rodȋlnik	máha	māhov	māhov
dative dajȃlnik	máhu, máhi	máhoma, máhama	máhom, máham
accusative tožȋlnik	mȁh	máha	máhe
locative mẹ̑stnik	máhu, máhi	māhih, māhah	māhih, māhah
instrumental orọ̑dnik	máhom	máhoma, máhama	māhi
(vocative) (ogȏvorni imenovȃlnik)	mȁh	mȃha	mȃhi

First masculine declension (hard o-stem, inanimate) , fixed accent
nom. sing.	mȃh
gen. sing.	mȃha
	singular	dual	plural
nominative imenovȃlnik	mȃh	mȃha	mȃhi
genitive rodȋlnik	mȃha	mȃhov	mȃhov
dative dajȃlnik	mȃhu, mȃhi	mȃhoma, mȃhama	mȃhom, mȃham
accusative tožȋlnik	mȃh	mȃha	mȃhe
locative mẹ̑stnik	mȃhu, mȃhi	mȃhih, mȃhah	mȃhih, mȃhah
instrumental orọ̑dnik	mȃhom	mȃhoma, mȃhama	mȃhi
(vocative) (ogȏvorni imenovȃlnik)	mȃh	mȃha	mȃhi

Derived terms

• mah na mah
• mah na pah
• na en mah
• na mȁh
• na ves mah
• namȁh
• omȁh
• premȁh
• razmȁh
• ubiti dve muhi na en mah
• uboj na mah
• v en mah
• v isti mah
• vzmȁh
• z enim mahom
• zamȁh

Etymology 3

Borrowed from English Mach.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /máːx/
• Rhymes: -aːx
• Hyphenation: mah
• Homophone: mach

Noun

mȃh m inan

1. (physics) Mach (ratio of the speed)

   Synonym: mach

Declension

First masculine declension (hard o-stem, inanimate) , fixed accent
nom. sing.	mȃh
gen. sing.	mȃha
	singular	dual	plural
nominative imenovȃlnik	mȃh	mȃha	mȃhi
genitive rodȋlnik	mȃha	mȃhov	mȃhov
dative dajȃlnik	mȃhu, mȃhi	mȃhoma, mȃhama	mȃhom, mȃham
accusative tožȋlnik	mȃh	mȃha	mȃhe
locative mẹ̑stnik	mȃhu, mȃhi	mȃhih, mȃhah	mȃhih, mȃhah
instrumental orọ̑dnik	mȃhom	mȃhoma, mȃhama	mȃhi
(vocative) (ogȏvorni imenovȃlnik)	mȃh	mȃha	mȃhi

Etymology 4

Might be from German gemach (“slowly, easy”), from Old High German gimah (“calm, comfortable”). Compare with more common version gmȃh.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /máːx/
• Rhymes: -aːx
• Hyphenation: mah
• Homophone: mach

Noun

mȃh m inan

1. (obsolete, rare) peace, quietness^{[→Pleteršnik, 2014]}

   Synonyms: mir, tišina, gmah, pokoj, spokoj, blaženi mir, idilični mir, mirnst, molk, nebeški mir, nemota, pokojnost, spokojnost, sveti mir

   Antonyms: hrup, hrum, hrušč, hrumot, hrupot, rumel, šunder, tumult

Declension

First masculine declension (hard o-stem, inanimate) , fixed accent (singularia tantum)
nom. sing.	mȃh
gen. sing.	mȃha
	singular
nominative imenovȃlnik	mȃh
genitive rodȋlnik	mȃha
dative dajȃlnik	mȃhu, mȃhi
accusative tožȋlnik	mȃh
locative mẹ̑stnik	mȃhu, mȃhi
instrumental orọ̑dnik	mȃhom
(vocative) (ogȏvorni imenovȃlnik)	mȃh

Interjection

mȃh

1. (obsolete, rare) quiet, shut up

   Synonyms: tiho, tišina, mir, gmah

See also

• šota
• močvirje
• mahanje
• mahati

Further reading

• “mah”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU, portal Fran
• “mah”, in Termania, Amebis
• See also the general references

Sumerian

Romanization

mah

1. romanization of 𒈤 (maḫ)

Sundanese

Etymology

Inherited from Old Sundanese ma (“marker of emphasis”)

Particle

mah

1. unique marker of emphasis, often untranslatable

   Abdi mah asalna ti Ciamis.

   I [the topic, which we are talking about] am from Ciamis.

   Kamari mah abdi ka Singapur.

   Yesterday, I went to Singapore.

   Poé ieu mah jigana bakal hujan.

   It looks like it will rain today. (literally, "As for today, it looks like it will rain".)

Usage notes

• Note that mah has no direct counterpart in both English and Indonesian. Mah is used as a focus marker to introduce a new information within a conversation or compare existing information.

Unami

Particle

mah

1. past tense marker

   Lòkëwe mah utènink nta.

   Yesterday, I went to town.

References

• Rementer, Jim with Pearson, Bruce L. (2005), “mah”, in Leneaux, Grant, Whritenour, Raymond, editors, The Lenape Talking Dictionary, The Lenape Language Preservation Project