U+307E, ま
HIRAGANA LETTER MA

[U+307D]
Hiragana
[U+307F]

Japanese

Stroke order

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ma̠]

Etymology 1

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

Syllable

• (ma

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

Etymology 2

Alternative spelling

Pronunciation

Noun

• (ma

  1. : space; room
Synonyms
Derived terms

Etymology 3

Alternative spelling

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

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

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ma̠]

Noun

• (ma

  1. , : prefixal bound form of (me, eye)
Derived terms

Etymology 4

Alternative spelling

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

• (ma

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

Prefix

• (ma-

  1. [from 720] : real, genuine
    ()(ごころ)magokoroone's real mind, one's real thoughts and feelings about something
  2. [from 759] : pure, unadulterated
    ()(しろ)mashiropure white
  3. [from 1595] : definitely, certainly, exactly, precisely, directly
    ()(うえ)mauedirectly above
  4. [date unknown] : true, real, main (appended to words for animals or plants to indicate the representative type)
    ()(たけ)mataketrue bamboo
  5. [from 759] : (archaic, possibly obsolete, honorific) great, excellent
    ()(くま)()makumanogreat Kumano
Derived terms

Etymology 5

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

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  2. 2.0 2.1 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), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN
  3. 3.0 3.1 Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典(新装版) [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN