小三元

Chinese

		small; tiny; few small; tiny; few; young	three	primary; first; fundamental primary; first; fundamental; dollar; (dynasty)
simp. and trad. (小三元)		小	三	元
Literally: “little three fundamentals”.

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): xiǎosānyuán

(Zhuyin): ㄒㄧㄠˇ ㄙㄢㄩㄢˊ
Cantonese (Jyutping): siu² saam¹ jyun⁴

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: xiǎosānyuán
  - Zhuyin: ㄒㄧㄠˇ ㄙㄢㄩㄢˊ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: siǎosanyuán
  - Wade–Giles: hsiao³-san¹-yüan²
  - Yale: syǎu-sān-ywán
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: sheausanyuan
  - Palladius: сяосаньюань (sjaosanʹjuanʹ)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɕi̯ɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ sän⁵⁵ ɥɛn³⁵/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: siu² saam¹ jyun⁴
  - Yale: síu sāam yùhn
  - Cantonese Pinyin: siu² saam¹ jyn⁴
  - Guangdong Romanization: xiu² sam¹ yun⁴
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /siːu̯³⁵ saːm⁵⁵ jyːn²¹/

Noun

小三元

(mahjong) a winning hand with melds of two dragon tiles and a pair of the third dragon tile

Descendants

→ Japanese: 小三元 (shōsangen)

Japanese

Etymology

Kanji in this term
小	三	元
しょう Grade: 1	さん Grade: 1	げん Grade: 2
on'yomi		kan'on

Orthographic borrowing from Chinese 小三元 (xiǎosānyuán).

Can be analyzed as derived from 小 (shō-, “little, small”) +‎ 三元 (sangen, clipping of 三元牌 (sangenpai), “dragon tiles”).

Pronunciation

(Can we verify⁽⁺⁾ this pronunciation?)

(Tokyo) しょーさんげん [shòósáꜜǹgèǹ] (Nakadaka – [3])
IPA^(key): [ɕo̞ːsã̠ŋɡẽ̞ɴ]

Noun

小(しょう)三(さん)元(げん) • (shōsangen)

(mahjong) a 役 (yaku, “hand”) with melds of two dragon tiles and a pair of the third, worth 2 翻 (han, “doubles”); along with an additional 2 翻 (han) from the 役牌 (yakuhai, “honour meld”) of said two dragon tiles, a combined total of 4 翻 (han)

See also

大(だい)三(さん)元(げん) (daisangen)