yaku

Borrowed from Japanese 役 (yaku).

• IPA^(key): /ˈjɑː.kuː/
• Rhymes: -ɑːkuː

yaku (plural yaku or yakus)

1. (Japanese mahjong, hanafuda) A condition that scores points when met, usually in the form of a specific combination of tiles or cards.
   • 1892, Rossetsu Uchiyama, The Game of "Hana-awase": Japanese Cards‎^[1], page 10:

     There are certain combinations of hands called “Yaku,” which, if held by a player, either among his tricks or in his hand, entitle him to certain payments from the other players.

   • 2006, Israel A. S. Yost, “On the Border” (chapter 11), in Combat Chaplain: The Personal Story of the WWII Chaplain of the Japanese American 100th Battalion, University of Hawaii Press, →ISBN, page 215:

     It's a lot of fun for me as I'm just getting to know all the combinations (of three cards each) for yaku, which means the other fellow must subtract 50 from his score.

   • 2012, Jelte Rep, “Chapter 5: Japan”, in Jelte Rep, transl., Great Mahjong Book: History, Lore, and Play, Tuttle Publishing, →ISBN, page 112:

     Yakus determine whether you can make a mahjong.

   • 2015, Ritz Kobayashi, “Encounter” (chapter 1), in anonymous translator, Saki, volume 1, Yen Press, →ISBN, page 9:

     I'm still learning all the yaku though!

   • 2015, Scott D. Miller, “Hand Pattern Overview”, in Riichi Mahjong: The Ultimate Guide to the Japanese Game Taking the World by Storm, Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 104:

     Of course, since the hand is open, it doesn't earn the 1-han yaku for a true Pinfu hand.

   • 2017, Jason Johnson & Antonietta Fazio-Johnson, “Matching Flowers” (chapter 5), in Hanafuda Games: Hanami Edition, IndianWolf Studios LLC, →ISBN, page 29:

     The wisteria ribbon is used in two yaku sets. This is allowed because a player may use the same card to score from more than one yaku category.

   • 2017, Akiko Higashimura, “Translation Notes”, in anonymous translator, Princess Jellyfish 6, Kodansha Comics, →ISBN, page 349:

     The particular hanafuda game they're playing here is called Koi-Koi, and Banba just called the name of the game to keep going for another yaku card combination beyond whatever yaku she already formed.

   • 2018, Koya Ihara, Shohei Kato, “Neuro-Evolutionary Approach to Multi-objective Optimization in One-Player Mahjong”, in Advances in Network-Based Information Systems, Springer International Publishing, →ISBN, →ISSN, page 501:

     To earn a high score and therefore complete yaku with a high rate, we expect that inputting features regarding these yaku into the networks will improve average scores.

   • 2020 February 26, KML Competition Rules‎^[2], Korean Mahjong League, archived from the original on 17 July 2025, 2.5.2 Mahjong on Self-Draw (tsumo):

     If the player did not keep the winning tile apart from the rest of the hand (if other players cannot see which was the winning tile), the lowest yaku and fu which can be calculated from that hand are applied.

In Japanese mahjong specifically (including Korean variants), having one or more yaku is a win condition, so anything that can fulfil that condition is considered a yaku. This includes conditions that have nothing to do with the types of tiles that one has, such as making a riichi bet, or completing one's hand with the very last discarded tile.

• (mahjong) pattern
• (hanafuda) meld

yaku

1. I

From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *(i-)aku, from Proto-Austronesian *(i-)aku.

• IPA^(key): /ja.ku/

yaku

1. I (personal pronoun)
2. me (direct object of a verb)
3. me (object of a preposition)
4. me (indirect object of a verb)

yaku

1. Rōmaji transcription of やく
2. Rōmaji transcription of ヤク

• aku
• iaku
• i aku
• ako
• yako

From Proto-Austronesian *si and Proto-Philippine *ʔakúʔ, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *(i-)aku, from Proto-Austronesian *(i-)aku.

• IPA^(key): /ˈjaku/ [ˈjäː.xu]
• Hyphenation: a‧ku

yaku

1. First-person singular absolutive independent pronoun; I, me

• yaku-yaku

yaku

1. I; me

yaku

1. I

• jaku

From Proto-Bungku-Tolaki *ku, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *(i-)aku, from Proto-Austronesian *(i-)aku.

yaku

1. I (personal pronoun)
2. me (direct object of a verb)
3. me (object of a preposition)
4. me (indirect object of a verb)
5. my (belonging to me)

• IPA^(key): /ˈja.kʊ/

yaku

1. water

   Synonym: unu

   • 2012, Languages of the Amazon, →ISBN:

     chay-chru lurin yaku-kuna-si llalla-ku-n-mi

     that-LOC Lurin water-PL-also be.salty-REF-3-DIR.EV

     Even the water around Lurin is salty. [I know because I tasted it.]

• misk'i yaku
• q’uñi yaku
• yaku t'impuchina

From Proto-Austronesian *(i-)aku.

yaku

1. I (personal pronoun)

yaku

1. alternative form of aku

yaku

1. wood