マ

See also: ㇺ, ム, ﾑ, ㄙ, 厶, 龴, and 々

マ U+30DE, マ KATAKANA LETTER MA ← ポ [U+30DD] Katakana ミ → [U+30DF]

㋮ U+32EE, ㋮ CIRCLED KATAKANA MA ← ㋭ [U+32ED] Enclosed CJK Letters and Months ㋯ → [U+32EF]

ﾏ U+FF8F, ﾏ HALFWIDTH KATAKANA LETTER MA ← ﾎ [U+FF8E] Halfwidth and Fullwidth Forms ﾐ → [U+FF90]

Japanese

Stroke order

Etymology 1

Simplified in the Heian period from the man'yōgana kanji 末.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ma̠]

Syllable

マ • (ma) 

1. The katakana syllable マ (ma). Its equivalent in hiragana is ま (ma). It is the thirty-first syllable in the gojūon order; its position is マ行ア段 (ma-gyō a-dan, “row ma, section a”).

Usage notes

The katakana syllabary is used primarily for transcription of foreign language words into Japanese and the writing of gairaigo (loan words), as well as to represent onomatopoeias, technical and scientific terms, and the names of plants, animals, and minerals. It is also occasionally used in some words for emphasis, or to ease reading; katakana may be preferred for words becoming buried in the text if they are written under their canonical form in hiragana. Names of Japanese companies, as well as certain Japanese language words such as colloquial terms, are also sometimes written in katakana rather than the other systems. Formerly, female firstnames would often be written in katakana.

See also

• (Katakana) 片仮名; アァ, イィ, ウゥヴ, エェ(𛀀), オォ, カヵガ, キギ, クグ, ケヶゲ, コゴ, サザ, シジ, スズ, セゼ, ソゾ, タダ, チヂ, ツッヅ, テデ, トド, ナ, ニ, ヌ, ネ, ノ, ハバパ, ヒビピ, フブプ, ヘベペ, ホボポ, マ, ミ, ム, メ, モ, ヤャ, 𛄠 (𛄠), ユュ, エ/𛄡 (𛄡), ヨョ, ララ゚, リリ゚, ルル゚, レレ゚, ロロ゚, ワヮヷ, ヰヸ, 𛄢 (𛄢), ヱヹ, ヲヺ, ン, ー, ヽ, ヾ

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ma̠]

Adjective

マ • (ma) 

1. (slang, used in questions) Short for マジ (“true”).

   それマ？

   Sore ma?

   For real?