má

See also: Appendix:Variations of "ma"

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈmaː]

• Audio:

  (file)

Verb

má

1. third-person singular present indicative of mít

Pronoun

má

1. inflection of můj:
   1. feminine singular nominative/vocative
   2. neuter plural nominative/accusative/vocative

Faroese

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɔaː

Verb

má

1. first/third-person singular present of mega

   eg má fara

   I have to go

Galician

Adjective

má

1. feminine singular of mao

Ghomala'

Noun

má class 1/3 singular of ? class 2

1. mother

   Má nə̂ kwɔ̌' sim cwə́. ― Mother returned late from the market.

Derived terms

• gám mâ jwi à
• mâ má
• mâfò
• mâp e

See also

• gám
• gámnyə́
• gǎm
• tá

References

• Erika Eichholzer (editor) et al, Dictionnaire ghomala’ (2002)

Ibino

Verb

má

1. love, like

Further reading

• Bruce Connell, Lower Cross Wordlist

Ibuoro

Verb

má

1. love, like

Further reading

• Bruce Connell, Lower Cross Wordlist

Icelandic

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mauː/
• Rhymes: -auː

Etymology 1

See mega.

Verb

má

1. first/third-person singular present indicative of mega

Etymology 2

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Verb

má (weak verb, third-person singular past indicative máði, supine máð)

1. to blur, to efface [with accusative]

Conjugation

This verb needs an inflection-table template.

Derived terms

• má út/má burt (“to wipe out”)

Anagrams

• ám

Irish

Pronunciation

• (Munster, Connacht) IPA^(key): /mˠɑː/^[1]
• (Ulster) IPA^(key): /mˠaː/

Etymology 1

From Old Irish mag, from Proto-Celtic *magos.

Alternative forms

• magh (classical)
• maigh
• máigh

Noun

má f (genitive singular má, nominative plural mánna)

1. plain (expanse of land with relatively low relief), champaign (open countryside, or an area of open countryside)

Declension

Declension of má (fourth declension)

bare forms case singular plural nominative má mánna vocative a mhá a mhánna genitive má mánna dative má mánna forms with the definite article case singular plural nominative an mhá na mánna genitive na má na mánna dative leis an má don mhá leis na mánna

Derived terms

• má-oifigeach (“field-officer”)
• oighear má (“field-ice”)
• Ómaigh (“Omagh”)

Etymology 2

From Old Irish má, from Proto-Celtic *mā, *ma (compare Cornish and Breton ma, mar), from Proto-Indo-European *meh₂.

Conjunction

má (triggers lenition)

1. if

   Má chreideann sé an scéal sin tá sé saonta go maith. ― If he believes that story, he’s pretty gullible.

2. even though
   • 1939, Peig Sayers, “Inghean an Cheannaidhe”, in Marie-Louise Sjoestedt, Description d’un parler irlandais de Kerry (Bibliothèque de l'École des Hautes Études; 270) (overall work in French), Paris: Librairie Honoré Champion, page 193:

     Nuair a fuair sé bás, má bhí Máire brónach bhí sí sásta d’fhonn is go mbeadh an captaen óg le pósadh aici.

     When he died, even though Máire was sad, she was satisfied in the hope that the young captain would marry her.

Usage notes

• Used in factual conditionals with the present or past indicative and takes the independent form of verbs that distinguish between dependent and independent forms.

Synonyms

• dá (in counterfactual conditionals)
• mura (in negative sentences; ‘unless’)

Derived terms

• más

Etymology 3

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Preposition

má

1. about, around

Derived terms

• gualainn má gualainn (“shoulder to shoulder”)
• leath má leath (“half and half”)
• má gcuairt (“around, about, on every side”)

Mutation

Mutated forms of má

radical	lenition	eclipsis
má	mhá	not applicable

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Modern Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Further reading

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “má”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• de Bhaldraithe, Tomás (1959) “má”, in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm
• “má”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013-2025

References

1. Sjoestedt, M. L. (1931) Phonétique d’un parler irlandais de Kerry [Phonetics of an Irish Dialect of Kerry] (in French), Paris: Librairie Ernest Leroux, page 64

Itu Mbon Uzo

Verb

má

1. love, like

Further reading

• Bruce Connell, Lower Cross Wordlist

Mandarin

Alternative forms

• ma — nonstandard

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Romanization

má (ma², Zhuyin ㄇㄚˊ)

1. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 吔
2. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 嗍
3. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 犘
4. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 痲 / 痳
5. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 菺
6. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 蔴 / 麻
7. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 蟆, 蟇
8. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 麻

Nawdm

Pronoun

má

1. I (subject), my

Usage notes

Object and vocative pronouns are written as a suffix -ma.

Old Irish

Etymology

From Proto-Celtic *mā, *ma (compare Cornish and Breton mar), from Proto-Indo-European *meh₂. Cognate with Ancient Greek μήν (mḗn, “surely, truly”), Sanskrit स्म (sma).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [maː]

Conjunction

má (triggers lenition)

1. if

   Synonym: dïa

   • c. 800, Würzburg Glosses on the Pauline Epistles, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1987, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. I, pp. 499–712, Wb. 13^a12

     Má beid ní di rúnaib do·théi ar menmuin ind ḟir bíis inna ṡuidiu et ad·reig.

     If there is anything of the mysteries that may come upon the mind of the man who is sitting, and he rises.

   • c. 800, Würzburg Glosses on the Pauline Epistles, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1987, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. I, pp. 499–712, Wb. 19^c20

     Má nudub·feil i n‑ellug coirp Críst, adib cland Abrache amal ṡodin, et it sib ata chomarpi Abracham.

     If you pl are in the union of the body of Christ, you are Abraham’s children in that case, and it is you who are Abraham’s heirs.

Usage notes

Followed by the present indicative if the condition is in the past or present; by the present subjunctive if the condition is in the future.

Derived terms

• mani (“if not, unless”)

Descendants

• Irish: má
• Manx: my
• Scottish Gaelic: ma

Further reading

• Thurneysen, Rudolf (1940) D. A. Binchy and Osborn Bergin, transl., A Grammar of Old Irish, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, →ISBN, page 558; reprinted 2017

Old Norse

Etymology 1

Verb

má

1. first/third-person singular present active indicative of mega

Descendants

• Icelandic: má
• Faroese: má
• Norwegian Nynorsk: må
• Norwegian Bokmål: må
• Old Swedish: mā
  • Swedish: må
• Danish: må

Etymology 2

Noun

má

1. indefinite accusative singular of már

Portuguese

Etymology

Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese maa, from Latin malam.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈma/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈma/

• Rhymes: -a
• Hyphenation: má

Adjective

má f sg

1. feminine singular of mau

Ukwa

Verb

má

1. love, like

Further reading

• Bruce Connell, Lower Cross Wordlist

Usaghade

Verb

má

1. love, like

Further reading

• Bruce Connell, Lower Cross Wordlist

Vietnamese

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [maː˧˦]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [maː˨˩˦]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [maː˦˥]

• Audio (Saigon):

  (file)

Etymology 1

Picture dictionary
má trán lông mày lông mi mắt mũi lỗ mũi má hàm miệng môi cằm
Click on labels in the image
cơ thể cơ thể

From Proto-Vietic *-maːʔ, from Proto-Mon-Khmer. Cognate with Tho [Cuối Chăm] maː³ ("cheek"), Arem umæːʔ ("gills"), Proto-Palaungic *cəmaːʔ (“cheek”) (whence Riang [Sak] sᵊmɑʔ²), Proto-Nicobarese *samaː (whence Central Nicobarese [Nancowry] shama (“jaw”)) and Bondo ǰama ("jaw").

This item might be an infixed form (nominalizing *-m-) of the root *ca(ː)ʔ (“to eat”), as suggested in Sidwell (2018).

Noun

(classifier cái) má • (𦟐)

1. (anatomy) cheek

Derived terms

• bạc má
• má đào
• má hồng
• má phấn môi son
• mông má

Etymology 2

Non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese 媽 (“mother”, SV: ma), ultimately a nursery word. Đại Nam quấc âm tự vị (1895) directly annotates this as kêu theo tiếng Khách ("way of calling from Chinese") and it was also often paired with tía (another Chinese loan) to form tía má.

Noun

má • (媽, 𦟐)

1. (Southern Vietnam) mother; mom

   Synonyms: mạ, mẹ, mợ, u, bầm, đẻ

Derived terms

• ba má
• tía má

Etymology 3

From Proto-Vietic *s-maːʔ, whence also mạ (“rice seedlings”), the form used in isolation.

Noun

má • (𥡗)

1. (only in compounds) rice seedlings

Derived terms

• giấy má
• giống má
• lúa má
• số má
• thuế má