མ

See also: མི, མེ, and མོ

མ U+0F58, མ TIBETAN LETTER MA ← བྷ [U+0F57] Tibetan ཙ → [U+0F59]

Translingual

Letter

མ

1. Tibetan letter ma

Balti

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mɑ/, [mɑ]

Letter

མ (ma)

1. The twenty-seventh letter of the Balti alphabet, written in the Tibetan script

Dzongkha

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mɑ˥/, [mɑ˥]

Letter

མ (ma)

1. The sixteenth letter of the Dzongkha alphabet

Etymology 2

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *m-.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mɑ˩/

Adverb

མ (ma)

1. Alternative form of མི (mi, “not, non-”)

Ladakhi

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mə/, [mə]

Letter

མ (ma)

1. The sixteenth letter of the Ladakhi alphabet

Sherpa

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ma/, [ma]

Letter

མ (ma)

1. The twenty-fifth letter of the Sherpa alphabet, written in the Tibetan alphabet

Sikkimese

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mɐ/, [mɐ]

Letter

མ (ma)

1. The nineteenth letter of the Sikkimese alphabet

Tibetan

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

• Old Tibetan: /*ma/
• Lhasa: /ma˥˥/

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• Old Tibetan:
  • IPA^(key): /*ma/ (reconstructed)
• Ü-Tsang
  • Tibetan pinyin: ma^f
  • (Lhasa) IPA^(key): /ma˥˥/

Letter

མ • (ma)

1. The sixteenth letter of the Tibetan alphabet

Etymology 2

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

Pronunciation

• Old Tibetan: /*ma/
• Lhasa: /ma˩˨/

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• Old Tibetan:
  • IPA^(key): /*ma/ (reconstructed)
• Ü-Tsang
  • Tibetan pinyin: ma^v
  • (Lhasa) IPA^(key): /ma˩˨/

Noun

མ • (ma)

1. mother

   Synonym: ཨ་མ (a ma)

2. goddess

Etymology 3

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *ma (“no, not”).

Pronunciation

• Old Tibetan: /*ma/
• Lhasa: /ma˩˨/, /ma˥˥/, /m̥a˥˥/

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• Old Tibetan:
  • IPA^(key): /*ma/ (reconstructed)
• Ü-Tsang
  • Tibetan pinyin: ma^v, ma^f, mha^f
  • (Lhasa) IPA^(key): /ma˩˨/, /ma˥˥/, /m̥a˥˥/

(Note: mav - before low-tone syllables; maf - before high-tone syllables; mhaf - before high-tone aspirated syllables)

Adverb

མ • (ma)

1. negates the following verb in the past tense.

   བལྟས་ཀྱང་མ་མཐོང ― bltas kyang ma mthong ― He looked but did not see it

2. negates the following verb in the imperative tense; prohibitive particle.
3. placed between nouns to indicate “neither ... nor ...”.

   ར་མ་ལུག ― ra ma lug ― neither a goat nor a sheep

Etymology 4

Suffix

མ • (ma)

1. ownership suffix used to indicate the feminine form of a noun.

   ཟློས་གར་མ ― zlos gar ma ― female singer/dancer

Particle

མ • (ma)

1. particle affixed to nouns to add a level of specificity or gravity to the noun.