Glossary

Taiwanese mahjong terms, with the Chinese and pinyin

Search in English, Chinese or pinyin. The Chinese is what Taiwanese players and apps actually use, which is not always the Hong Kong word.

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Tiles

characters · dots · bamboo萬 · 筒 · 條wàn · tǒng · tiáo5五萬55Dots are also called bǐng, and bamboo suǒ.

honours (winds and dragons)字牌zìpáiE東S南W西N北中發

red · green · white dragon中 · 發 · 白zhōng · fā · bái中發

flowers (four seasons, four plants)花牌huāpáiEach carries a seat number 1 to 4.

the one of bamboo (the bird)一條 · 么雞 · 小鳥yī tiáo · yāojī · xiǎoniǎo1

The table

dealer莊家zhuāngjiāIn Taiwan the dealer is not necessarily East.

non-dealer閒家xiánjiā

player before you / after you / opposite上家 / 下家 / 對家shàngjiā / xiàjiā / duìjiāYou may only chow from the player before you.

seat wind門風ménfēngSet by the player whose wall the dice opened.

round wind圈風quānfēng

East house東家dōngjiāThe seat that is East this hand; flower 1 is theirs.

opening the wall; the dealer's 17th tile開門kāimén

the tail of the wall牌尾 · 嶺上páiwěi · lǐngshàngWhere replacement tiles come from.

the last drawable tile; also the discard area海底hǎidǐ

a drawn hand流局liújú16 tiles stay undrawn. The dealer keeps the deal.

Actions

flower replacement補花bǔhuā

chow吃chī3三萬4四萬5五萬From the player before you only. Hong Kong calls it shàng.

pung碰pèng中中中

kong槓gàng8888

exposed kong明槓mínggàng8888Not off the discard of the player before you.

concealed kong暗槓àngàng99Keeps the hand concealed.

added kong加槓jiāgàngThe only kong that can be robbed.

robbing a kong搶槓qiǎnggàng

ready (one tile from a win)聽牌tīngpáiHong Kong says jiàohú.

win胡húTaiwan writes 胡; Hong Kong 糊; the mainland and Japan 和.

self-draw自摸zìmōAll three pay.

to discard the winning tile放槍 · 放炮fàngqiāng · fàngpàoThe discarder pays alone.

passing a win過水guòshuǐAfter passing, no win at all, self-draw included, until you discard a tile you are not waiting on, or make an added or concealed kong.

first in turn order wins截胡 · 攔胡jiéhú · lánhúOnly one player wins off a discard.

dead hand (wrong tile count)相公xiànggōngCannot happen in the app.

false win詐胡zhàhú

Shapes

chow (a run of three)順子shùnzi456

pung (three of a kind)刻子kèzi777

concealed pung暗刻ànkè5五萬5五萬5五萬

the pair將 · 眼jiàng · yǎn99

five sets and a pair (17 tiles)五搭一對wǔ dā yī duìThe winning shape in Taiwanese 16-tile.

edge wait · closed wait · pair wait邊張 · 中洞 · 單吊biānzhāng · zhōngdòng · dāndiàoThe three single waits.

two-sided wait聽雙頭tīng shuāngtóuRequired for All chows.

concealed hand門清ménqīng

Patterns

concealed self-draw不求人bùqiúrén

all melded全求人quánqiúrén

all chows平胡pínghú

all pungs碰碰胡 · 對對胡pèngpènghú

half flush混一色hùnyīsè

full flush清一色qīngyīsè

all honours字一色zìyīsè

little / big three dragons小三元 · 大三元xiǎo / dà sānyuán

little / big four winds小四喜 · 大四喜xiǎo / dà sìxǐ

win on a replacement tile槓上開花gàngshàng kāihuā

self-draw on the last tile海底撈月hǎidǐ lāo yuè

win on the last discard河底撈魚hédǐ lāo yú

heavenly · earthly · human win天胡 · 地胡 · 人胡tiānhú · dìhú · rénhú

heavenly · earthly ready天聽 · 地聽tiāntīng · dìtīng

Eight Immortals (all eight flowers)八仙過海bāxiān guòhǎi

seven robs one七搶一qī qiǎng yī

Tai and stakes

tai (the scoring unit)台táiAdded, never doubled. Each payer pays base + tai × unit. Not "fan".

base底dǐThe flat amount every winning hand earns.

stakes, e.g. 100/20底台 · 100/20dǐ táiA base of 100 and 20 per tai.

the dealer keeps the deal連莊liánzhuāngAfter the dealer wins or the hand is drawn.

the streak bonus拉莊lāzhuāngThe streak is worth 2N tai.

the deal passes下莊xiàzhuāng

a zero-tai win屁胡pìhúWins the base only.

own flowers and winds only (the default mode)正花正字zhènghuā zhèngzì

every flower and wind counts (the other mode)見花見字jiànhuā jiànzì

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The terms come from the Taiwanese apps and tournament rulebooks; the English is what English-language sources say. The full rules are on the rules page.