List of terminology translations

Mahjong is a game that has effectively crossed the borders of both countries and languages. Given this, many languages have taken liberties in translating terms however they felt like, borrowing from other variants' translations or from other games, with mixed results.

Below is a list aiming to provide a translation of all important mahjong terminology: as such, it will be presented in a lexical order by theme. This list aims not to catalog multiple variants but to present a structured translation consistent in all languages with a sufficient player base. Also, it will not present definitions. Translations that are only indicative are preceded by ***, as the Japanese word has been fully assimilated as a normally used word among players. French and German shall indicate gender and plural as appropriate.

List of terms

Theme	Key	Japanese	Characters	English	French	German
Yaku	10101	Riichi	「立直」	Riichi (Ready hand)	[inv.] riichi ([la] main prête)	Riichi
Yaku	10102	Ippatsu	「一発」	Ippatsu (One-shot)	Ippatsu ([au] premier tour post-riichi)	{de}
Yaku	10103	Menzenchin tsumohou	「門前清自摸和」	Menzen tsumo, (All concealed)	Menzen tsumo ([la] main cachée)	{de}
Yaku	10104	Pinfu	「平和」	Pinfu, (Flat hand)	[le] pinfu ([la] main plate)	{de}
Yaku	10105	Iipeikou	「一盃口」	Double sequence	[la] double séquence	{de}
Yaku	10111	Tanyao(chuu)	「断幺九」	Tanyao, (Simple hand)	[le] tanyao ([la] main simple)	{de}
Yaku	10112	Yakuhai	「役牌」	Value tiles	[des] Tuiles de valeur	{de}
Yaku	10113	Rinshan kaihou	「嶺上開花」	{en}	[la] victoire sur la tuile de remplacement	{de}
Yaku	10114	Chankan	「搶槓」	{en}	[le] kan volé	{de}
Yaku	10115	Haitei raoyue	「海底撈月」	Last pick	[la] dernière pioche	{de}
Yaku	10116	Houtei raoyui	「河底撈魚」	Last discard	[la] dernière défausse	{de}
Yaku	10201	Double riichi	「ダブルリーチ」	{en}	[le] double riichi	{de}
Yaku	10202	Chiitoitsu	「七対子」	{en}	sept paires	{de}
Yaku	10211	Chanta	「全帯幺九」	{en}	tous terminales incluses	{de}
Yaku	10212	Sanshoku doujun	「三色同順」	{en}	[la] triple suite	{de}
Yaku	10213	Ittsu (Ikkitsuukan)	「一気通貫」	{en}	[le] serpentin	{de}
Yaku	10221	Toitoi	「対々」	All triplets	tous brelans	{de}
Yaku	10222	Sanankou	「三暗刻」	{en}	trois brelans cachés	{de}
Yaku	10223	Sanshoku doukou	「三色同刻」	{en}	[le] triple brelan	{de}
Yaku	10224	Sankantsu	「三槓子」	{en}	trois carrés	{de}
Yaku	10225	Shousangen	「小三元」	{en}	trois petits dragons	{de}
Yaku	10226	Honroutou	「混老頭」	{en}	tous terminales pures	{de}
Yaku	10301	Ryanpeikou	「二盃口」	{en}	[la] double double copie	{de}
Yaku	10321	Honitsu	「混一色」	Mixed flush	[la] couleur mixte	{de}
Yaku	10322	Junchan	「純全帯么」	{en}	tous extrémités incluses	{de}
Yaku	10651	Chinitsu	「清一色」	**** Flush	[la] couleur pure	{de}
Yaku	10801	Tenhou	「天和」	Miracle start (dealer)	[le] départ miraculeux (donneur)	{de}
Yaku	10802	Chiihou	「地和」	Miracle start (non-dealer)	[le] départ miraculeux (non-donneur)	{de}
Yaku	10803	Kokushi musou	「国士無双」	Thirteen orphans	treize orphelins	{de}
Yaku	10804	Chuuren poutou	「九連宝燈」	{en}	neuf lanternes	{de}
Yaku	10805	Suuankou	「四暗刻」	Four concealed triples	quatre brelans cachés	{de}
Yaku	10881	Ryuuiisou	「緑一色」	All green	[la] main verte	{de}
Yaku	10883	Tsuuiisou	「字一色」	All word tiles	tous vents et dragons	{de}
Yaku	10884	Shousuushi	「小四喜」	Four little winds	quatre petits vents	{de}
Yaku	10885	Daisuushi	「大四喜」	{en}	trois grands dragons	{de}
Yaku	10886	Chinroutou	「清老頭」	{en}	tous extrémités pures	{de}
Yaku	10887	Suukantsu	「四槓子」	{en}	quatre carrés	{de}
Yaku	10888	Daisangen	「大三元」	Big Three Dragons	trois grands dragons	{de}
Yaku	10901	Renhou	{jpKanji}	{en}	{fr}	{de}
Yaku	10991	Nagashi mangan	「流し満貫」	{en}	[la] pile fantastique	{de}
Yaku	10992	Kazoe yakuman	{jpKanji}	{en}	{fr}	{de}
Basic A	20011	hai / pai	「牌」	Tile(s)	[la] tuile	[der] Stein(e)
Basic A	20021	yama {fig.}	「山」	Wall	[le] mur	{de}
Basic A	20022	kabe {lit.}	「壁」
Basic A	20031	ton	「幢」	Stack(s)	[le] tas*	{de}
Basic A	20041	wanpai	「王牌」	Dead wall	Réserve	{de}
Basic A	20051	saikoro 🎲	「骰子」	Die (Dice)	[le] dé(s)	{de}
Basic A	20061	tenbou	「点棒」	Point stick	[le] bâtonnet(s) de points	{de}
Basic A	20071	haipai	「配牌」	Starting hand	[la] main(s) initiale(s)	{de}
Basic A	20081	riipai	「理牌」	Hand sorting	[le] tri de la main	{de}
Basic A	20101	ban	「jpKanji」	Turn {to play}	{fr}	{de}
Basic A	20111	tsumo (n.)	「jpKanji」	Draw	pioche	{de}
Basic A	20121	hiku (v.)	「jpKanji」		piger	{de}
Basic A	20131	suteru (v.)	「jpKanji」	Discard	écarter	{de}
Basic A	20132	sutehai (n.)	「jpKanji」		écart	{de}
Basic A	20141	naku (v.)	「jpKanji」	Call	appeler	{de}
Basic A	20142	fuuro (n.)	「jpKanji」		réquisition	{de}
Basic A	20061	tsumo	「jpKanji」	Draw	{fr}	{de}
Basic D	50001	.	{jpKanji}	{en}	{fr}	{de}
Japanese 101	60001	.	{jpKanji}	{en}	{fr}	{de}
...	70001	.	{jpKanji}	{en}	{fr}	{de}
...	80001	.	{jpKanji}	{en}	{fr}	{de}
...	90001	.	{jpKanji}	{en}	{fr}	{de}

The Sun is pretty big. But the Moon is not so big. The Sun is also quite hot.

Table notes

Japanese

English

French

German

Controversial translation by language

French

Generally, there are two main sources for French terminology: the French Federation of Mah-Jong (FFMJ), and Club Riichi de Montréal (CRM), as well as various authors hailing from the spheres of influence of the two organizations. Some terms may not reflect the words in usage in either area and there is no sustained effort to either harmonize or even officialize the terminology used. While Senechal's point of view is heavily biased towards CRM, the goal is to maintain as much similitude as possible. French has a wide gamut of precise terms to describe more things than in English. The caveats to this are when a translation was poorly done on either end, or if a non-riichi version of mahjong introduces a term conflicting with Japanese mahjong.

Pinzu: Cercle versus sapèque

Pinzu have been referred to as "cercles" by the Réunion Federation of Mah-Jong (FRMJ), a sub-group of the FFMJ, as well as in books by Stéphane Parcollet. Everyone can understand that circles are round. The problem lies in the fact that circles are monolinear abstract objects, whereas the concrete objects represented are coins used in China, with holes in them. Whereas the English term for them (cash) has not caught on, the French language has the term sapèque, which is quite precise, unambiguous, and does not raise eyebrows related to anti-gambling prejudice like cash would in English.

As cercles would cause a shorthand conflict with caractères or chiffres (see below), it also poorly serves a disambiguative purpose.

Ruling: Use sapèque, never cercle (imprecise).

Manzu: Caractère versus chiffre, nombre

The word characters is a poor choice in any language, as Asian languages use characters for everything. Mahjong tiles themselves have 15 different tiles (from the base 34 types) that have Chinese characters on them. This leads to a lot of confusion with character, number, digit and word. All tiles from 1 to 9 (108 tiles) are called suupai (number tiles), and all other tiles (28 tiles) represent winds and dragons, called jihai (word tiles). But if words on word tiles are characters, then why call anything characters?

Note: TBD in English.

Ruling: Use chiffre in French, not caractère (imprecise) nor nombre (other use).

Cross-language issues

Pinzu versus Tonzu

The cash coins represented on mahjong tiles would be accurately described as tonzu. However, many areas in China, as well as the people who helped disseminate mahjong in Japan were using the term pinzu, representing barrels as opposed to coins. In the western world, there is no clear term used: circles and dots in English, cercles and sapèques in French, etc. While standardizing to one word per language serves a purpose, forcefully aligning every language to a singular concept may not be beneficial.

Ruling: pinzu in Japanese, sapèque in French, TBD in English.

Souzu versus Bamboo

Souzu in Japanese represents what it does in Chinese: string stacks of coins, representing 100 coins per stack. It in no way means bamboo (it's not called chikuzu), but as it has garnered overwhelming traction in all languages even by people uninterested in mahjong, it would be pointless to change a term that has garnered more acceptance than the game itself.

Terminals versus Ends

There is a dispute as whether to use terminals or ends for the terms yaochuuhai and routouhai. In English and French, the logic that applies is that a terminal must be at the start, finish, or sole point in a line, whereas an end must be at the start or finish of a non-zero length line. In German, there is an expression, "Alles hat ein Ende, nur die Wurst hat zwei". It is important to consider the three suits (die Farbe) as being the sausage here.

Ruling: Yaochuuhai, even if it says "1-9-tiles" in Japanese and Chinese, means all of ones, nines, winds and dragons: it is thus translated as terminals.
Routouhai refers specifically to ones and nines exclusively: both honroutou and chinroutou require that consistency be kept among the terms (and tsuuiisou requires none), and thus, it should be translated as ends.