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」	Rinshan — (Win off the replacement tile)	[le] rinshan — ([la] victoire sur la tuile de remplacement)	{de}
Yaku	10114	Chankan	「搶槓」	Chankan — (Robbing the kan)	[le] rinshan — ([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」	Double riichi	[le] double riichi	{de}
Yaku	10202	Chiitoitsu	「七対子」	Seven pairs	sept paires	{de}
Yaku	10211	Chanta	「全帯幺九」	Chanta — (Mixed terminal hand)	[le] chanta — ([la] main de terminales mixte)	{de}
Yaku	10212	Sanshoku doujun	「三色同順」	Triple sequence	[la] triple séquence	{de}
Yaku	10213	Ittsu (Ikkitsuukan)	「一気通貫」	Straight	[le] serpentin	{de}
Yaku	10221	Toitoi	「対々」	All triplets	tous brelans	{de}
Yaku	10222	Sanankou	「三暗刻」	Three concealed triplets	trois brelans cachés	{de}
Yaku	10223	Sanshoku doukou	「三色同刻」	Triple triplets	[le] triple brelan	{de}
Yaku	10224	Sankantsu	「三槓子」	Three kans	trois carrés	{de}
Yaku	10225	Shousangen	「小三元」	Little three dragons	trois petits dragons	{de}
Yaku	10226	Honroutou	「混老頭」	Pure terminal hand	tous terminales pures	{de}
Yaku	10301	Ryanpeikou	「二盃口」	Double double sequence	[la] double double séquence	{de}
Yaku	10321	Honitsu	「混一色」	Mixed flush	[la] couleur mixte	{de}
Yaku	10322	Junchan	「純全帯么」	Mixed ends hand	[la] main d'extrémités mixte	{de}
Yaku	10651	Chinitsu	「清一色」	Pure flush	[la] couleur pure	{de}
Yaku	10801	Tenhou	「天和」	Tenhou — (Miracle start (dealer))	[le] tenhou — ([le] départ miraculeux (donneur))	{de}
Yaku	10802	Chiihou	「地和」	Chiihou — (Miracle start (non-dealer))	[le] chiihou — ([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」	Nine lanterns	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」	Four big winds	trois grands dragons	{de}
Yaku	10886	Chinroutou	「清老頭」	All ends	tous extrémités pures	{de}
Yaku	10887	Suukantsu	「四槓子」	Four kans	quatre carrés	{de}
Yaku	10888	Daisangen	「大三元」	Big three dragons	trois grands dragons	{de}
Yaku	10901	Renhou	「人和」	Renhou — (Miracle discard)	[le] renhou — ([l'] écart miraculeux)	{de}
Yaku	10991	Nagashi mangan	「流し満貫」	{en}	[la] pile fantastique	{de}
Yaku	10992	Kazoe yakuman	「数え役満」	Counted yakuman	[le] yakuman compté	{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	[la] réserve	[---] Tote Mauer
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	「番」	Turn {to play}	{fr}	{de}
Basic A	20111	tsumo (n.)	「自摸」	Draw	pioche	{de}
Basic A	20121	hiku (v.)	「引く」		piger	{de}
Basic A	20131	suteru (v.)	「捨てる」	Discard	écarter	{de}
Basic A	20132	sutehai (n.)	「捨て牌」		écart	{de}
Basic A	20141	naku (v.)	「鳴く」	Call	appeler	{de}
Basic A	20142	fuuro (n.)	「」		réquisition	{de}
Basic A	20151	chii	「」	Chii — (call for sequence)	[inv.] chii — ([l'] appel pour séquence)	{de}
Basic A	20161	pon	「」	Pon — (call for triplet)	[inv.] pon — ([l'] appel pour brelan)	{de}
Basic A	20171	kan	「槓」	Draw	{fr}	{de}
Basic A	20181	tsumo (decl.)	「自摸」	Draw	{fr}	{de}
Basic A	20191	ron (decl.)	「栄」	Draw	{fr}	{de}
Basic A	20201	agari	「和ガリ」	Draw	{fr}	{de}
Basic A	20211	furikomi	「振込」	Draw	{fr}	{de}
Basic A	20221	sashikomi	「差し込み」	Draw	{fr}	{de}
Basic A	20231	ryuukyoku	「流局」	Exhaustive draw	[une] main nulle	[---] Abbau-Unentschieden
Basic B	30011	shuntsu	「順子」	{en}	[une] séquence	{de}
Basic B	30021	koutsu	「刻子」	{en}	[un] brelan	{de}
Basic B	30031	kantsu	「槓子」	{en}	[un] carré — [un] kan	{de}
Basic B	30041	toitsu	「対子」	{en}	[une] paire	{de}
Basic B	30051	taatsu	「」	{en}	[un] protogroupe	{de}
Basic B	30061	jantou	「雀頭」	{en}	[la] paire finale	[---] Schlusspaar
Basic B	30071	minjun	「明順」	{en}	[une] séquence exposée	{de}
Basic B	30081	anjun	「暗順」	{en}	[une] séquence cachée	{de}
Basic B	30091	minkou	「明刻」	{en}	[un] brelan exposé	{de}
Basic B	30101	ankou	「暗刻」	{en}	[un] brelan caché	{de}
Basic B	30111	minkan	「明槓」	{en}	[un] carré exposé	{de}
Basic B	30121	ankan	「暗槓」	{en}	[un] carré caché	{de}
Basic B	3*131	shouminkan	「jpKanji」	{en}	[un] carré appelé {brelan caché appelé en...}	{de}
Basic B	3*141	daiminkan	「jpKanji」	{en}	[un] carré complété {brelan exposé augmenté}	{de}
Basic B	3*151	kakan	「jpKanji」	{en}	{fr}	{de}
Basic B	30161	okurikan	「jpKanji」	Four identical tiles	[un] ensemble de quatres tuiles identiques	{de}
Basic B	30171	ryanmen	「両面」	Side wait {open}	attente (ouverte) à deux bords	{de}
Basic B	30181	kanchan	「」	Gutter wait {closed}	attente (fermée) entre deux	{de}
Basic B	30191	penchan	「jpKanji」	Edge wait	attente sur le bord	{de}
Basic B	30201	tanki	「単騎」	Single wait	attente unique	{de}
Basic B	30211	shanpon	「」	Two-pair wait	attente sur deux paires	{de}
Basic D	50001	ii　⚀	「１」「①」「一」	One	un	{de}
Basic D	50002	ryan ⚁	「２」「②」「二」	Two	deux	{de}
Basic D	50003	san ⚂	「３」「③」「三」	Three	trois	{de}
Basic D	50004	suu ⚃	「４」「④」「四」	Four	quatre	{de}
Basic D	50005	uu ⚄	「５」「⑤」「伍」 （五）	Five	cinq	{de}
Basic D	50006	roo ⚅	「６」「⑥」「六」	Six	six	{de}
Basic D	50007	chii	「７」「⑦」「七」	Seven	sept	{de}
Basic D	50008	paa	「８」「⑧」「八」	Eight	huit	{de}
Basic D	50009	kyuu	「９」「⑨」「九」	Nine	neuf	{de}
Basic D	50011	ton	「東」	East	[l'] est	[---] Ost
Basic D	50012	nan	「南」	South	[le] sud	[---] Süd
Basic D	50013	shaa	「西」	West	[l'] ouest	[---] West
Basic D	50014	pei	「北」	North	[le] nord	[---] Nord
Basic D	50021	haku	「白」	White	[le] blanc	{de}
Basic D	50022	hatsu	「發」	Green {fig.}	[le] vert {fig.}	{de}
Basic D	50023	chun	「中」	Red {fig.}	[le] rouge {fig.}	{de}
Basic D	50031	pin(zu)	「筒子」	***	[le] sapèque	{de}
Basic D	50032	sou(zu)	「索子」	Bamboo	[le] bambou	{de}
Basic D	50033	man(zu)	「萬子」	Digit	[le] chiffre	{de}
Basic D	50034	shoku	「色」	Suit	[la] couleur	[---] ?Farb(e)
J-101	60001	ichi	「一」	{en}	{fr}	{de}
J-101	60002	ni	「二」	{en}	{fr}	{de}
J-101	60003	san	「三」	{en}	{fr}	{de}
J-101	60004	yon	「四」	{en}	{fr}	{de}
J-101	60005	go	「伍」 （五）	{en}	{fr}	{de}
J-101	60006	roku	「六」	{en}	{fr}	{de}
J-101	60007	nana	「七」	{en}	{fr}	{de}
J-101	60008	hachi	「八」	{en}	{fr}	{de}
J-101	60009	kyuu	「九」	{en}	{fr}	{de}
J-101	60010	juu	「十」	{en}	{fr}	{de}
J-101	60011	hyaku	「百」	{en}	{fr}	{de}
J-101	60012	sen	「千」	{en}	{fr}	{de}
J-101	60013	man	「萬」　（万）	{en}	{fr}	{de}
J-101	60020	yaku	「役」	Winning condition	[une] condition gagnante	[---] Gewinnberechtigung
J-101	60022	dora	「ドラ」	Bonus point	[un]　point boni	[---] Bonusstein
J-101	60022	han	「翻」	{en}	{fr}	[---] Siegpunkt(e)
J-101	60023	fu	「府」	{en}	{fr}	{de}
J-101	60024	ten	「点」	{en}	{fr}	{de}
J-101	65001	onegai shimasu	「お願いします」	{en}	{fr}	{de}
J-101	65011	arigatou gozaimasu	「ありがとうございます」	{en}	{fr}	{de}
J-101	69101	(1han 30fu) senten	「千点」	1,000 points	1 000 points	1 000 Punkte
J-101	69104	(1han 30fu) goumii	「ゴーミー」	500/300 points {lit.} Trash {fig.}	500 / 300 points {lit.} Déchets {fig.}	{de}
J-101	69105	(1han) nomi	「のみ」	"___" only	"___" seulement	{de}
J-101	69111	(2han 30fu) nisen{ten}	「二千点」	2,000 points	2 000 points	2 000 Punkte
J-101	69114	gottou	「ゴットー」	500/1000 points {lit.}	500 / 1 000 points {lit.}	500 / 1 000 Punkte {lit.}
J-101	69123	niiroku	「ニーロク」	2,600 points	2 600 points	2 600 Punkte
J-101	69124	shichitousan	「シチトーサン」	{en}	{fr}	{de}
J-101	69133	sannii	「サンニー」	3,200 points	3 200 points	3 200 Punkte
J-101	69142	sen nisen	「千　二千」	{en}	{fr}	{de}
J-101	69143	zanku {sankyuu}	「ザンク」	3,900 points	3 900 points	3 900 Punkte
J-101	69153	gounii	「ゴーニー」	5,200 points	5 200 points	5 200 Punkte
J-101	69154	ichisan niroku	「イチサン　ニーロク」	{en}	{fr}	{de}
J-101	69163	rokuyon	「ロクヨン」	6,400 points	6 400 points	6 400 Punkte
J-101	69164	ichiroku sannii	「イチロク　サンニー」	{en}	{fr}	{de}
J-101	69171	...	「jpKanji」	{en}	{fr}	{de}
J-101	69174	nisen zanku	「二千　ザンク」	{en}	{fr}	{de}
J-101	69181	hassen	「八千」	1,000 points	1 000 points	1 000 Punkte
J-101	69182	nisen yonsen	「二千　四千」	{en}	{fr}	{de}
J-101	69203	ichigo	「イチゴー」	1,500 points {lit.} Strawberry {fig.}	1 500 points {lit.} Fraise {fig.}	1 500 Punkte {lit.} [die] Erdbeere {fig.}
J-101	69213	niikuu	「ニークー」	2,900 points	2 900 points	2 900 Punkte
J-101	69243	goppaa	「ゴーパー」	5,800 points	5 800 points	5 800 Punkte
J-101	69263	kunroku	「クンロク」	9,600 points	9 600 points	9 600 Punkte
J-101	69273	pinpinroku	「ピンピンロク」	11,600 points	11 600 points	11 600 Punkte
J-101	69281	ichiman nisen	「一万二千」	12,000 points	12 000 points	12 000 Punkte
J-101	69303	ichiroku	「イチロク」	16,000 points	16 000 points	16 000 Punkte
J-101	69313	inpachi	「インパチ」	18,000 points	18 000 points	18 000 Punkte
J-101	60001	。	「。」	{en}	{fr}	{de}
...	70001	.	「jpKanji」	{en}	{fr}	{de}
...	80001	.	「jpKanji」	{en}	{fr}	{de}
...	90001	.	「jpKanji」	{en}	{fr}	{de}

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.