# 螞

| 螞 | U+879E, &#34718; CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-879E |
| ← 螝 [U+879D] | CJK Unified Ideographs | 螟 → [U+879F] |

## Translingual
### Han character

螞 (Kangxi radical 142, 虫+10, 16 strokes, cangjie input 中戈尸手火 (LISQF), four-corner 5112$_7$, composition ⿰虫馬)

#### References

* Kangxi Dictionary: page 1093, character 40
* Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 33428
* Dae Jaweon: page 1558, character 28
* Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 4, page 2876, character 4
* Unihan data for U+879E

## Chinese
### Glyph origin

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 / 形声): semantic 虫 (“insect”) + phonetic 馬 (OC *mraːʔ).

### Etymology

Traditionally thought to be the same word as 馬 (OC *mraːʔ, “horse > big”).
Mei (1985) proposes that it is derived from 蝱 (OC *mraːŋ, “horsefly”), which he relates to Proto-Tai *m.leːŋᴬ (“insect”).

### Pronunciation 1

* Mandarin
    (Standard)
       (Pinyin): mǎ (ma$^3$)
       (Zhuyin): ㄇㄚˇ
    (Chengdu, Sichuanese Pinyin): ma$^3$
* Cantonese (Jyutping): maa$^5$
* Gan (Wiktionary): ma$^3$
* Hakka
    (Sixian, PFS): mâ
    (Meixian, Guangdong): ma$^1$
* Jin (Wiktionary): ma$^2$
* Eastern Min (BUC): mā
* Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): má / bé / bée
* Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): $^6$mo
* Xiang
    (Changsha, Wiktionary): ma$^3$
    (Hengyang, Wiktionary): ma$^3$
* Mandarin
** (Standard Chinese)
*** Hanyu Pinyin: mǎ
*** Zhuyin: ㄇㄚˇ
*** Tongyong Pinyin: mǎ
*** Wade–Giles: ma$^3$
*** Yale: mǎ
*** Gwoyeu Romatzyh: maa
*** Palladius: ма (ma)
*** Sinological IPA : /mä²¹⁴/
** (Chengdu)
*** Sichuanese Pinyin: ma$^3$
*** Scuanxua Ladinxua Xin Wenz: maa
*** Sinological IPA : /ma⁵³/
* Cantonese
** (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
*** Jyutping: maa$^5$
*** Yale: máh
*** Cantonese Pinyin: maa$^5$
*** Guangdong Romanization: ma$^5$
*** Sinological IPA : /maː¹³/
* Gan
** (Nanchang)
*** Wiktionary: ma$^3$
*** Sinological IPA : /ma²¹³/
* Hakka
** (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
*** Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: mâ
*** Hakka Romanization System: ma$^ˊ$
*** Hagfa Pinyim: ma$^1$
*** Sinological IPA: /ma²⁴/
** (Meixian)
*** Guangdong: ma$^1$
*** Sinological IPA: /ma⁴⁴/
* Jin
** (Taiyuan)
*** Wiktionary: ma$^2$
*** Sinological IPA (old-style): /ma⁵³/
* Eastern Min
** (Fuzhou)
*** Bàng-uâ-cê: mā
*** Sinological IPA : /ma³³/
* Southern Min
** (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou)
*** Pe̍h-ōe-jī: má
*** Tâi-lô: má
*** Phofsit Daibuun: mar
*** IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou): /mã⁵³/
*** IPA (Quanzhou): /mã⁵⁵⁴/
** (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou)
*** Pe̍h-ōe-jī: bé
*** Tâi-lô: bé
*** Phofsit Daibuun: bea
*** IPA (Quanzhou): /be⁵⁵⁴/
*** IPA (Xiamen): /be⁵³/
** (Hokkien: Zhangzhou)
*** Pe̍h-ōe-jī: bée
*** Tâi-lô: bée
*** IPA (Zhangzhou): /bɛ⁵³/
* má - literary;
* bé/bée - vernacular.

#### Definitions

螞
* (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) A prefix used in insect names.

#### Compounds

* 螞蜂 / 蚂蜂 (mǎfēng)
* 螞蟥 / 蚂蟥 (mǎhuáng)
* 螞蟻 / 蚂蚁 (mǎyǐ)
* 螞蟻啃骨頭 / 蚂蚁啃骨头
* 螞蟻搬泰山 / 蚂蚁搬泰山

### Pronunciation 2

* Mandarin
    (Pinyin): mà (ma$^4$)
    (Zhuyin): ㄇㄚˋ
* Cantonese (Jyutping): maa$^6$
* Mandarin
** (Standard Chinese)
*** Hanyu Pinyin: mà
*** Zhuyin: ㄇㄚˋ
*** Tongyong Pinyin: mà
*** Wade–Giles: ma$^4$
*** Yale: mà
*** Gwoyeu Romatzyh: mah
*** Palladius: ма (ma)
*** Sinological IPA : /mä⁵¹/
* Cantonese
** (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
*** Jyutping: maa$^6$
*** Yale: mah
*** Cantonese Pinyin: maa$^6$
*** Guangdong Romanization: ma$^6$
*** Sinological IPA : /maː²²/

#### Definitions

螞
* Only used in 螞蚱／蚂蚱 (màzha).

### Pronunciation 3

* Mandarin
    (Pinyin): mā, mǎ (ma$^1$, ma$^3$)
    (Zhuyin): ㄇㄚ, ㄇㄚˇ
* Cantonese (Jyutping): maa$^1$
* Mandarin
** (Standard Chinese, standard in Mainland, variant in Taiwan)
*** Hanyu Pinyin: mā
*** Zhuyin: ㄇㄚ
*** Tongyong Pinyin: ma
*** Wade–Giles: ma$^1$
*** Yale: mā
*** Gwoyeu Romatzyh: mha
*** Palladius: ма (ma)
*** Sinological IPA : /mä⁵⁵/
** (Standard Chinese, standard in Taiwan)
*** Hanyu Pinyin: mǎ
*** Zhuyin: ㄇㄚˇ
*** Tongyong Pinyin: mǎ
*** Wade–Giles: ma$^3$
*** Yale: mǎ
*** Gwoyeu Romatzyh: maa
*** Palladius: ма (ma)
*** Sinological IPA : /mä²¹⁴/
* Cantonese
** (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
*** Jyutping: maa$^1$
*** Yale: mā
*** Cantonese Pinyin: maa$^1$
*** Guangdong Romanization: ma$^1$
*** Sinological IPA : /maː⁵⁵/

#### Definitions

螞
* Only used in 螞螂／蚂螂 (mālang).

### References

* “螞”, in 漢語多功能字庫 (Multi-function Chinese Character Database)‎, 香港中文大學 (the Chinese University of Hong Kong), 2014–

## Japanese
### Kanji

(Hyōgai kanji)
* This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

#### Readings

* Go-on: め (me)
* Kan-on: ば (ba)
* Kan’yō-on: ま (ma)

## Korean
### Hanja

螞 • (ma) (hangeul 마, revised ma, McCune–Reischauer ma, Yale ma)
* (말거머리) horse-leech (Haemopis sanguisuga)

#### Synonyms

* 螞 (마, ma)
* 蟥 (황, hwang)
* 螞蟥 (마황, mahwang)
* 馬蛭 (마질, majil) lit. horse leech

#### Compounds

* 螞蟥 (마황, mahwang) horse-leech

#### Related terms

* 蛭 (질, jil) common leech