# 馬子
## Chinese

* 馬桶 (Written Standard Chinese)
* Chamber pot (English)

### Etymology 1

During the Han Dynasty, the emperor's commode was called 虎子 (hǔzǐ). However, the grandfather of Emperor Gaozu of Tang was called 李虎 (Lǐ Hǔ). Because it was forbidden for common items to contain the given names of members of the imperial family (see Naming taboo), 虎子 was changed to 馬子／马子 (mǎzi), which morphed later into 馬桶／马桶 (mǎtǒng).

#### Pronunciation

* Mandarin
    (Pinyin): mǎzi
    (Zhuyin): ㄇㄚˇ ˙ㄗ
* Cantonese (Jyutping): maa$^5$ zi$^2$
* Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): bé-chí
* Mandarin
** (Standard Chinese)
*** Hanyu Pinyin: mǎzi
*** Zhuyin: ㄇㄚˇ ˙ㄗ
*** Tongyong Pinyin: mǎzi̊h
*** Wade–Giles: ma$^3$-tzŭ$^5$
*** Yale: mǎ-dz
*** Gwoyeu Romatzyh: maa.tzy
*** Palladius: мацзы (maczy)
*** Sinological IPA : /mä²¹⁴ d͡z̥z̩⁴/
* Cantonese
** (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
*** Jyutping: maa$^5$ zi$^2$
*** Yale: máh jí
*** Cantonese Pinyin: maa$^5$ dzi$^2$
*** Guangdong Romanization: ma$^5$ ji$^2$
*** Sinological IPA : /maː¹³ t͡siː³⁵/
* Southern Min
** (Hokkien)
*** Pe̍h-ōe-jī: bé-chí
*** Tâi-lô: bé-tsí
*** Phofsit Daibuun: befcie
*** IPA (Xiamen): /be⁵³⁻⁴⁴ t͡si⁵³/
*** IPA (Quanzhou): /be⁵⁵⁴⁻²⁴ t͡si⁵⁵⁴/
*** IPA (Zhangzhou): /be⁵³⁻⁴⁴ t͡si⁵³/
*** IPA (Taipei): /be⁵³⁻⁴⁴ t͡si⁵³/
*** IPA (Kaohsiung): /be⁴¹⁻⁴⁴ t͡si⁴¹/

#### Noun

馬子
* nightstool; closestool; commode; toilet; chamber pot
* (gambling) chip
* (chiefly Taiwan, colloquial, humorous or derogatory) girlfriend

##### Synonyms

* (chamber pot; toilet): 馬桶／马桶 (mǎtǒng)
* (chip): 籌碼／筹码 (chóumǎ)
* (girlfriend):
| Variety | Location | Words |
| Formal (Written Standard Chinese) | Formal (Written Standard Chinese) | 女朋友, 女友 |
| Northeastern Mandarin | Beijing | 女朋友 |
| Northeastern Mandarin | Taiwan | 女朋友, 女友, 馬子 humorous or derogatory |
| Northeastern Mandarin | Singapore | 女朋友 |
| Central Plains Mandarin | Xuzhou | 女朋友 |
| Southwestern Mandarin | Chengdu | 女娃子, 女娃娃, 女娃兒, 盤子 |
| Southwestern Mandarin | Guilin | 𧊅 |
| Jianghuai Mandarin | Nanjing | 女朋友, 攀西 |
| Cantonese | Guangzhou | 女朋友, 女 |
| Cantonese | Hong Kong | 女朋友, 女友, 女, 女女, 菜 derogatory |
| Cantonese | Taishan | 女朋友, 女 |
| Cantonese | Dongguan | 皮油 |
| Cantonese | Singapore (Guangfu) | 女朋友 |
| Hakka | Meixian | 女朋友 |
| Hakka | Miaoli (N. Sixian) | 細妹朋友, 女朋友 |
| Hakka | Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu) | 細妹朋友, 女朋友 |
| Hakka | Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu) | 細妹朋友, 女朋友 |
| Hakka | Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping) | 細妹朋友, 女朋友 |
| Hakka | Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an) | 妹子朋友, 女朋友 |
| Eastern Min | Fuzhou | 女朋友 |
| Southern Min | Xiamen | 女朋友 |
| Southern Min | Shishi | 女朋友 |
| Southern Min | Taipei | 姼仔 GT |
| Southern Min | Penang (Hokkien) | 查某朋友 |
| Southern Min | Singapore (Hokkien) | 查某朋友 |
| Southern Min | Manila (Hokkien) | 好的, 相好, 女朋友, 查某朋友 |
| Southern Min | Chaozhou | 女朋友 |
| Southern Min | Haifeng | 女朋友 |
| Southern Min | Singapore (Teochew) | 查某朋友 |
| Southern Min | Leizhou | 女朋友 |
| Southern Min | Singapore (Hainanese) | 女朋友 |
| Wu | Shanghai | 女朋友 |
| Wu | Suzhou | 女朋友 |
| Wu | Hangzhou | 女朋友 |
| Wu | Ningbo | 女朋友 |
| Wu | Zhoushan | 女朋友 |
| Xiang | Changsha | 妹子 |
| Note | GT - General Taiwanese (no specific region identified) | GT - General Taiwanese (no specific region identified) |

##### Derived terms

* 泡馬子 / 泡马子 (pào mǎzi)

### Etymology 2
#### Pronunciation

* Hakka (Sixian, PFS): mâ-chṳ́
* Hakka
** (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
*** Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: mâ-chṳ́
*** Hakka Romanization System: ma$^ˊ$ zii$^ˋ$
*** Hagfa Pinyim: ma$^1$ zi$^3$
*** Sinological IPA: /ma²⁴ t͡sɨ³¹/

#### Noun

馬子
* (Taiwanese Hakka) foal

##### Synonyms

| Variety | Location | Words |
| Classical Chinese | Classical Chinese | 駒, 馬駒 |
| Formal (Written Standard Chinese) | Formal (Written Standard Chinese) | 小馬 |
| Northeastern Mandarin | Beijing | 馬駒兒, 馬駒子 |
| Northeastern Mandarin | Harbin | 馬駒子 |
| Jilu Mandarin | Jinan | 馬駒兒, 馬駒子 |
| Jiaoliao Mandarin | Yantai (Muping) | 馬駒兒, 馬駒子 |
| Central Plains Mandarin | Luoyang | 馬駒子 |
| Central Plains Mandarin | Wanrong | 馬駒子 |
| Central Plains Mandarin | Xi'an | 馬駒兒, 馬駒子 |
| Central Plains Mandarin | Xining | 尕馬兒, 馬駒子兒, 馬駒子 |
| Lanyin Mandarin | Yinchuan | 馬駒子, 馬駒駒 |
| Lanyin Mandarin | Lanzhou | 馬駒子 |
| Southwestern Mandarin | Chengdu | 小馬兒 |
| Southwestern Mandarin | Wuhan | 小馬 |
| Southwestern Mandarin | Guiyang | 小馬崽, 小馬兒 |
| Southwestern Mandarin | Liuzhou | 馬崽 |
| Jianghuai Mandarin | Yangzhou | 小馬 |
| Jianghuai Mandarin | Hefei | 小馬 |
| Cantonese | Guangzhou | 馬仔 |
| Cantonese | Hong Kong | 馬仔 |
| Cantonese | Dongguan | 馬仔 |
| Cantonese | Yangjiang | 馬仔 |
| Gan | Nanchang | 馬崽子 |
| Gan | Lichuan | 馬崽兒 |
| Hakka | Meixian | 細馬仔 |
| Hakka | Yudu | 細馬 |
| Hakka | Miaoli (N. Sixian) | 馬子 |
| Hakka | Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian) | 馬子 |
| Hakka | Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu) | 馬子 |
| Hakka | Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu) | 馬子 |
| Hakka | Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping) | 馬子 |
| Hakka | Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an) | 馬么 |
| Jin | Taiyuan | 馬駒, 馬駒子 |
| Northern Min | Jian'ou | 馬仔 |
| Eastern Min | Fuzhou | 馬囝 |
| Southern Min | Xiamen | 馬仔囝, 馬仔 |
| Southern Min | Quanzhou | 馬仔 |
| Southern Min | Zhangzhou | 馬仔 |
| Southern Min | Penang (Hokkien) | 馬囝 |
| Southern Min | Chaozhou | 馬囝 |
| Southern Min | Leizhou | 馬囝 |
| Southern Pinghua | Nanning (Tingzi) | 馬崽 |
| Wu | Suzhou | 小馬 |
| Wu | Wenzhou | 馬兒 |
| Xiang | Changsha | 馬崽子 |
| Xiang | Shuangfeng | 馬崽基 |

## Japanese
### Etymology 1

Kanji in this term :
| 馬 | 子 |
| ま Grade: 2 | こ > ご Grade: 1 |
| jūbakoyomi ||

#### Noun

馬(ま)子(ご) • (mago)
* packhorse driver
    馬子(まご)にも衣装(いしょう)
       mago ni mo ishō
       (proverb) the clothes make the man
    山(やま)んばばあと馬子(まご)どん
       Yamanbabā to mago don
       the Mountain-Witch and the Packhorse Driver, an Okinawan folktale

### Etymology 2

Kanji in this term :
| 馬 | 子 |
| うま Grade: 2 | こ Grade: 1 |
| kun'yomi ||

#### Proper noun

馬(うま)子(こ) • (Umako)
* a male given name
** 蘇我馬子 (Soga-no Umako) - famous leader of the Soga clan (died 626).

### References

* Jim Breen's 'EDICT'
* The new Nelson Japanese-English character dictionary
* NTC's New Japanese-English Dictionary
* David Galef's book on proverbs "Even Monkeys Fall From Trees"
* Daniel Crump Buchanan's book "Japanese Proverbs and Sayings"