么

么 · me

interrogative particle; small

Entry ↗

Meanings & readings

Meaning & readings

interrogative particle; small

Mandarin
me
Cantonese
maa1

Unihan definitions and selected character readings. Read the word to establish its pronunciation in context.

Readings in Japanese, Korean & Vietnamese

Readings recorded for 么 in other language traditions. These are character-level records, not word translations or interchangeable pronunciations.

Japanese 日本語

Grouped by the source’s kana notation; no frequency ranking is implied.

On’yomi · katakana

ヨウ

Katakana generally indicates on’yomi; hiragana generally indicates kun’yomi. The source does not identify everyday, rare, historical or name use per reading. Kana strings are preserved, including any written endings; consult a Japanese word entry for actual use.

Source record & scope

Unicode Unihan 17.0.0 · kJapanese ↗ · provisional property

ヨウ

Korean 한국어

Not recorded for this exact character in this dataset. This does not mean the language has no reading.

Vietnamese Tiếng Việt

Not recorded for this exact character in this dataset. This does not mean the language has no reading.

Form & structure

Writing & identity

Unicode
U+4E48
Radical
丿 · 4
Strokes
3 · Unihan
Residual
2

Source record · Unihan 17.0. Individual senses and historical claims have not yet been reviewed by zimai.

Stroke order

3 strokes
么
Strokes
3
Convention
PRC · Make Me a Hanzi

3 strokes in writing order. Play to watch them, or Step through one at a time.

Modern stroke order; regional conventions can differ. Stroke medians: Make Me a Hanzi via HanziLookupJS, drawn as an even pen line.

Graphical structure

⿱㇒厶(GHTJKP)
How to read these symbols

⿰ left–right · ⿱ above–below · ⿻ overlap. Dotted boxes indicate positions, not missing characters. Each symbol describes the components that follow it; nested symbols describe a component in more detail. Source codes identify alternative analyses, not a writing sequence or an etymology.

BabelStone IDS · 2025-06-27. Region tags are preserved; 〾 marks approximation and {n} identifies an unencoded source component. These describe graphical structure, not historical derivation.

Words & connections

Words using 么

Character connections

2 catalogue records include this shape in their first retained IDS. Graphical containment does not imply shared etymology.

Sentence context · 5 matches

Written-form matches; sense and pronunciation are not automatically aligned. Corpus & selection ↗

History & distinctions

Related forms

Unihan traditional/simplified variant properties. Conversion may depend on context.

Sources & reference

Evidence & next depth

Source editions & exact scope ↗
Retained Unihan properties
kMandarin
me
kCantonese
maa1
kDefinition
interrogative particle; small
kTotalStrokes
3
kRSUnicode
4.2
kTraditionalVariant
U+4E48 U+5E7A U+9EBC U+9EBD
kSimplifiedVariant
U+4E48
kTGH
2013:48

Readings across dictionaries

Hanyu Da Zidian
yāo,mó,ma,me 10033.020
Xiandai Hanyu · 1983
ma 0758.081,0758.091 · me 0770.150 · yāo 1340.041
Small numbers locate dictionary entries; 粵 introduces Cantonese. Includes rare or historical readings. Source notation ↗

Reference desk

Sentences in context

Explore 5 examples using 么 ↗

Exact source-spelling matches. Open the reader for dictionary lookups, construction notes and related examples. Occurrence does not establish a particular dictionary sense.

Study this character

Structure & connections

0.10
66dictionary records using 么2forms using this shape0attributed sound links
⿱ Above / below

Shape description
㇒ above 厶 · the shape used in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, North Korea
Source notation ^⿱㇒厶$(GHTJKP)
BabelStone · 2025-06-27. Encoded shape and region tags; graphical analysis does not establish historical function.

Decompose & trace ↗Browse all 66 word records ↗Explore sound families ↗Component search ↗
Retained descriptions & scope

^⿱㇒厶$(GHTJKP)

All alternatives are retained. Only the first description drives component search and graphical links. Counts describe this snapshot, not frequency. Evidence and method.