Mahjong terms: English, Cantonese & Mandarin
Find the word, understand the call, and follow the conversation at the table.
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The same tiles, a different table vocabulary.
Pong means claiming a discard to make three identical tiles; kong means declaring four identical tiles; chow means claiming a discard to make a sequence. Self-draw, 自摸, means winning with a tile you draw yourself. Those four ideas will carry you through many first conversations about mahjong.
This glossary puts English names beside Cantonese and Mandarin equivalents. It focuses on the vocabulary shared by Chinese table games, with riichi identified where the distinction matters. It is a language reference, not a rulebook: knowing a call’s name does not establish that your hand may make it.
Read the pronunciation without changing the rules.
Cantonese uses Jyutping here: the number after each syllable marks its tone. Mandarin uses Pinyin with tone marks. Traditional and Simplified Chinese are writing systems, not different spoken languages; where characters differ, both forms appear in the Mandarin field.
Names vary by family and region. English “pong” and “pung” are familiar spellings, not precise Jyutping. Cantonese 上 is shown as soeng5 when calling chow; 上家, the preceding player, uses soeng6 gaa1. 自摸 is heard with both mo2 and the changed tone mo1. A spelling difference does not by itself identify a different rule.
Jyutping scheme and tone guide · CantoDict: 自摸 pronunciation
Find a term.
Search by an English name, Chinese characters or romanization. The definition describes the action or hand shape; an example shows how to recognize it. For the pictures and names of individual tiles, keep the tile guide nearby.
Chow / sheung
- Cantonese · Jyutping
- 上 · soeng5
- Mandarin · Pinyin
- 吃 · chī
A call that claims the preceding player’s discard to complete a same-suit sequence. “Chow” also names the resulting set.
Holding 4–5 Bamboo, you can chow the preceding player’s 3 or 6 Bamboo when the rules allow.
Pong / pung
- Cantonese · Jyutping
- 碰 · pung3
- Mandarin · Pinyin
- 碰 · pèng
A call that uses a discard and two identical tiles from your hand to expose a triplet. The discard can come from any opponent.
Kong / gong
- Cantonese · Jyutping
- 槓 · gong3
- Mandarin · Pinyin
- 槓／杠 · gàng
A declared group of four identical tiles. It occupies one set position; the replacement draw preserves the rest of the hand’s structure.
Concealed kong
- Cantonese · Jyutping
- 暗槓 · am3 gong3
- Mandarin · Pinyin
- 暗槓／暗杠 · àn gàng
A kong made with all four tiles from your own hand, declared at a permitted time. It is still declared, even when some faces are covered.
Added kong
- Cantonese · Jyutping
- 加槓 · gaa1 gong3
- Mandarin · Pinyin
- 加槓／加杠 · jiā gàng
Adding the fourth matching tile to a triplet you previously exposed by calling pong. This is different from claiming a discard while holding three.
Robbing a kong
- Cantonese · Jyutping
- 搶槓 · coeng2 gong3
- Mandarin · Pinyin
- 搶槓／抢杠 · qiǎng gàng
Winning on a tile another player is adding to an exposed triplet. Some rules allow narrowly defined concealed-kong exceptions; check the named ruleset.
Win / mahjong
- Cantonese · Jyutping
- 食糊 · sik6 wu4
- Mandarin · Pinyin
- 胡牌 · hú pái
A declaration that the whole hand satisfies the winning requirements. Completing one set is not a win; shape, scoring eligibility and claim restrictions all matter.
Self-draw
- Cantonese · Jyutping
- 自摸 · zi6 mo2 / zi6 mo1
- Mandarin · Pinyin
- 自摸 · zì mō
Winning with a tile you draw yourself, rather than a claimed discard. An ordinary draw that does not win the hand is simply drawing a tile.
Deal in
- Cantonese · Jyutping
- 出銃 · ceot1 cung3
- Mandarin · Pinyin
- 放槍／放枪 · fàng qiāng；放炮 · fàng pào
Discarding the tile an opponent claims to win. “Discard win” describes the winner’s side of that event; payment depends on the rules.
Sequence / run
- Cantonese · Jyutping
- 順子 · seon6 zi2
- Mandarin · Pinyin
- 順子／顺子 · shùn zi
Three consecutive ranks in one numbered suit. Winds and dragons cannot form sequences, and 8–9–1 does not wrap around.
Triplet
- Cantonese · Jyutping
- 刻子 · hak1 zi2
- Mandarin · Pinyin
- 刻子 · kè zi
Three identical tiles. A triplet may be assembled privately in your hand or exposed by claiming a discard with pong.
Pair / eyes
- Cantonese · Jyutping
- 對子 · deoi3 zi2；眼 · ngaan5
- Mandarin · Pinyin
- 對子／对子 · duì zi；將眼／将眼 · jiàng yǎn
Two identical tiles. “Eyes” names the pair completing a standard set-based winning hand, not every pair you happen to hold.
Concealed / closed hand
- Cantonese · Jyutping
- 門清 · mun4 cing1
- Mandarin · Pinyin
- 門清／门清 · mén qīng
A hand with no open set claims. Rules differ on concealed kongs and the scoring of a set completed by a winning discard.
Ready hand
- Cantonese · Jyutping
- 叫糊 · giu3 wu4
- Mandarin · Pinyin
- 聽牌／听牌 · tīng pái
A hand one tile away from a complete winning shape. Being ready does not override a minimum score or another restriction on winning.
Single wait
- Cantonese · Jyutping
- 單吊眼 · daan1 diu3 ngaan5
- Mandarin · Pinyin
- 單吊／单吊 · dān diào
A wait to pair one tile after all required sets are complete. This names the shape of the wait, not a promise that the tile is still available.
Riichi
- Cantonese · Jyutping
- 立直 · lap6 zik6
- Mandarin · Pinyin
- 立直 · lì zhí
A Japanese-mahjong declaration for an eligible closed ready hand, normally with a 1,000-point deposit and restrictions on later changes. It is not a synonym for ready.
Draw a tile
- Cantonese · Jyutping
- 摸牌 · mo2 paai2
- Mandarin · Pinyin
- 摸牌 · mō pái
Taking a tile from the wall. A normal draw and a replacement draw have different places in the procedure.
Discard
- Cantonese · Jyutping
- 打牌 · daa2 paai2
- Mandarin · Pinyin
- 打牌 · dǎ pái
Putting a tile from your hand face up into the discard area. An opponent may claim it if their hand and the rules permit.
Dealer
- Cantonese · Jyutping
- 莊家 · zong1 gaa1
- Mandarin · Pinyin
- 莊家／庄家 · zhuāng jiā
The East player for the current hand. The dealer begins play with the first discard; dealer continuation is a separate rule.
Seat wind
- Cantonese · Jyutping
- 門風 · mun4 fung1
- Mandarin · Pinyin
- 門風／门风 · mén fēng
Your assigned East, South, West or North position for this hand. It is a game role, not the compass direction you face.
Round / prevailing wind
- Cantonese · Jyutping
- 圈風 · hyun1 fung1
- Mandarin · Pinyin
- 圈風／圈风 · quān fēng
The wind assigned to the current round, shared by all players. It can differ from your own seat wind.
Wall
- Cantonese · Jyutping
- 牌牆 · paai2 coeng4
- Mandarin · Pinyin
- 牌牆／牌墙 · pái qiáng
The stacked supply of tiles from which players draw. Rules determine where dealing starts and where replacement tiles come from.
Drawn hand
- Cantonese · Jyutping
- 流局 · lau4 guk6
- Mandarin · Pinyin
- 流局 · liú jú
A hand ending without a winner, commonly when drawable tiles run out. This is different from drawing a tile.
Honours
- Cantonese · Jyutping
- 番子 · faan1 zi2
- Mandarin · Pinyin
- 字牌 · zì pái
The four winds and three dragons. They have no numerical sequence, though matching copies can form pairs, triplets or kongs.
Flowers / seasons
- Cantonese · Jyutping
- 花牌 · faa1 paai2
- Mandarin · Pinyin
- 花牌 · huā pái
Bonus tiles set aside and replaced in many Chinese variants. In American mahjong, flowers can instead be part of a required winning pattern.
Flower replacement
- Cantonese · Jyutping
- 補花 · bou2 faa1
- Mandarin · Pinyin
- 補花／补花 · bǔ huā
Setting aside a drawn flower or season and taking its replacement under the table’s rules. The flower is not a normal discard.
Fan / faan
- Cantonese · Jyutping
- 番 · faan1
- Mandarin · Pinyin
- 番 · fān
A scoring unit used in several mahjong traditions. Its value and conversion to payments depend on the system; one fan is not a universal number of points.
Tai
- Cantonese · Jyutping
- 台 · toi4
- Mandarin · Pinyin
- 台 · tái
A scoring unit common in Taiwanese mahjong. Do not convert it directly into Hong Kong fan, Japanese han or this app’s versioned LRC points.
Three distinctions that prevent mistakes.
A shape is not a call. A sequence can stay hidden in your hand; calling chow exposes a sequence made with a discard. Likewise, three tiles you drew yourself are a triplet, but you did not call pong to obtain them. This difference can affect concealed-hand awards.
Ready is not riichi. Ready describes a hand’s distance from completion. Riichi is a particular Japanese declaration with conditions and consequences. Nor does “closed” automatically mean “self-drawn”: one describes the hand’s exposure, the other the source of the winning tile.
A word is not a scoring contract. Fan, tai and Japanese han belong to different systems. Even when two tables use the same word, they may count different patterns or settle payments differently. Agree on the rules before attaching a number to a name.
Follow the words through one turn.
Imagine that you hold 4–5 Bamboo. The player before you discards 6 Bamboo. In a game allowing chow, you may announce the call, expose 4–5–6, and discard a tile. You have completed one sequence, not an entire winning hand. You do not take an ordinary wall draw after that chow.
Later, suppose every required set and the pair are complete except for one tile. You are ready. If you draw the tile and the hand meets all winning conditions, that is self-draw. If an opponent discards it and you may legally win on it, you win on a discard and that opponent deals in.
Learn the calls by using them.
Keep this glossary open beside your first lesson. Start by recognizing the tile you draw, the tile you discard and the set you are trying to complete. The vocabulary becomes easier when each word has a move attached to it.
Language and rules references
Definitions separate shared vocabulary from variant-specific scoring. The sources below document terminology and pronunciation; their complete tournament rules are not the rules of every table. Chinese equivalents are practical table language, and regional alternatives remain in use.