三元牌

三元牌

Japanese

Etymology

Kanji in this term
三	元	牌
さん Grade: 1	げん Grade: 2	はい > ぱい Hyōgaiji
Irregular

From 三 (さん)元 (げん) (sangen, “three fundamentals”) + 牌 (パイ) (pai, “tile”).

Alternatively, borrowing from Mandarin 三元牌 (sān'yuánpái).

Pronunciation

• (Irregular reading)
  • IPA^(key): [sã̠ŋɡẽ̞mpa̠i]

• (Irregular reading)
  • IPA^(key): [sã̠ɰ̃jɯ̟ᵝã̠mpa̠i]

Noun

三元牌 (hiragana and katakana さんげんパイ, rōmaji sangenpai, alternative reading サンユアンパイ, rōmaji san'yuanpai)

1. (mahjong) Generic name of the three dragon tiles: 白 (haku, “white dragon”), 發/𤼵 (hatsu, “green dragon”), and 中 (chun, “red dragon”)

See also

• 字 (じ)牌 (ハイ) (jihai), 字 (ツー)牌 (パイ) (tsūpai, “honour tiles”)