Question about the word ma

If "aku" means "evil," and "akuma" means "evil spirit," could "ma" be translated "spirit"?

Does the word "ma" (as in "ma and pa") have any negative conotations?

Also, did whoever wrote this have any idea what they were talking about?

In western media, demons are drawn from Christian literature, where they are fallen angels; beings who were once angels in heaven who later sided with Satan and rebelled. After this rebellion they were cast into hell and became the demons they are known as today. They spend their time plaguing mankind on earth and tempting people to sin. They wish to cause trouble and misery wherever they go. Other times they may take the form of beasts themselves and attack people directly. But overall they are always pure evil and irredeemable.

The Japanese have a somewhat different point of view and belief system to draw upon when translating demons to media such as anime or games. While some demons are still irrevocably evil and appear as the primary antagonists, there is the occasion when they are not. Japanese mythology allows for a somewhat greater range of emotions and motivations in its demons. More well-known creatures such as the Akuma, Oni, or Tengu have so many different interpretations and stories involving them that they can more easily be given different roles and even be beneficial to the protagonist of the story. This is in stark contrast to the more rigidly defined western system that leaves them as evil and corruptive at all times.

http://www.zeldadungeon.net/2013/02/the-demons-of-hyrule/

Akuma consists of two kanji that mean "bad/evil" and "evil". You cannot go by the sound of it alone.

The Japanese word "akuma" has its roots in buddhism, referring to the beings that get in the way of monks practicing discipline to reach their spiritual awakening.

As AK said, I heard –‚(ma) was ƒ}[ƒ‰(mara) at first.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mara_%28demon%29
So –‚(ma) is basically a negative charactor.

About the enemy, there are very little conflicts between different races in Japanese history.
(Of course, there were many anti-Ainus wars.)
And many of them were related the Imperial Court by blood and marriage.
And Japanese have two polytheistic religions, Shinto and Buddhism.
So Japanese tend to think even enemies will come to understand each other, I think.

And how about these Gods of Shinto?
Sugawara Michizane is very popular God, but he was punished as a criminal.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugawara_Michizane
Taira no Masakado was a traitor but he has been apotheosized.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taira_no_Masakado
Saigo Takamori was a traitor but people and even the Emperor love him very mush and his statue is standing at Ueno park.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saigo_Takamori

You say "Akuma consists of two kanji symbols that mean 'bad/evil' and 'evil'. You cannot go by the sound of it alone," but what about spoken Japanese?

What does the sound of the second symbol mean in the spoken language?

Does it mean "evil"?

Does it have a negative connotation?

Can it mean anything good?

And does it have any connection to the Vietnamese word for ghost?

but what about spoken Japanese? What does the sound of the second symbol mean in the spoken language?

There are many homophones for ma, so context would be key.

"There are many homophones for ma."

Could you give me some of the more positive ones?

Mike,

What are you trying to do? Are you trying to come up with a Japanese person's name with the sound "ma" in it or something?

I'm interested in homophones.

I read somewhere that ma can mean real, or true, and I'd like to know what else it can mean.

I understand sama is an honorific title, but I'm not sure what it means (and I suppose that's another subject?)

A few kanji come to mind that can be pronounced "ma," each with different meaning.

^ true
ŠΤ space, interval, in between
–‚ evil
”n horse

Those are pronounced as "ma" when it is used together with another/other kanji to form a longer word. They usually take on different pronunciation when it is a standalone word by this one kanji itself.

AK: You said ''A few kanji come to mind that can be pronounced 'ma,' each with different meaning.

^ true
ŠΤ space, interval, in between
–‚ evil
”n horse

Those are pronounced as 'ma' when it is used together with another/other kanji to form a longer word. They usually take on different pronunciation when it is a standalone word by this one kanji itself.''

So when –‚ is used together with ˆ« (to form the longer word ''akuma'') it would be pronounced ''ma,'' but the pronunciation would be different when it's a standalone word by this one kanji itself?

Do I understand you correctly?

Mike,

I was (and still am) not sure how much you know of the language, so I kept my explanation simple yesterday. I hope you will read up on kanji a bit.

Some kanji have more than one ways to pronounce, or more than one "readings." For example, ^ has "ma" and "shin" as its readings (both are used when in compound kanji words),
ŠΤ has "aida" (standalone word), "ma" (can be a standalone word), and "kan" (used in compound kanji words)
–‚ incidentally has only "ma"
and
”n has "uma," (standalone word) "ma," and "ba" (the last two used in compound kanji words) as its readings.

Thank you AK.

(I'd like to learn more about kanji, but I'm really more interested in spoken languages.)

So is –‚ a stand alone word, and does it mean evil?

Is there any context where it can mean anything good?

Is it pronounced ''maw'' (like the English word for a female parent), or is there a difference in pitch?

(And how important is pitch in Japanese?)

And is there no connection with the Vietnamese word for ghost?

P.S. could –‚ be used to translate the classical Greek concept of deamon (which doesn't have any connotations of evil or malevolence), or would some other term have to be used?

Oh, "ma" means "gohst" in Vietnamese.
I think also they imported the charactor "–‚" from Chinese?
And the nuances of "–‚" include "the mysterious things".
You can call the gohst/spirit/fairy "–‚" without connotations of evil.
Especially in anime, manga, games and so on.

The pitch is not important for Kanji charactors.
BTW, what do you want to know...
Kanji charactor?
Japanese language?
The language used in ordinary conversation?
or in anime, manga or something new story?
(Japanese language have no direct relationship to Chinese, but Japanese Kanji is charactors imported from Chinese.)

Thank you ajapaneseboy.

I'm mainly interested in the language used in ordinary conversation.

I think the Vietnamese did import the charactor ''–‚'' from Chinese

When you say ''the nuances of '–‚' include 'the mysterious things,'' and ''You can call the gohst/spirit/fairy '–‚' without connotations of evil,'' do you mean in Japanese, or do you mean that they can in Vietnamese?

I can't say anything about Vietnamese, Chinese or something.
Only in Japanese.

Mike,

Well, you say you are more interested in spoken Japanese, but asking about –‚ is not really about the spoken language :)

OK, –‚ is a word in itself, and yes, it meas "evil."
It also means something like "beyond human comprehension," so there are some expressions (where this kanji is used in compound words) that can be positive.

For pronunciation, please read about the five vowels of Japanese. It is not long like in English "maw," it is not like "ma" in "mat," it is close but not quite the same as "mu" in "mutt.

Intonation (we do not call it pitch or accent) is important in Japanese, but since this is one syllable only, intonation only comes into play in relation to other words/when used in sentences. (We do not have single-word/syllable inflections as in Chinese).

I don't know Vietnamese, but I imagine that since their language is related to Chinese there could be some connection.

I still would like to know what you are trying to do with one syllable taken out of context... people are not going to understand what you are talking about if you just drop one syllable "ma" :)

Hi Ak.

I thank you for answering my stupid questions, but I'm not sure I understand what you say.

Maybe it's because I'm use to thinking in a spoken language that doesn't use logograms.

When you say –‚ is a word in itself, that it means evil, and that it's pronounced somewhat like the ''mu'' in ''mutt, aren't you saying that that sound means evil in spoken Japanese?

If you're not, I'm totally misunderstanding you.

I know you also said that it can mean something like ''beyond human comprehension,'' but can it mean that as a a stand alone word?

(And I mean can the sound mean anything like that in spoken Japanese, with or without a given kanji symbol?)

And when you say that there are some expressions (where this kanji is used in compound words) that can be positive, does that mean that whenever the ''mu'' sound is used alone (without being combined with some other sound), it means evil?

When you say –‚ is a word in itself, that it means evil, and that it's pronounced somewhat like the ''mu'' in ''mutt, aren't you saying that that sound means evil in spoken Japanese?

NO. I was trying to explain the exact pronunciation of the syllable "ma" (or written as ‚ά in phonetic hiragana writing) compared to some syllables in English.

Any of the kanji I presented earlier ^, ŠΤ, –‚, ”n is pronounced exactly the same way :) The syllable "ma" in Japanese pronounced like that.

I know you also said that it can mean something like ''beyond human comprehension,'' but can it mean that as a a stand alone word?

No. The kanji carries two meanings (1) evil and (2) beyond human comprehension." Standalone, it means "evil." In words like "ma –‚," and "akuma@ˆ«–‚," (1) is the essential meaning, and in words like "mahou@–‚–@" (meaning "magic") or "daimajin@‘ε–‚l" (meaning "great genie," but also superstar in some sports), it is used in the sense of (2).

And I mean can the sound mean anything like that in spoken Japanese, with or without a given kanji symbol?)

Again, NO. If you just say the sound at a Japanese, people would ask you "what do you mean?"


Please think of kanji as if they are Greek or Latin word roots. In English, there are some syllables that carry meanings on their own, and they are combined with other words to form longer words. Kanji is like that.

Supplement my previous post...
The nuances of the kanji of "–‚" in Japanese include "the mysterious things".
You can call the gohst/spirit/fairy "–‚" without connotations of evil.
Especially in anime, manga, games and so on.

But alone "–‚" is not common in the ordinary conversation.
So people are not going to understand what you are saying as AK said,
if they can understand what you are writting.

If you say "Then I saw ma there !" in Japanese, "Sorry, is there a horse(”n; uma) ?" I'll ask.

Because it's easy to understand from reading of "–‚" but hearing "ma".