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Mahjong glossary
Mahjong has its own vocabulary, but there is less of it than it seems. Here is every word you will meet as a beginner, in plain English.
- Bamboo
- One of the three suits. The tiles show sticks, numbered 1 to 9. See the tiles.
- Characters
- One of the three suits. Each tile shows a Chinese number from one to nine above the red character 萬.
- Chow
- A set of three tiles in a row from one suit, like 3-4-5 bamboo. You can grab a discard to finish a Chow only from the player on your left. More about Chow.
- Claim
- To grab a tile another player has just thrown away, by calling Pung, Chow or Mahjong! The set you make goes face up beside your hand.
- Concealed hand
- A winning hand made without claiming anything along the way. In Mala Mahjong it adds one fan.
- Deal
- One hand of play, from the first tiles to a win or an empty wall. A game in Mala Mahjong is four deals, one for each player as dealer.
- Dealer
- The player who starts a hand. The dealer deals again after winning, or after a hand with no winner.
- Discard
- The tile you throw away, face up, at the end of your turn. Also the act of throwing it.
- Dots
- One of the three suits. The tiles show circles, numbered 1 to 9.
- Dragons
- Three honor tiles: red, green and white. The white dragon is an empty blue frame.
- Draw
- To take a tile from the wall at the start of your turn.
- East round
- A full trip around the table, with each player taking a turn as dealer. One East round is a whole game in Mala Mahjong.
- Fan
- The unit a win is measured in. Every win starts at 1 fan and a better win earns more. In Mala Mahjong each fan is worth 1 point. How scoring works.
- Flowers
- Bonus tiles: four flowers and four seasons, one of each. They never go in your hand. A flower sits beside your name and you take a spare tile to replace it.
- Hand
- The tiles you hold. Also one deal of the game, as in “win the hand”.
- Honors
- The winds and dragons. They have no numbers, so they never make runs: only Pungs, Kongs and pairs.
- Kong
- Four of the same tile. It counts as one set, and you take a spare tile from the end of the wall so you are never short. More about Kong.
- Mahjong!
- What you call when a tile completes your 4 sets and 1 pair. It wins the hand, and it beats any other claim on the same tile.
- Own draw
- Winning with a tile you drew from the wall yourself, not one somebody threw away. In Mala Mahjong it adds one fan.
- Pair
- Two matching tiles. Every winning hand needs exactly one, alongside its four sets. Sometimes called the eyes.
- Points
- What the winner of a hand scores: 1 point for every fan. The most points at the end of the game wins.
- Pung
- A set of three identical tiles. You can grab a discard from anyone to finish a Pung. More about Pung.
- Seasons
- Spring, summer, autumn and winter: four of the eight bonus tiles. They work exactly like flowers.
- Set
- A group of three tiles that counts towards a winning hand: a Chow or a Pung. A Kong, with four tiles, also counts as one set.
- Spare tile
- A tile taken from the end of the wall to make up for a Kong or a flower.
- Suit
- A family of tiles numbered 1 to 9. There are three: dots, bamboo and characters.
- Wall
- The face-down tiles that everyone draws from. If it runs out before anyone wins, the hand has no winner and nobody scores.
- Winds
- Four honor tiles: East, South, West and North.
Learn it by playing
Mala Mahjong is a cozy iPhone game, coming soon, that teaches all of this as you go. A panda walks you through real moments from a game, and you can ask for help on any turn.
Join the waitlist