Cantonese mahjong terms in English: a glossary of Hong Kong mahjong words

The words you keep hearing at a Hong Kong mahjong table, from both Cantonese (廣東牌) and HK-Taiwanese (港式台牌) mahjong: from Chow, Pung and Kong, dealing in and self-drawn, waiting and passing on a win, to doubling rules, 二五雞 stakes, laa (拉) and 踢半. Each entry gives the Chinese term, a short English meaning and a line or two of explanation, with links to the rules and faan pages. Search or filter to find a term fast.

Basic moves

執位 · Drawing for seats

Before play starts, each player draws a wind tile to decide where everyone sits and who deals first.

做莊、莊家、閒家 · Dealing, the dealer, non-dealers

The East seat is the dealer (莊家); the other three are non-dealers (閒家). In Cantonese mahjong the dealer gets no extra faan; in HK-Taiwanese mahjong the dealer counts one extra faan both when winning and when dealing in.

連莊 · Dealer stays on

After winning, the dealer deals again. In HK-Taiwanese mahjong, staying on N times adds a further 2N faan; in Cantonese mahjong it only means one more hand as dealer.

圈風、門風 · Prevailing wind, seat windalso 自風

The prevailing wind is the round being played (East, South, West or North); your seat wind is the wind of the seat you sit in. A pung of the wind matching the prevailing wind or your seat wind counts one faan each.

開門、槓尾、牆頭 · Breaking the wall, kong end, head of the wall

The dealer rolls the dice to decide whose wall the tiles are taken from. The end of the section split off is the kong end (槓尾), where flower and kong replacements are drawn; the rest is the head of the wall (牆頭), where normal draws are taken.

派牌、跳牌 · Dealing, the dealer's jump

At the end of the deal the dealer takes the first and fifth tiles, so the dealer has 14 tiles and everyone else 13. HK-Taiwanese mahjong has no jump; everyone gets 16 tiles.

補花 · Replacing flowers

A flower you draw goes face up in front of you, and you draw a replacement from the kong end. After the deal, players replace in turn, starting with the dealer.

上 · Chow

Take a tile discarded by the player on your left that completes a run with two of your own, and lay it out as an exposed run. You can only chow from the player on your left.

碰 · Pung

Take anyone's discard that matches a pair in your hand, and lay it out as an exposed triplet. After a pung, play continues from the player on your right.

槓 · Kong明槓、暗槓、加槓

Four of a kind laid out as a kong, after which you draw a replacement from the kong end. Four in your own hand, declared by you, is a concealed kong (暗槓); adding a drawn fourth tile to a pung you already have is an added kong (加槓); taking a discard that matches a concealed triplet in your hand is an exposed kong (大明槓).

鳴牌 · Calling a tile

The umbrella term for Chow, Pung, Kong and winning on a discard; it only counts if you say it out loud. When several players want the same tile, a win comes first, then Pung or Kong, then Chow.

門前清 · Concealed handalso 門清

A hand that has made no Chow, Pung or exposed kong. One faan in Cantonese mahjong; five faan in HK-Taiwanese mahjong, where concealed self-drawn is scored separately. Whether a concealed kong breaks it varies: many home tables say it does not, while the Hong Kong Mahjong Association rules say it does.

牌河 · Discards

Where discarded tiles go in the middle of the table, each player's lined up in front of them.

一巡 · Go-round

From your own draw-and-discard to your next one. Passing on a win (過水) and pung decisions are both counted per go-round.

牌牆 · The wallalso 牌山

The four walls built after shuffling, two tiles high per stack.

Winning

食糊 · Winning, "sik wu"also 糊、胡

Your hand has four sets and a pair (five sets and a pair in HK-Taiwanese mahjong) with enough faan, and you declare the win.

叫糊 · Waiting, readyalso 聽牌、上聽

Your hand is one tile away from winning. No announcement is needed in Cantonese mahjong; in HK-Taiwanese mahjong you can declare it with 叮.

出銃 · Dealing inalso 放銃、放炮

Discarding the tile someone wins on. Under full payment (全銃) the discarder pays the whole hand.

自摸 · Self-drawn

Drawing your winning tile yourself. In Cantonese mahjong each of the other three pays half and the hand gets one extra faan; in HK-Taiwanese mahjong each of the three pays in full.

全銃、半銃 · Full payment, half payment

Under full payment the discarder pays it all; under half payment the discarder pays half and the other two pay a quarter each.

搶槓 · Robbing the kong

Someone adds a tile to a pung to make a kong, and it is the tile you are waiting on, so you take it to win; the player making the kong counts as having dealt in. A concealed kong cannot be robbed.

槓上自摸 · Winning on a kong replacementalso 槓上開花

Winning on the replacement tile drawn right after a kong, worth one extra faan. Two kongs in a row followed by a self-drawn win is 槓上槓自摸, worth 8 faan in Cantonese mahjong.

海底撈月 · Winning on the last tile

Self-drawing the last tile of the wall, worth one extra faan. HK-Taiwanese mahjong also has 河底撈魚: winning on the last discarded tile.

一炮多響 · Multiple winners on one discardalso 一炮雙響、三響

Two or three players win on the same discard. Some tables let all of them win; others use 截糊.

截糊 · Nearest player wins

When two players win on the same tile, counting from the discarder's next player, only the nearest one wins; the other does not.

過水 · Passing on a winalso 蘇州過後無艇搭

If someone discards your winning tile and you do not take it, you cannot win on that tile for the rest of the go-round. In HK-Taiwanese mahjong, passing after you have declared 叮 means you cannot win on it for the rest of the hand.

包牌 · Liability paymentalso 包自摸

If you discard the key tile that lets someone complete a big hand such as Great Three Dragons (大三元) or Great Four Winds (大四喜), you alone pay their self-drawn win. A discard win is still paid by the discarder.

天糊、地糊 · Heavenly hand, earthly hand

Heavenly hand (天糊) is the dealer winning straight off the deal; earthly hand (地糊) is a non-dealer winning on the dealer's first discard. A limit hand in Cantonese mahjong; 天胡 is 160 faan in HK-Taiwanese mahjong.

流局 · Drawn handalso 黃莊、荒牌

The wall runs out with no winner, and nobody wins or loses that hand. At most home tables the dealer stays on.

雞糊 · Chicken hand

A win with no faan at all. At a table with a 3-faan minimum a chicken hand cannot win; the chicken-hand row in payout tables is only for reference.

起糊 · Minimum to win

The fewest faan a hand needs to win. A 3-faan minimum is the most common in Hong Kong.

Tiles and hands

筒、索、萬 · Dots, bamboo, characters

The three suits, 1 to 9 in each, four of every tile. Full Flush (清一色) is a whole hand in one suit.

番子 · Honour tilesalso 字牌

East, South, West, North, Red (中), Green (發) and White (白). Half Flush (混一色) is one suit plus honours; All Honours (字一色) is honours only.

花牌、正花、爛花 · Flowers, own flower, other flowers

Spring, summer, autumn, winter, plum, orchid, chrysanthemum and bamboo. A flower whose number matches your seat wind (East 1, South 2, West 3, North 4) is your own flower (正花), worth one faan each in Cantonese mahjong; the others are 爛花, worth nothing in Cantonese mahjong but scored in HK-Taiwanese mahjong.

一台花 · A full set of flowers

All four seasons, or all four of plum, orchid, chrysanthemum and bamboo. Two faan in Cantonese mahjong; in HK-Taiwanese mahjong you collect from all three players on the spot.

眼 · The pair ("eyes")also 將、對子

The pair of identical tiles in a winning hand.

順子、刻子、槓子 · Run, triplet, kongtogether 面子

A run is three in a row in one suit; a triplet is three of a kind (an exposed triplet, 明刻, if you claimed it with Pung; a concealed triplet, 暗刻, if you drew all three yourself); a kong is four of a kind declared as a kong. Together they are called sets (面子).

么九 · Terminals (1s and 9s)

The 1 and 9 suit tiles. 花么九 is a hand of only 1s, 9s and honours; 清么九 is a hand of only 1s and 9s.

平糊 · All Chows

Four runs plus a pair, with no triplets. One faan in Cantonese mahjong; in HK-Taiwanese mahjong 平胡 is five faan, with a stricter definition.

對對糊 · All Pungsalso 碰碰糊

Four triplets plus a pair. Three faan in Cantonese mahjong; 40 faan in HK-Taiwanese mahjong, where a concealed, self-drawn All Pungs is called 機機糊.

十三么 · Thirteen Orphans

One each of the 1 and 9 of dots, bamboo and characters, plus East, South, West, North, Red, Green and White, with one of them doubled as the pair. A limit hand in Cantonese mahjong.

爆棚 · Limit hand, maxing outalso 滿糊、封頂

Reaching the table's faan cap, commonly 8, 10 or 13 faan. Special limit hands (例牌, such as Thirteen Orphans and Great Four Winds) count as the limit as soon as you win with them.

般高 · Two identical runsalso 一般高

Two runs exactly alike (for example, two sets of 4-5-6 of dots). Scored in HK-Taiwanese mahjong; three identical runs is 一色三同順.

相逢 · Same run in different suits

Runs with the same numbers in different suits (for example, 4-5-6 of dots and 4-5-6 of bamboo). Scored in HK-Taiwanese mahjong; all three suits is 三相逢.

四同順、五同順 · Four or five same-number runs

Four or five runs with the same numbers, whatever their suits. An HK-Taiwanese hand whose faan varies by table; see the HK-Taiwanese faan table (in Chinese).

Faan and money

番 · Faan

The unit that measures how big a hand is. In Cantonese mahjong the money doubles up from 3 faan; in HK-Taiwanese mahjong the faan count is multiplied by the value per faan and added to the base.

底數 · Base stakealso 底

In Cantonese mahjong, the starting value of a 3-faan hand (二五雞 is $8); in HK-Taiwanese mahjong, the fixed base amount paid on every hand (for example, a $5 base).

二五雞、五一、一二蚊 · The common stake levels

The three common stakes in Cantonese mahjong, named after what a chicken hand and one faan used to be worth. As most tables count them today, 3 faan is $8, $16 and $32 respectively.

辣上 · Doubling rulealso 辣

How the payout rises after 4 faan. Half doubling (半辣上) doubles every two faan, with the faan in between rising by half; full doubling (辣辣上) doubles every faan.

8番64、10番128 · Table-rule shorthand

The first number is the faan cap and the second is the payout at that cap. Both are 二五雞 stakes with half doubling, one capped at 8 faan and the other at 10.

自摸加半 · Self-drawn pays one and a half

In Cantonese mahjong each of the other three pays half on a self-drawn win, so the winner collects one and a half times in total.

番值 · Value per faanalso 一番幾錢

How much each faan is worth in HK-Taiwanese mahjong, by convention one fifth of the base ($1 a faan on a $5 base).

埋單 · Settling up

Working out everyone's wins and losses at the end of the session. In HK-Taiwanese mahjong all outstanding laa are cleared first.

HK-Taiwanese only

港式台牌 · HK-Taiwanese mahjongalso 台灣牌、十六張

The 16-tile Taiwanese mahjong that people play in Hong Kong, with Hong Kong's own faan table and laa (拉) system.

叮 · Declaring readyalso 叫叮

Announcing that you are waiting. After that you cannot change your tiles or call tiles, and a win adds 5 faan. Winning within one go-round of declaring is called 即食, worth another 5 faan.

天叮、地叮 · Ready from the deal, ready on the first go-roundalso 天聽、地聽

Declaring 叮 after the deal and flower replacement, before your first draw, is 天叮; declaring in the first go-round is 地叮. Worth anywhere from 30 to 60 faan depending on the table.

拉數 · Laa, carrying winsalso 拉

When you win, you are not paid on the spot; the amount is carried into the next hand. Win against the same player again and the amount is multiplied by 1.5. See the laa settlement guide (in Chinese). Note that 拉莊 has two meanings: some people use it to mean laa, but in the Hong Kong Mahjong Association rules and in Taiwanese mahjong it means the dealer's extra faan for staying on.

拉一口、拉兩口 · One laa, two laa

The number of wins in a row, in the same direction, that have not been paid yet.

踢半 · Kicking back halfalso 減半

When the player being carried wins back against the player carrying them, they only pay half of the amount owed so far.

斬拉 · Cutting the laa

Once a player has been carried three times, everything is settled in full on the spot and the laa stops.

莊番 · Dealer faan

The dealer's extra faan in HK-Taiwanese mahjong: one faan for dealing, plus 2N faan for staying on N times.

即時賞罰 · Instant payments

Amounts paid the moment they happen, outside the faan count and the laa: 一台花 (a full set of flowers), 七搶一, 八仙過海, 暗槓收底 (each other player pays one base for a concealed kong), 圍骰 (the dealer rolls triples: the other three each pay the dealer one base), 一二三 (the dealer rolls 1, 2, 3: the dealer pays each other player one base) and so on. Amounts differ by table.

七搶一、八仙過海 · Seven robs one, eight immortals

When one player has seven flowers and another draws the eighth, that is 七搶一; when one player collects all eight flowers, that is 八仙過海. Both are paid on the spot.

嚦咕嚦咕、十六不搭 · Two special 16-tile hands

Two HK-Taiwanese hands that do not need five sets and a pair. 嚦咕嚦咕 is five pairs plus two triplets (八對, eight pairs, is a variant scored separately); 十六不搭 is 16 tiles with not a single partial set: three tiles in each suit, each three apart (such as 1-4-7), plus all of East, South, West, North, Red, Green and White.

Penalties and etiquette

詐糊 · False win

Laying down your hand to declare a win you do not actually have. You pay all three other players and the hand is replayed.

相公 · Dead hand大相公、小相公

One tile too many is 大相公 and one too few is 小相公; either way you cannot win that hand.

食換 · Swap discardalso 偷張

After a Pung, discarding a tile that matches the exposed triplet; or after a Chow, discarding a tile that could have made that same run. Banned under competition rules.

叫碰唔碰 · Calling, then backing outalso 嗌完唔要

Calling Pung or Chow out loud and then not taking the tile. Some tables fine you one base stake.

斷橋 · Broken hand

When laying down a win, your hand falls apart or gets mixed up with other tiles. A minor slip is fine; a serious one can be treated as a false win.

做錯莊 · Wrong dealer

Dealing when it is not your turn to deal. If it is noticed before the first draw it can be put right; after that the hand is played out as it stands.

FAQ

For the full flow from first deal to winning hand, see How to play Hong Kong mahjong and HK-Taiwanese mahjong rules (in Chinese); for how many faan each hand is worth, see the Hong Kong mahjong faan table and the HK-Taiwanese faan table (in Chinese); for how faan turn into money, see the payout table.