Where does “嗎” come from?
嗎 (Chinese) comes from Tagalog ba, from Proto-Austronesian *ba.
Ancestry of “嗎”, step by step
嗎 traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Tagalog ba
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tagalog | ba | marks a sentence as interrogative; used in... |
| 2 | Proto-Austronesian | *ba | — |
via Chinese 唔
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chinese | 唔 | — |