Recent from talks
Names of Macau
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Names of Macau
The Macao Special Administrative Region (Chinese: 澳門特別行政區; pinyin: Àomén Tèbié Xíngzhèngqū; Portuguese: Região Administrativa Especial de Macau; [abbreviated as: RAEM]), commonly known as Macau or Macao (simplified Chinese: 澳门; traditional Chinese: 澳門; pinyin: Àomén, or informally as 馬交 Mǎjiāo) is one of the two special administrative regions (SARs) of the China (PRC), along with Hong Kong.
The name Macau (Portuguese pronunciation: [mɐˈkaw]) is thought to be derived from the Templo de A-Má (Temple of A-Ma or Ma Kok Temple) (媽閣廟, Cantonese Jyutping: Maa1 Gok3 Miu6, local pronunciation: Maa5 Gok3 Miu6 or Maa5 Gok3 Miu2), a still-existing landmark built in 1448 dedicated to the goddess Matsu - the goddess of seafarers and fishermen.
In keeping with saga, a fishing boat sailing across the sea one day found itself in an unexpected storm. Everyone on board was about to give up all hope of surviving this natural disaster when an attractive young lady, who had boarded the boat at the eleventh hour, stood up and ordered the tempest to calm down. The gale ceased and the sea became calm. The fishing boat, without further event, arrived safely at the port of Hoi Keang. The young lady walked ashore to the top of the Barra Hill where, in a glowing aura of light and fragrance; she immediately ascended into heaven. A temple was built on the specific location where she set foot.
Several hundred years later (circa 1513), when Portuguese sailors landed and asked the name of the place, the locals replied "媽閣" (Jyutping: "Maa1 Gok3"). The Portuguese then named the peninsula "Macao". A number of other legends exist, including a derivation from 馬交, which is more likely derived from the Portuguese name.
Textual evidence points to the name "Macau" being derived from a local name 阿媽港 (Jyutping: "aa3 maa1 gong2"; lit. 'Port of A-Ma'), written as such in both Chinese and Japanese texts since the sixteenth century. The name was transcribed variously as "Amaquão" among other spellings, which is equivalent to "Amacão" (Portuguese pronunciation: [amɐˈkɐ̃w]) in sound. The corrupted "Macão" appeared in 1641, before finally losing the nasal tilde into the near-modern form of "Macao" in a 1652 Jesuit publication. The evolution to "Macau" is generally attributed to the 1911 Reforms of Portuguese orthography.
A Contemporary Spanish text used a name "Macan", pronounced similarly to "Macão". Batalha suggests that the loss of nasalization may have to do with association with the word cão (dog, devil).
The Chinese name Aomen 澳門 (pinyin: Àomén, Cantonese: Ou3 Mun4*2 [ʔōu mǔːn]) means "Inlet Gates". The "gates" refer to two erect gate-like mountains of Nantai (Chinese: 南台; pinyin: Nántái) and Beitai (Chinese: 北台; pinyin: Běitái). Alternately, Ao may derive from Macau's previous name Heong San Ou, as it is geographically situated at "Cross' Door".
Macau is also known as:
Hub AI
Names of Macau AI simulator
(@Names of Macau_simulator)
Names of Macau
The Macao Special Administrative Region (Chinese: 澳門特別行政區; pinyin: Àomén Tèbié Xíngzhèngqū; Portuguese: Região Administrativa Especial de Macau; [abbreviated as: RAEM]), commonly known as Macau or Macao (simplified Chinese: 澳门; traditional Chinese: 澳門; pinyin: Àomén, or informally as 馬交 Mǎjiāo) is one of the two special administrative regions (SARs) of the China (PRC), along with Hong Kong.
The name Macau (Portuguese pronunciation: [mɐˈkaw]) is thought to be derived from the Templo de A-Má (Temple of A-Ma or Ma Kok Temple) (媽閣廟, Cantonese Jyutping: Maa1 Gok3 Miu6, local pronunciation: Maa5 Gok3 Miu6 or Maa5 Gok3 Miu2), a still-existing landmark built in 1448 dedicated to the goddess Matsu - the goddess of seafarers and fishermen.
In keeping with saga, a fishing boat sailing across the sea one day found itself in an unexpected storm. Everyone on board was about to give up all hope of surviving this natural disaster when an attractive young lady, who had boarded the boat at the eleventh hour, stood up and ordered the tempest to calm down. The gale ceased and the sea became calm. The fishing boat, without further event, arrived safely at the port of Hoi Keang. The young lady walked ashore to the top of the Barra Hill where, in a glowing aura of light and fragrance; she immediately ascended into heaven. A temple was built on the specific location where she set foot.
Several hundred years later (circa 1513), when Portuguese sailors landed and asked the name of the place, the locals replied "媽閣" (Jyutping: "Maa1 Gok3"). The Portuguese then named the peninsula "Macao". A number of other legends exist, including a derivation from 馬交, which is more likely derived from the Portuguese name.
Textual evidence points to the name "Macau" being derived from a local name 阿媽港 (Jyutping: "aa3 maa1 gong2"; lit. 'Port of A-Ma'), written as such in both Chinese and Japanese texts since the sixteenth century. The name was transcribed variously as "Amaquão" among other spellings, which is equivalent to "Amacão" (Portuguese pronunciation: [amɐˈkɐ̃w]) in sound. The corrupted "Macão" appeared in 1641, before finally losing the nasal tilde into the near-modern form of "Macao" in a 1652 Jesuit publication. The evolution to "Macau" is generally attributed to the 1911 Reforms of Portuguese orthography.
A Contemporary Spanish text used a name "Macan", pronounced similarly to "Macão". Batalha suggests that the loss of nasalization may have to do with association with the word cão (dog, devil).
The Chinese name Aomen 澳門 (pinyin: Àomén, Cantonese: Ou3 Mun4*2 [ʔōu mǔːn]) means "Inlet Gates". The "gates" refer to two erect gate-like mountains of Nantai (Chinese: 南台; pinyin: Nántái) and Beitai (Chinese: 北台; pinyin: Běitái). Alternately, Ao may derive from Macau's previous name Heong San Ou, as it is geographically situated at "Cross' Door".
Macau is also known as: