entries → 嘛
TSUMUGU · A1 (est.) · 字
嘛 character · A1 (est.)
嘛 ＝ 口 ＋ 麻
˙ㄇㄚ · ma
particle — softens a statement: "well, you know; obviously"

字源 FORM — what the parts do

口義a mouth, the spoken tone
麻聲má — gives the soundhemp drying under a shelter
Tmá → ma — flattened to the neutral tone
A spoken tag from the mouth (口) — the softening "well, you know." 麻 má, hemp under its shelter, lends the sound, flattened to a toneless ma. It carries no meaning of its own, only the turn of the voice: 好嘛、是嘛.
意 · Meanings
(假借)好嘛、就這樣嘛— well, you know (softening)常用
(假借)不是嘛— obviously, isn't it (mild insistence)常用
(本義) original meaning · → ⇒ each arrow = one more step of extension
關 · Related
麻máthe sound half alone — hemp; 嘛 adds the mouth 口嗎＝ 口 ＋ 馬mathe question particle — 嗎 holds 馬, 嘛 holds 麻