sayang
English
Etymology
- (Singaporean & Malaysian English): Borrowed from Malay sayang.
- (Philippine English): Borrowed from Tagalog sayang.
Pronunciation
- (Singapore English, Malaysian English) IPA(key): /ˈsʌɪjɑŋ/
- (Philippine English) IPA(key): /ˈsa.jɑŋ/
Noun
sayang (uncountable) (Singapore, Malaysia, colloquial)
- love
- sweetheart, darling
Verb
sayang (indeclinable) (Singapore, Malaysia, colloquial)
- to love, adore
- He does sayang me a lot
- to regret, to miss (regret the absence of)
- to soothe
- to call someone by an affectionate nickname such as 'darling'
Adjective
sayang (comparative more sayang, superlative most sayang) (Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, colloquial)
- pitiful, regrettable
Interjection
sayang (Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, colloquial)
- alas, what a pity!
- 2005, Alex Garland, “Sandmen”, in The Tesseract, Penguin Group (USA) Inc., →ISBN:
- “Um, okay...” Rosa glanced at the blank boxes. “Cried over spilled milk. Six letters, third letter is a...”
“Sayang,” said the old man cheerfully.
“Sayang. It fits, po...”
“Sayang. That's what I say whenever I spill some milk.” He cackled.
“With these weak wrists and fingers, I say sayang several times a day! Give me another.”
- “Um, okay...” Rosa glanced at the blank boxes. “Cried over spilled milk. Six letters, third letter is a...”
- 2017, Russell Molina, “Magic Secrets, Revealed”, in Bumasa at Lumaya 2: A Sourcebook on Children's Literature in the Philippines, Anvil Publishing, Inc., →ISBN:
- But going back to my dad, he died four years ago of leukemia. So he never met my daughter and he never reached the date of our wedding. So sayang. So I decided I wanted to write a book about him. I wanted to write a book for him and about him, for my daughter so she would get to know her lolo. And I was really stumped. Wala akong maisip about a story. This was the time when I just wrote Tuwing Sabado.
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Further reading
- sayang at A Dictionary of Singlish
Anagrams
- yagnas
Bikol Central
Etymology
From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *sayaŋ (“too bad! it’s a pity! what a shame!”).
Pronunciation
- Hyphenation: sa‧yang
- IPA(key): /ˈsajaŋ/
Noun
sayang
- pity; shame
- Synonyms: hirak, supog
- waste
- Synonyms: kanugon, rawraw, rakwa, ratak
Interjection
sayang!
- what a pity; what a shame; what a waste
Derived terms
- magsayang
- makasayang
- masayang
- sayangon
Indonesian
Etymology
From Malay sayang (“yearning; longing; pitying; love; affection; it were a pity; alas that”), from Classical Malay سايڠ (sayang),
- from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *sayaŋ (“too bad! it’s a pity! what a shame!”).
- from New/Middle Indo-Aryan (such as Punjabi sāīyā̃ (“master”) and Nepali [script needed] (saiyā̃, “master”)), from Sanskrit स्वामी (svāmī), singular nominative of स्वामिन् (svāmín).[1] Therefore, doublet of suami.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈsajaŋ/
- Rhymes: -jaŋ, -aŋ, -ŋ
- Hyphenation: sa‧yang
Noun
sayang (first-person possessive sayangku, second-person possessive sayangmu, third-person possessive sayangnya)
- love
- Synonyms: cinta, kasih
- sweetheart; darling
Verb
sayang
- to love
Derived terms
- disayang
- disayangi
- disayangkan
- kesayangan
- menyayang
- menyayangi
- menyayangkan
- penyayang
- tersayang
- sayang akan
References
- Tom Hoogervorst (2017-12-31), Andrea Acri, Roger Blench, Alexandra Landmann, editor, 9. The Role of “Prakrit” in Maritime Southeast Asia through 101 Etymologies, ISEAS Publishing, DOI:, →ISBN, page 375–440
Further reading
- “sayang” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Language Development and Fostering Agency — Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic Indonesia, 2016.
Malay
Etymology
From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *sayaŋ (“too bad! it’s a pity! what a shame!”).
Pronunciation
- Rhymes: -jaŋ, -aŋ
Noun
sayang (Jawi spelling سايڠ, plural sayang-sayang, informal 1st possessive sayangku, 2nd possessive sayangmu, 3rd possessive sayangnya)
- love
- sweetheart; darling
Descendants
- Indonesian: sayang
- → English: sayang
Verb
sayang
- to love
Descendants
- Indonesian: sayang
- → English: sayang
- → Hokkien: 捎央, 沙央 (sa-iang)
Adjective
sayang (Jawi spelling سايڠ)
- to be loving, affectionate
Derived terms
Regular affixed derivations:
- penyayang [agentive / qualitative / instrumental / abstract / measure] (peN-)
- kesayangan [abstract / locative] (ke-an)
- sayang-sayang [reduplication] (redup)
- sesayang [comparability] (se-)
- kesayangan [resemblance / passive] (ke-an)
- persayang [causative passive] (peR-)
- sayangkan [causative benefactive] (-kan)
- sayangi [causative (locative) benefactive] (-i)
- tersayang [agentless action] (teR-)
- bersayang [stative / habitual] (beR-)
Descendants
- Indonesian: sayang
- → English: sayang
Interjection
sayang (Jawi spelling سايڠ)
- what a pity
Descendants
- Indonesian: sayang
- → English: sayang
- → Hokkien: 捎央, 沙央 (sa-iang)
Further reading
- “sayang” in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu | Malay Literary Reference Centre, Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017.
Tagalog
Etymology
From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *sayaŋ (“too bad! it’s a pity! what a shame!”). Compare Bikol Central sayang, Kapampangan sayang, and Malay sayang.
Pronunciation
- Hyphenation: sa‧yang
- IPA(key): /ˈsajaŋ/, [ˈsa.jɐŋ]
- IPA(key): /saˈjaŋ/, [sɐˈjaŋ] (adjective)
Interjection
sayang (Baybayin spelling ᜐᜌᜅ᜔)
- what a pity!
Noun
sayang (Baybayin spelling ᜐᜌᜅ᜔)
- waste; wasting (of a resource, talent, etc.)
- Synonyms: pagsayang, pagkasayang
- useless spending; useless consumption
- Synonyms: aksaya, pag-aksaya, pag-aaksaya
- waste of an opportunity; failure to take advantage
- gradual loss, decrease, or destruction by decay, etc.
Derived terms
- hinayang
- ikasayang
- kahina-hinayang
- magsayang
- manghinayang
- nakapanghihinayang
- pagkasayang
- pagsayang
- panghihinayang
- panghinayangan
- sayangin
- walang-hinayang
Adjective
sayáng (Baybayin spelling ᜐᜌᜅ᜔)
- wasted; uselessly spent or consumed