ayah

ayah

English

Etymology 1

From various Indian languages (e.g. Hindi आया (āyā, “dry nurse, nanny”)), from Portuguese aia (“nurse, governess”), from Latin avia (“grandmother”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aɪ.ə/, /ˈɑjə/

Noun

ayah (plural ayahs)

1. A South Asian female servant, maid or nanny, historically, often one working for Europeans in South Asia.
   • 1888, Rudyard Kipling, “Watches of the Night”, in Plain Tales from the Hills (fiction):

     She manufactured the Station scandal, and talked to her ayah.

   • 1989, Shashi Tharoor, The Great Indian Novel, New York: Arcade Publishing, 2011, Book 4,

     […] a cot of iron had to be manufactured for [Bhim] after he had demolished two wooden cribs with a lusty kick of his foot; and a succession of bruised ayahs had finally to be replaced by a male attendant, a former Hastinapur all-in wrestling champion.

See also

• amah

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Arabic آيَة‎ (ʾāya, “sign, token”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈaɪ.(j)ɑ/, /aɪ.ə/

Noun

ayah (plural ayahs or ayat)

1. (Islam) A verse in the Quran.

   Synonym: ayat

Alternative forms

• ayat

Translations

a South Asian maid or nanny

Hindi: आया (hi) f (āyā) Telugu: ఆయా (te) (āyā) Urdu: آیا‎ (ur) f (āyā)

a verse in the Qur'an

Afrikaans: aia Albanian: ajet m Arabic: آيَة‎ (ar) f (ʾāya) Azerbaijani: ayə (az) Bashkir: аят (ayat) Bengali: আয়াত (ayat) Bulgarian: ая́т m (aját) Burmese: အာယသ် (ayas) Chinese: Dungan: аети (ai͡əti) Mandarin: 阿亞／阿亚 (āyà) Crimean Tatar: ayet Czech: ája (cs) f Dutch: aja (nl) f Esperanto: ajaho French: aya (fr) m Hebrew: אַיָּה‎ (he) f (ayá) Hindi: आयत (hi) f (āyat) Indonesian: ayat (id) Kazakh: аят (aät) Kurdish: Northern Kurdish: ayet (ku) Kyrgyz: аят (ky) (ayat) Macedonian: а́ет m (áet) Malay: ayat (ms) Ottoman Turkish: آیت‎ (ayet) Pashto: آيات‎ m (âyât) Persian: آیه‎ (fa) (âye) Polish: aja (pl) f Russian: ая́т (ru) m (aját) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: а́јет m Roman: ájet (sh) m Spanish: aleya (es) f Tajik: оят (tg) (oyat), оя (oya) Tatar: аять (ayat’) Turkish: ayet (tr) Turkmen: aýat (tk) Urdu: آیت‎ (ur) f (āyat) Uyghur: ئايەت‎ (ayet) Uzbek: oyat (uz)

Further reading

• Ayah in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)
• Āyah on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• ayah (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• Haya, haya

---

Indonesian

Etymology

From Malay ayah (“father”), from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *aya (“father’s sister, father’s sister’s husband”), from Proto-Austronesian *aya.[1][2]

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a.jah/
• Hyphenation: a‧yah

Noun

ayah (first-person possessive ayahku, second-person possessive ayahmu, third-person possessive ayahnya)

1. (formal) father (male parent)

Synonyms

• (parent): see Thesaurus:ayah

Derived terms

Affixed terms and other derivations

Regular affixed derivations:

• berayah [stative / habitual] (beR-)
• keayahan [abstract / locative] (ke-an)

See also

• bung

References

1. Robert Blust; David F. Aberle; N. J. Allen; R. H. Barnes; Ann Chowning (1980-04-01), “Early Austronesian Social Organization: The Evidence of Language [and Comments and Reply]”, in Current Anthropology‎, volume 21, issue 2, DOI:10.1086/202430, ISSN 0011-3204, page 205–247
2. Robert Blust (1993), “Austronesian sibling terms and culture history”, in Bijdragen tot de taal-, land- en volkenkunde / Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences of Southeast Asia‎, volume 149, issue 1, DOI:10.1163/22134379-90003136, ISSN 0006-2294, page 22–76

Further reading

• “ayah” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Language Development and Fostering Agency — Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic Indonesia, 2016.
• Austronesian Comparative Dictionary

---

Malay

Pronunciation

• (Johor-Selangor, Riau-Lingga) IPA^(key): [a.jah], /ajah/
• Rhymes: -ajah, -jah, -ah

• Audio

  (file)

Etymology 1

From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *aya (“father’s sister, father’s sister’s husband”), from Proto-Austronesian *aya.

Noun

ayah (Jawi spelling ايه‎, plural ayah-ayah, informal 1st possessive ayahku, 2nd possessive ayahmu, 3rd possessive ayahnya)

1. (formal, polite) father (male parent)

   Ayah Daniel ― Daniel's father

   Synonyms: abah, bapa, rama

Derived terms

• ayahanda
• ayah angkat
• ayah tiri
• berayah
• berayahkan
• keayahan

 

Descendants

• Indonesian: ayah

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Hindi आया (āyā), from Portuguese aia.

Noun

ayah (Jawi spelling ايه‎, plural ayah-ayah, informal 1st possessive ayahku, 2nd possessive ayahmu, 3rd possessive ayahnya)

1. (dated) nursemaid, usually one of Indian ancestry

Related terms

• amah

See also

• pengasuh (“caretaker”)
• pembantu rumah (“domestic worker”)

Further reading

• "ayah" in Kamus Dewan, Fourth Edition, Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, →ISBN, 2005.
• “ayah” in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu | Malay Literary Reference Centre, Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017.
• Austronesian Comparative Dictionary - *aya