sayang

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English

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

sayang (uncountable) (Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, colloquial)

  1. love
  2. sweetheart, darling

Verb

sayang (indeclinable) (Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, colloquial)

  1. to love, adore
    He does sayang me a lot
  2. to regret, to miss (regret the absence of)
  3. to soothe
  4. to call someone by an affectionate nickname such as 'darling'

Adjective

sayang (comparative more sayang, superlative most sayang) (Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, colloquial)

  1. pitiful, regrettable

Interjection

sayang (Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, colloquial)

  1. 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.”
    • 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.

Further reading

  • sayang at A Dictionary of Singlish

Anagrams

Bikol Central

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *sayaŋ (“too bad! it’s a pity! what a shame!”).

Pronunciation

  • Hyphenation: sa‧yang
  • IPA(key): /ˈsajaŋ/,

Noun

sáyang

  1. pity; shame
    Synonyms: hirak, supog
  2. waste
    Synonyms: kanugon, rawraw, rakwa, ratak

Interjection

sáyang!

  1. what a pity; what a shame; what a waste

Derived terms

Indonesian

Etymology

From Malay sayang (“yearning; longing; pitying; love; affection; it were a pity; alas that”), from Classical Malay سايڠ (sayang),

Pronunciation

Noun

sayang (first-person possessive sayangku, second-person possessive sayangmu, third-person possessive sayangnya)

  1. love
    Synonyms: cinta, kasih
  2. sweetheart; darling

Alternative forms

Verb

sayang

  1. to love, usually in a non-romantic way

Interjection

sayang

  1. alas, what a pity!

Derived terms

References

  1. ^ Tom Hoogervorst (2017 December 31) Andrea Acri, Roger Blench, Alexandra Landmann, editor, 9. The Role of “Prakrit” in Maritime Southeast Asia through 101 Etymologies‎, ISEAS Publishing, →DOI, →ISBN, pages 375–440

Further reading

Malay

Etymology

From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *sayaŋ (“too bad! it’s a pity! what a shame!”).

Pronunciation

Noun

sayang (Jawi spelling سايڠ, plural sayang-sayang, informal 1st possessive sayangku, 2nd possessive sayangmu, 3rd possessive sayangnya)

  1. love
  2. sweetheart; darling

Descendants

  • Indonesian: sayang
  • → English: sayang

Verb

sayang

  1. to love

Descendants

Adjective

sayang (Jawi spelling سايڠ)

  1. to be loving, affectionate

Derived terms

Affixed terms and other derivations

Regular affixed derivations:

Descendants

Interjection

sayang (Jawi spelling سايڠ)

  1. what a pity

Descendants

Further reading

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

  • IPA(key): /saˈjaŋ/, (adjective)
  • Hyphenation: sa‧yang

Noun

sayang (Baybayin spelling ᜐᜌᜅ᜔)

  1. waste; wasting (of a resource, talent, etc.)
    Synonyms: pagsayang, pagkasayang
  2. useless spending; useless consumption
    Synonyms: aksaya, pag-aksaya, pag-aaksaya
  3. waste of an opportunity; failure to take advantage
  4. gradual loss, decrease, or destruction by decay, etc.

Derived terms

Adjective

sayang or sayáng (Baybayin spelling ᜐᜌᜅ᜔)

  1. wasted; uselessly spent or consumed

Interjection

sayang (Baybayin spelling ᜐᜌᜅ᜔)

  1. what a pity!

Further reading

  • “sayang”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, Manila, 2018
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