yaya

From Tagalog yaya.

yaya (plural yayas)

1. (Philippines) A nanny.
   • 2020 June 3, William Meny, “Witches” (4:25 from the start), in What We Do in the Shadows‎, season 2, episode 9, spoken by Nadja (Natasia Demetriou):

     “Can you not make this carriage move faster? You're moving slower than when my yaya tried to ride a snail to the next village.”

Unknown.

• (Singapore) IPA^(key): /ˈjɑjɑ/

yaya (invariable)

1. (Singlish) To show off or behave in an egocentric or self-important manner.

yaya (comparative more yaya, superlative most yaya)

1. (Singlish) Arrogant, stuck-up.

• yaya papaya

• Lee, Jack Tsen-Ta (2004) “yaya”, in A Dictionary of Singlish and Singapore English

yaya

1. star

• Hyphenation: ya‧ya
• IPA^(key): /ˈjaja/

yaya

1. a weak feeling in the limbs

Unknown.

• Hyphenation: ya‧ya
• IPA^(key): /ˈjaʔjaʔ/

yaya

1. slow
2. clumsy
3. stretched out

Borrowed from Spanish yaya (“granny”). Compare Catalan iaia.

• Hyphenation: ya‧ya
• IPA^(key): /ˈjaja/

yaya

1. (sometimes derogatory) a nanny
2. an address to one's nanny

yaya

1. to work or act as a nanny

Unknown.

yaya

1. a tree, Gonocaryum calleryanum

For quotations using this term, see Citations:yaya.

yaya

1. to cry

yaya

1. he; she

yaya

1. Rōmaji transcription of やや

yaya

1. Romanization of ᠶᠠᠶᠠ

yaya

1. nursemaid; babysitter

• IPA^(key): /jà.já/

yàyá

1. senior
2. elder cousin

yaya

1. as if

• IPA^(key): /ˈja.ja/

yaya

1. father

   Synonyms: tayta, tata

   Coordinate term: mama (“mother”)

2. chief, elder
3. priest
4. (arcaic) God

Perhaps from Modern Greek γιαγιά (giagiá, “grandmother”). Or more likely simply a feminine of yayo (see there for further etymology).

• Rhymes: -aʝa
• Syllabification: ya‧ya

yaya f (plural yayas)

1. granny, gran
2. (Philippines) girl or woman employed to take care of children

• “yaya”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.7, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2023 November 28

Uncertain, but possibly from Portuguese aia (“maid”) or an Indian language, such as Hindi आया (āyā, “dry nurse, nanny”).^[1]

• Audio (Kenya):

  (file)

yaya (ma class, plural mayaya)

1. nanny, babysitter, ayah

Borrowed from Spanish yaya (“granny”). Compare with Cebuano yaya, Catalan iaia.

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈjaja/
• Rhymes: -aja
• Syllabification: ya‧ya

yaya (masculine yayo, Baybayin spelling ᜌᜌ)

1. nanny; nursemaid; amah; girl or woman employed to take care of children

   Synonym: ama

2. wet nurse

   Synonyms: sisiwa, mamay

3. (by extension) helper; maid

   Synonyms: katulong, kasambahay, utusan, kriyada

Compare anyaya (“invitation”).

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈjajaʔ/
• Rhymes: -ajaʔ
• Syllabification: ya‧ya

yayà (Baybayin spelling ᜌᜌ)

1. invitation; request; persuasion; inducement

   Synonyms: pagyaya, anyaya, imbitasyon, kayag, kumbida, yakag

2. person invited (to come to a certain place or to help do something)

• aya

• anyaya

yayà (Baybayin spelling ᜌᜌ)

1. invited personally to help do certain work

   Synonyms: yakag, niyakag

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /jaˈja/
• Rhymes: -a
• Syllabification: ya‧ya

yayá (Baybayin spelling ᜌᜌ) (obsolete)

1. driving away or shooing maya birds

   Synonyms: bugaw, wasiwas, hiyaw, sibok

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /jaˈjaʔ/
• Rhymes: -aʔ
• Syllabification: ya‧ya

yayâ (Baybayin spelling ᜌᜌ) (obsolete)

1. name of the Baybayin letter ᜌ, corresponding to "ya"

• “yaya”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, Manila, 2018
• San Buena Ventura, Fr. Pedro de (1613) Juan de Silva, editor, Vocabulario de lengua tagala: El romance castellano puesto primero‎, La Noble Villa de Pila
  • page 171: “Combidar) Yaya (pp) llamando ꝑa combite fieſta o otra coſa”
  • page 396: “Llamar) Yaya (pp) combidando ꝑa algo”
  • page 437: “Munir) Yaya (pp) juntando la gente”
  • page 605: “Y) Yaya (pc) letra de la eſcritura tagala .|. yaya yaon .|. ᜌ . aba ſuſulat aco nang yaya ? quieres q̃ eſcriua vna .y. de Indio? ang yaya dito nang ſa Manila, vna y es aqui u otra đ M.”

• IPA^(key):

yaya

1. mother

   Synonym: hera

• Rika Hayami-Allen (2001) A descriptive study of the language of Ternate, the northern Moluccas, Indonesia, University of Pittsburgh

From Ottoman Turkish یایا (yaya), from Old Turkic (yadag). Cognate with Kazakh жаяу (jaäu) and Azerbaijani yayaq.

• IPA^(key):

• Audio:

  (file)

yaya (definite accusative yayayı, plural yayalar)

1. pedestrian; someone walking, instead of using a vehicle
2. (military, historical) foot soldier

• yayan

• Avery, Robert et al., editors (2013), The Redhouse Dictionary Turkish/Ottoman English, 21st edition, Istanbul: Sev Yayıncılık, →ISBN

Together with the polite baba (“father”), likely borrowed from Ternate yaya (“mother”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈja.ja/

yaya

1. mother

The term yaya is used for addressing one's mother, whereas the terms mama and mamu are used for referring to a mother.

• Clemens Voorhoeve (1982) The Makian languages and their neighbours‎, Pacific linguistics