liang

See also: Liang, liáng, liàng, and liǎng

English

Etymology

The atonal Wade-Giles and pinyin romanization of the standard Mandarin pronunciation of Chinese 兩 / 两 (liǎng). Doublet of leung and yang.

Noun

liang (plural liang or liangs)

1. (chiefly historical) Synonym of tael, a former Chinese unit of weight (about 40 g) and a related unit of silver currency.

Anagrams

• Gilan, Glina, Laing, Langi, algin, align, ganil, ligan, linga

Indonesian

Etymology 1

From Malay liang, from Proto-Austronesian *liaŋ (“cave, cavern”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈlia̯ŋ]
• Hyphenation: liang

Noun

liang (plural liang-liang)

1. small hole

   Synonyms: ceruk, lubang, rongga

Derived terms

• meliang

• liang hidung
• liang jarum
• liang jimak
• liang kembara
• liang kubur
• liang kumbang
• liang lahad
• liang mata
• liang rayap
• liang renik
• liang roma
• liang sanggama
• liang semut

Etymology 2

Onomatopoeic.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈlia̯ŋ]
• Hyphenation: liang

Root

liang (plural liang-liang)

1. wavy

Derived terms

• berliang-liuk
• liang-liuk
• liang-liut

Etymology 3

From Mandarin 兩／两 (liǎng).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈlia̯ŋ]
• Hyphenation: liang

Noun

liang (plural liang-liang)

1. a Chinese ounce or tael, reckoned as one-third heavier than the ounce avoirdupois. Short for 臺兩／台两 (“Taiwanese tael, equal to 1/16 of a catty or 37.5 grams”)

   Synonyms: bungkal, tahil

Further reading

• “liang” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

Kambera

Etymology

From Proto-Austronesian *liaŋ (“cave, cavern”).

Noun

liang

1. cave

References

• Marian Klamer (1998) A Grammar of Kambera, Berlin, New York: Mouton de Gruyter, →ISBN, page 213

Malay

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *liaŋ (“cave, cavern”). Cognate with Javanese leng.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈljaŋ/ [ˈljaŋ]
• Rhymes: -aŋ
• Hyphenation: liang

Noun

liang (Jawi spelling لياڠ, plural liang-liang)

1. small hole (e.g. nose, stab mark)

   Synonyms: lubang, rongga

Further reading

• “liang” in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu | Malay Literary Reference Centre, Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017.
• Blust, Robert; Trussel, Stephen; et al. (2023) “*liaŋ”, in the CLDF dataset from The Austronesian Comparative Dictionary (2010–), →DOI

Mandarin

Romanization

liang

1. nonstandard spelling of liáng
2. nonstandard spelling of liǎng
3. nonstandard spelling of liàng

Usage notes

• Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.

Woiwurrung

Alternative forms

• leeang
• leong

Etymology

From Proto-Pama-Nyungan *rirra.

Noun

liang

1. tooth
2. teeth

References

• Barry J. Blake, Woiwurrung, in The Aboriginal Language of Melbourne and Other Sketches (1991; edited by R. M. W. Dixon and Barry J. Blake; OUP, Handbook of Australian Languages 4), pages 31–124