sayang

English

Etymology

• (Singaporean and Malaysian English): Borrowed from Malay sayang.
• (Philippine English): Borrowed from Tagalog sayang.

Pronunciation

• (Singapore, Malaysia) IPA^(key): /ˈsaɪ.jaŋ/, /ˈsa-/
• (Philippine) IPA^(key): /ˈsa.jɑŋ/

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^[2], 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^[3], 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

• yagnas

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/, [ˈsa.jaŋ]

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

• 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). 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)

1. love

   Synonyms: cinta, kasih

2. sweetheart; darling

Alternative forms

• yang (aphetic form)

Verb

sayang

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

Interjection

sayang

1. alas, what a pity!

Derived terms

• disayang
• disayangi
• disayangkan
• kesayangan
• menyayang
• menyayangi
• menyayangkan
• penyayang
• tersayang

 

• sayang akan

 

Further reading

• “sayang” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation — 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)

1. love
2. sweetheart; darling

Descendants

• Indonesian: sayang
• → English: sayang

Verb

sayang

1. to love

Descendants

• Indonesian: sayang
• → English: sayang
• → Hokkien: 捎央, 沙央 (sa-iang)

Adjective

sayang (Jawi spelling سايڠ)

1. to be loving, affectionate

Derived terms

Affixed terms and other derivations

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)

1. 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

• IPA^(key): /ˈsajaŋ/, [ˈsa.jɐŋ]

• IPA^(key): /saˈjaŋ/, [sɐˈjaŋ] (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

• hinayang
• ikasayang
• kahina-hinayang
• magsayang
• manghinayang
• nakapanghihinayang
• pagkasayang
• pagsayang
• panghihinayang
• panghinayangan
• sayangin
• walang-hinayang

 

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