wayang
English
[edit]Etymology 1
[edit]Transliteration of Javanese ꦮꦪꦁ (wayang, “shadow; imagination”), from Old Javanese wayaṅ. Cognate with Dutch wajang.
Alternative forms
[edit]Noun
[edit]wayang (countable and uncountable, plural wayangs)
- Traditional Indonesian arts performance (shadow puppetry, theatrical, dance, etc.) originating from Java island.
- A shadow theatre performance, or such performances in general.
Further reading
[edit]- “wayang”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
Etymology 2
[edit]From Javanese ꦮꦪꦁ (wayang, “shadow puppetry”), via Malay wayang.
Pronunciation
[edit]Verb
[edit]wayang (indeclinable)
- (Singapore, Singlish) To put on an act, to pretend (e.g. to be hard at work) or behave in a false and misleading way.
- 2008, Zai Zai, soc.culture.singapore[1] (Usenet):
- […] some [MPs] have to do wayang wayang in the evening like meet the people sessions.
Noun
[edit]wayang (countable and uncountable, plural wayang)
- (Singapore) Traditional Chinese opera, performed outdoors. The equivalent term in Mandarin is 街戲/街戏 (jiēxì, literally “street opera”).
- (Singapore, Singlish) Insincere behaviour; an act meant to deceive or mislead.
- 1991 January 3, Lim Boon Heng, “CONSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF SINGAPORE (AMENDMENT NO. 3) BILL”, in Parliamentary Debates: Official Report (Parliament of Singapore), volume 56, quoted in Jack Tsen-Ta Lee, A Dictionary of Singlish and Singapore English, column 724:
- There had been two important reservations made on the practice of consultation and consensus. […] The other reservation is that consultation and consensus is no more than a “wayang”, because views are not accepted and no changes are made to the original policy.
- 2006 April 24, Tan Dawn Wei, The Straits Times, quoted in Jack Tsen-Ta Lee, A Dictionary of Singlish and Singapore English, Singapore: Singapore Press Holdings Limited:
- Besides being adept at directing actors from behind the camera, [Royston] Tan is a bit of a wayang king himself.
- 2006 April 27, Lydia Lim, quoting Chee Soon Juan, The Straits Times, quoted in Jack Tsen-Ta Lee, A Dictionary of Singlish and Singapore English, Singapore: Singapore Press Holdings Limited:
- Dr Chee called the polls a ‘wayang’ and said they were being held so that the PAP could claim to have the people’s mandate to govern.
- 2006 May 11, Leslie Koh, Aaron Low, quoting Inderjit Singh, The Straits Times, quoted in Jack Tsen-Ta Lee, A Dictionary of Singlish and Singapore English, Singapore: Singapore Press Holdings Limited:
- Mr [Inderjit] Singh […] had said earlier that Mr [James] Gomez told him the minority certificate incident was just a ‘wayang’, Malay for theatre.
Adjective
[edit]wayang (not comparable)
- (Singapore, Singlish, never attributive) For show, insincere or fake; ostentatious and showy.
Usage notes
[edit]Sometimes reduplicated, as a verb or an adjective.
References
[edit]- Lee, Jack Tsen-Ta (2004) “wayang”, in A Dictionary of Singlish and Singapore English[3]
Hiligaynon
[edit]Noun
[edit]wayáng
Indonesian
[edit]![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Ki_Sigit_Ariyanto_Dalang_Wayang_Kulit.jpg/250px-Ki_Sigit_Ariyanto_Dalang_Wayang_Kulit.jpg)
Etymology
[edit]Borrowed from Javanese ꦮꦪꦁ (wayang, “shadow; imagination”), from Old Javanese wayaṅ. Doublet of bayang.
Pronunciation
[edit]Noun
[edit]wayang (plural wayang-wayang, first-person possessive wayangku, second-person possessive wayangmu, third-person possessive wayangnya)
- shadow play:
- (Indonesia) traditional arts performance (shadow puppetry, theatrical, dance, etc.) originally from Javanese culture.
- puppet in the shadow play
- the performance of shadow play
- (figurative) puppet (a person, country, etc, controlled by another); overbeared.
- (figurative) synonym of bayang-bayang.
Affixed terms
[edit]Compounds
[edit]- wayang beber
- wayang gambar
- wayang gelap
- wayang gedek
- wayang gedhog
- wayang golek
- wayang kancil
- wayang kelitik
- wayang keroncong
- wayang kerucil
- wayang kulit
- wayang madha
- wayang makao
- wayang mbeling
- wayang menak
- wayang orang
- wayang plastik
- wayang potehi
- wayang purwa
- wayang rai wong
- wayang sadat
- wayang sarung tangan
- wayang suket
- wayang suluh
- wayang tavib
- wayang tengul
- wayang titi
- wayang topeng
- wayang ukur
- wayang wahyu
- wayang wong
Further reading
[edit]- “wayang” 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.
Javanese
[edit]Romanization
[edit]wayang
- Romanization of ꦮꦪꦁ
Malay
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Borrowed from Javanese ꦮꦪꦁ (wayang, “shadow; imagination”), from Old Javanese wayaṅ. Doublet of bayang.
Pronunciation
[edit]Noun
[edit]wayang (Jawi spelling وايڠ, plural wayang-wayang, informal 1st possessive wayangku, 2nd possessive wayangmu, 3rd possessive wayangnya)
- shadow play
- shadow theatre performance
- (informal) ellipsis of wayang gambar (“motion picture; movie”).
- Andy ajak kita tengok wayang. ― Andy is inviting us to watch a movie.
Derived terms
[edit]Descendants
[edit]- → Hokkien: 花英 (hoa-iaⁿ) (?)
Further reading
[edit]- “wayang” in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu | Malay Literary Reference Centre, Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017.
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