wayang

English

Etymology 1

Transliteration of Javanese ꦮꦪꦁ (wayang, “shadow; imagination”), from Old Javanese wayaṅ. Cognate with Dutch wajang.

Alternative forms

• wajang

Noun

wayang (countable and uncountable, plural wayangs)

1. Traditional Indonesian arts performance (shadow puppetry, theatrical, dance, etc.) originating from Java island.
2. A shadow theatre performance, or such performances in general.

Further reading

• “wayang”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Etymology 2

From Javanese ꦮꦪꦁ (wayang, “shadow puppetry”), via Malay wayang.

Pronunciation

• (Singapore) IPA^(key): /ˈwɑjɑŋ/

Verb

wayang (indeclinable)

1. (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

wayang (countable and uncountable, plural wayang)

1. (Singapore) Traditional Chinese opera, performed outdoors. The equivalent term in Mandarin is 街戲／街戏 (jiēxì, literally “street opera”).
2. (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.

   • 2007, lobert, soc.culture.singapore‎^[2] (Usenet):

     They have to review whether they have revealed too much to the public before the wayang goes on.

Adjective

wayang (not comparable)

1. (Singapore, Singlish, never attributive) For show, insincere or fake; ostentatious and showy.

Usage notes

Sometimes reduplicated, as a verb or an adjective.

References

• Lee, Jack Tsen-Ta (2004) “wayang”, in A Dictionary of Singlish and Singapore English‎^[3]

Hiligaynon

Noun

wayáng

1. open plain, extensive grounds in a broad valley, or the like

Indonesian

The dalang play the wayang kulit

Etymology

Borrowed from Javanese ꦮꦪꦁ (wayang, “shadow; imagination”), from Old Javanese wayaṅ. Doublet of bayang.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈwa.jaŋ/
• Hyphenation: wa‧yang

Noun

wayang (plural wayang-wayang, first-person possessive wayangku, second-person possessive wayangmu, third-person possessive wayangnya)

1. shadow play:
   1. (Indonesia) traditional arts performance (shadow puppetry, theatrical, dance, etc.) originally from Javanese culture.
   2. puppet in the shadow play
   3. the performance of shadow play
2. (figurative) puppet (a person, country, etc, controlled by another); overbeared.
3. (figurative) synonym of bayang-bayang.

Affixed terms

• diwayangkan
• mewayangkan
• pewayang
• pewayangan
• wayangan

 

Compounds

• 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

• “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

Romanization

wayang

1. Romanization of ꦮꦪꦁ

Malay

Etymology

Borrowed from Javanese ꦮꦪꦁ (wayang, “shadow; imagination”), from Old Javanese wayaṅ. Doublet of bayang.

Pronunciation

• Audio (Malaysia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aŋ
• Rhymes: -jaŋ

Noun

wayang (Jawi spelling وايڠ, plural wayang-wayang, informal 1st possessive wayangku, 2nd possessive wayangmu, 3rd possessive wayangnya)

1. shadow play
2. shadow theatre performance
3. (informal) ellipsis of wayang gambar (“motion picture; movie”).

   Andy ajak kita tengok wayang. ― Andy is inviting us to watch a movie.

Derived terms

• wayang gambar
• wayang kulit

Descendants

• → Hokkien: 花英 (hoa-iaⁿ) (?)

Further reading

• “wayang” in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu | Malay Literary Reference Centre, Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017.