yang
English
Etymology 1
From early romanizations of Chinese 陽/阳 (yáng), originally in reference to the sunny side of areas such as mountains and dwellings.
Alternative forms
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) enPR: yăng; IPA(key): /jæŋ/
Audio (Southern England) (file)
- (General American) enPR: yāng; IPA(key): /jeɪŋ/
- Rhymes: -æŋ, -eɪŋ
Noun
yang (uncountable)
- (philosophy) A principle in Chinese and related East Asian philosophies associated with bright, hot, masculine, etc. elements of the natural world.
- 1956, Anthony Burgess, Time for a Tiger (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 187:
- "Steamed fish and chicken and vegetable soup and even mushrooms are considered cooling foods, edible materializations of the yang, the pure primal air. The yin, or earth element, inheres in fried dishes and especially in shark's fin soup. Am I right, Mr Lee?"
- 1985 August 17, S. H. Chua, “IGA Smashes Borders”, in Gay Community News, volume 13, number 6, page 10:
- The performance was unmistakably male and gay. The rousing lion dance that capped their performance provided the right touch of "yang" without destroying the distinct feel of something gay, Asian and new.
Translations
Etymology 3
Imitative.
Pronunciation
- Rhymes: -æŋ
Verb
yang (third-person singular simple present yangs, present participle yanging, simple past and past participle yanged)
- (rare) To make the cry of the wild goose.
- 1902, Eleanor Gates, The biography of a prairie girl:
- Away they went, the colt in the lead and the pinto after, until they reached the bunch of cottonwoods far up the stream where the yanging wild geese had their nests.
- 1957, Adelbert Ames, Chronicles from the Nineteenth Century: 1874-1899:
- Last night we were awakened by the barking of dogs and yanging of a goose, and investigated to find that the man had neglected to house the geese and the dogs were killing them.
Anagrams
French
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /jɑ̃ɡ/, /jaŋ/
Further reading
- “yang”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Indonesian
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈjaŋ/
Audio: (file) - Rhymes: -jaŋ, -aŋ, -ŋ
- Hyphenation: yang
Alternative forms
- yg (abbreviation)
- jg (superseded, abbreviation)
Etymology 2
From Malay yang, from Proto-Malayic *hiaŋ, from Proto-Malayo-Chamic *hiaŋ, from Proto-Malayo-Sumbawan *hiaŋ, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *qiaŋ.
Noun
yang (plural yang-yang, first-person possessive yangku, second-person possessive yangmu, third-person possessive yangnya)
- (Hinduism) hyang: An unseen spirit with supernatural powers, in ancient Indonesian mythology.
Noun
yang (plural yang-yang, first-person possessive yangku, second-person possessive yangmu, third-person possessive yangnya)
- (philosophy) yang: A principle in Chinese and related East Asian philosophies associated with bright, hot, masculine, etc. elements of the natural world.
- Antonym: yin
Noun
yang (first-person possessive yangku, second-person possessive yangmu, third-person possessive yangnya)
- Aphetic form of sayang (“sweetheart; darling”)
Further reading
- “yang” 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.
Lashi
Etymology
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *g-jak ~ g-jaŋ (“sheep, yak”). Cognates include Chinese 羊 (yáng, “sheep, goat, antelope”) and English yak.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [jaŋ]
Malay
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /iaŋ/
- Rhymes: -iaŋ, -jaŋ, -aŋ
Audio (MY) (file)
Etymology 1
First attested in the Kedukan Bukit inscription, 683 CE, as Old Malay [script needed] (yaṃ).
Etymology 2
From hiang, from Proto-Malayic *hiaŋ, from Proto-Malayo-Chamic *hiaŋ, from Proto-Malayo-Sumbawan *hiaŋ, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *qiaŋ.
Etymology 3
Abbreviation of sayang.
Alternative forms
- ayang
- sayang
Etymology 4
Abbreviation of dayang.
Noun
yang
Further reading
- “yang” in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu | Malay Literary Reference Centre, Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017.
- Wilkinson, Richard James. An Abridged Malay-English Dictionary. Macmillan. 1965.
Mandarin
Romanization
yang
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.
Mato
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [ˈjɑŋ]
References
- Phonological Descriptions of Papua New Guinea Languages (2005, SIL, edited by Steve Parker), section Mato (Nenaya, Nengaya, Nineia) Language, page 28: yang [ˈjɑŋ] 'wind'
Miskito
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /jaŋ/
Ternate
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [jaŋ]
Conjunction
yang (Jawi يڠ)
- relative clause introducer; which, that
- Synonym: ma
- pangkat yang gaku ― a high position (literally, “a position which is high”)
- ngofa halal yang manyirah ― the legitimate eldest son (literally, “the legitimate son who is eldest”)
- oto yang ikuraci ngori ri die ― the yellow car is mine (literally, “the car which is yellow is my property”)
Usage notes
In older texts, as de Clercq mentions, yang was only used together with other Malay borrowings; in more recent usage, yang can follow non-Malay words as well.
References
- Frederik Sigismund Alexander de Clercq (1890) Bijdragen tot de kennis der Residentie Ternate, E.J. Brill
- Rika Hayami-Allen (2001) A descriptive study of the language of Ternate, the northern Moluccas, Indonesia, University of Pittsburgh
Wutunhua
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [jɑ̃]