saya

See also: sāya

Languages (16)

English

---

Asturian • Bambara • Cebuano • Indonesian • Japanese • Karao • Malay • Maranao • North Moluccan Malay • Papiamentu • Sambali • Spanish • Tagalog • Ternate • Ye'kwana

---

Page categories

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Tagalog saya, from Spanish saya.

Noun

saya (plural sayas)

1. (Philippines) A skirt.
   • 2022, James Hopper, Caybigan:

     And as she stalked in her long, loose stride toward the dressing-room to readjust her saya, somewhat in distress from the Maestro's last effort, it had suddenly flashed upon him where he had seen her before.

Derived terms

• under the saya

Anagrams

• Ayas, ayas, Asya, yaas, AYAs, Asay

Asturian

Etymology

Inherited from Vulgar Latin *sagia, from Latin sagum, from Gaulish *sagos, or from Ancient Greek σάγος (ságos).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsaʝa/ [ˈsa.ʝa]
• Hyphenation: sa‧ya

Noun

saya f (plural sayes)

1. skirt

   Synonym: falda

References

• Academia de la Llingua Asturiana (2000). Diccionariu de la llingua asturiana (1ª edición). →ISBN. on-line version.
• “saya” in Diccionario general de la lengua asturiana. Xosé Lluis García Arias. →ISBN.

Bambara

Noun

saya

1. death

Cebuano

Alternative forms

• sayal

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Spanish saya, from Vulgar Latin *sagia, from Latin sagum, from Gaulish *sagos, or from Ancient Greek σάγος (ságos).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsaja/ [ˈs̪a.jɐ]
• Hyphenation: sa‧ya

Noun

saya

1. skirt

   Synonym: palda

2. (often humorous) kilt

Verb

saya

1. to wear a skirt

Derived terms

• ander de saya

Etymology 2

Compare sadya.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /saˈja/ [s̪ɐˈja]
• Hyphenation: sa‧ya

Adjective

sayá

1. merry

Indonesian

Alternative forms

• sahaya (archaic)
• saja (1901–1947, 1947–1972)

Etymology

From Malay saya, from earlier sahaya, from Sanskrit सहाय (sahāya).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /ˈsaja/ [ˈsa.ja]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aja
• Syllabification: sa‧ya

Pronoun

saya

1. (polite) First person singular pronoun: I, me, my

   Saya akan pergi ke kebun.

   I will go to the garden.

   Mereka suka bercanda dengan saya.

   They like to joke around with me.

   Atasan saya sedang sibuk.

   My boss is busy.

Interjection

saya

1. (polite) Response that confirms that the speaker is paying attention: yes

Synonyms

As a first person singular personal pronouns:

• aku (informal)
• gua (informal, Jakarta)
• hamba (poetic)

See also

Indonesian personal pronouns

		singular	plural
1st person	exclusive	aku, saya1	kami
	inclusive	-	kita
2nd person		kamu, Anda2
		kau3	kalian, Anda sekalian2, kamu sekalian5
3rd person		dia, ia3	mereka
reflexive		diri
emphatic		sendiri

¹Polite.
²Formal.
³Now mostly dialectal or literary.
⁴Honorific.
⁵Literary or poetic.
Notes:

• This table only shows some personal pronouns that are commonly used in the standard language.
• The second person pronouns are usually avoided when talking to someone of higher status or older, especially in casual speech.
  
• Not including the clitic pronouns.
  

See Appendix:Indonesian personal pronouns for more information.

Japanese

Romanization

saya

1. Rōmaji transcription of さや

Karao

Noun

saya

1. tear; teardrop

Malay

Alternative forms

• sahaya, سهاي, sy

Etymology

From Sanskrit सहाय (sahāya, “follower”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /saja/
• Rhymes: -aja, -ja, -a
• (Johor-Riau) IPA^(key): [säjə]

• Audio (Malaysia):

  (file)

• (in fast speech) IPA^(key): [se]

Pronoun

saya (Jawi spelling ساي)

1. I (personal pronoun)
2. me (direct object of a verb)
3. me (object of a preposition)
4. me (indirect object of a verb)
5. my (belonging to me)

   Nama saya ...

   My name is ...

Descendants

• Indonesian: saya
• North Moluccan Malay: saya

See also

• aku / ku (ku- / -ku) / daku
• hamba
• hamba sahaya
• beta

Maranao

Adverb

saya

1. here

North Moluccan Malay

Etymology

From Malay saya, from earlier sahaya, from Sanskrit सहाय (sahāya, “companion, follower, assistant”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsaja/
• IPA^(key): (in relaxed or fast speech) /ˈse(j)a/
• Hyphenation: sa‧ya

Pronoun

saya

1. (polite) First person singular pronoun: I, me, my

See also

North Moluccan Malay personal pronouns

		singular	plural
1st person	long	kita, saya	torang
	short	ta	tong
2nd person	long	ngana	ngoni
	short	nga	ngo
3rd person	long	dia	dorang
	short	de	dong
reflexive		diri
emphatic		sandiri

• The short forms are mostly dependant.
• The second person pronouns are usually avoided when talking to someone of higher status or older.
  

See each entry for more information.

Papiamentu

Etymology

From Spanish saya and Portuguese saia and Kabuverdianu saia.

Noun

saya

1. skirt

Sambali

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish saya.

Noun

saya

1. skirt

Spanish

Etymology

Inherited from Vulgar Latin *sagia, from Latin sagum, from Gaulish *sagos, or from Ancient Greek σάγος (ságos). Compare Portuguese saia, French saie.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /ˈsaʝa/ [ˈsa.ʝa]

• IPA^(key): (everywhere but Argentina and Uruguay) /ˈsaʝa/ [ˈsa.ʝa]
• IPA^(key): (Buenos Aires and environs) /ˈsaʃa/ [ˈsa.ʃa]
• IPA^(key): (elsewhere in Argentina and Uruguay) /ˈsaʒa/ [ˈsa.ʒa]

• Rhymes: -aʝa
• Syllabification: sa‧ya

Noun

saya f (plural sayas)

1. (archaic except Cuba) skirt

   Synonyms: falda, pollera, nagua

Descendants

• → Cebuano: saya
• → Moroccan Arabic: صاية (ṣāya)
• → Tagalog: saya

Further reading

• “saya”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10

Tagalog

Etymology 1

From Proto-Philippine *sayaq. Compare Kapampangan saya, Masbatenyo sadya, Cebuano sadya, and Hiligaynon sadya.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /saˈja/ [sɐˈja]
• Rhymes: -a
• Syllabification: sa‧ya

Noun

sayá (Baybayin spelling ᜐᜌ)

1. joy; happiness; gladness

   Synonyms: tuwa, katuwaan, galak, kagalakan, ligaya, kaligayahan

2. fun; merriment; festivity

   Synonyms: pagkakatuwa, pagdiriwang

Derived terms

• ansaya
• ikasaya
• ipagsaya
• kasayahan
• magpakasaya
• magpasaya
• magsaya
• makapagsaya
• makasaya
• masaya
• masayahan
• masayahin
• masayang-masaya
• napakasaya
• pagsasaya
• pakikipagsaya
• pampasaya
• pasaya
• pasayahin
• sayahan
• sayahin
• sumaya

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Spanish saya, from Vulgar Latin *sagia, from Latin sagum, from earlier sagus, probably of Gaulish origin.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈsaja/ [ˈsaː.jɐ]
• Rhymes: -aja
• Syllabification: sa‧ya

Noun

saya (Baybayin spelling ᜐᜌ)

1. skirt

   Synonym: palda

Derived terms

• ander de saya
• baro't saya

Further reading

• “saya”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, Manila, 2018

Anagrams

• Asya

Ternate

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈsa.ja]

Noun

saya

1. a flower

References

• Rika Hayami-Allen (2001) A descriptive study of the language of Ternate, the northern Moluccas, Indonesia, University of Pittsburgh

Ye'kwana

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [saja]

Noun

saya

1. mountain

References

• Cáceres, Natalia (2011) “saya”, in Grammaire Fonctionnelle-Typologique du Ye’kwana‎^[1], Lyon