yav

White Hmong

Etymology

This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.
Particularly: “Not mentioned by Ratliff at all. Doesn't really bear any resemblance to other words in the area. Maybe a semantic extension of some ancient Sinitic borrowing that meant something different (like 腰 (yāo, “waist”) or 壓／压 (yā, “pressure”))?”

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ʝa˧˦/

Noun

yav

a time, a period (of time)
yav no ― this period of time, now

Classifier

yav

classifier used for the time of day

References

Heimbach, Ernest E. (1979) White Hmong — English Dictionary‎^[1], SEAP Publications, →ISBN, page 420.