ayah

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English

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Etymology 1

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From various Indian languages (e.g. Hindi आया (āyā, dry nurse, nanny)), from Portuguese aia (nurse, governess), from Latin avia (grandmother).

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈaɪ.ə/, /ˈɑːjə/

Noun

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ayah (plural ayahs)

  1. A South Asian female servant, maid or nanny, historically, often one working for Europeans in South Asia.
    • 1888, Rudyard Kipling, “Watches of the Night”, in Plain Tales from the Hills (fiction):
      She manufactured the Station scandal, and talked to her ayah.
    • 1989, Shashi Tharoor, The Great Indian Novel[3], New York: Arcade Publishing, published 2011, Book 4:
      [] a cot of iron had to be manufactured for [Bhim] after he had demolished two wooden cribs with a lusty kick of his foot; and a succession of bruised ayahs had finally to be replaced by a male attendant, a former Hastinapur all-in wrestling champion.
See also
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Etymology 2

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Borrowed from Arabic آيَة (ʔāya, sign, token).

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈaɪ.(j)ɑː/, /ˈaɪ.ə/

Noun

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ayah (plural ayahs or ayat)

  1. (Islam) A verse in the Quran.
    Synonym: ayat
Alternative forms
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Translations
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Further reading

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Anagrams

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Indonesian

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Indonesian Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia id

Etymology

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From Malay ayah (father), from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *aya₂ (father’s sister, father’s sister’s husband), from Proto-Austronesian *aya₂.[1][2]

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /a.jah/
  • Audio:(file)
  • Hyphenation: a‧yah

Noun

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ayah (first-person possessive ayahku, second-person possessive ayahmu, third-person possessive ayahnya)

  1. (formal) father (male parent)
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:ayah

Derived terms

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ Robert Blust, David F. Aberle, N. J. Allen, R. H. Barnes, Ann Chowning (1980 April 1) “Early Austronesian Social Organization: The Evidence of Language [and Comments and Reply]”, in Current Anthropology[1], volume 21, number 2, →DOI, →ISSN, pages 205–247
  2. ^ Robert Blust (1993) “Austronesian sibling terms and culture history”, in Bijdragen tot de taal-, land- en volkenkunde / Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences of Southeast Asia[2], volume 149, number 1, →DOI, →ISSN, pages 22–76

Further reading

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Malay

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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Malay Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia ms

From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *aya (father’s sister, father’s sister’s husband), from Proto-Austronesian *aya.[1]

Noun

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ayah (Jawi spelling ايه, plural ayah-ayah, informal 1st possessive ayahku, 2nd possessive ayahmu, 3rd possessive ayahnya)

  1. (formal, polite) A father (male parent).
    Synonyms: abah, bapa, rama
    ayah DanielDaniel's father
Affixations
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Compounds
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Descendants
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  • Indonesian: ayah
  • Peranakan Indonesian: ajah

Etymology 2

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English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Borrowed from Hindi आया (āyā), from Portuguese aia.

Noun

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ayah (Jawi spelling ايه, plural ayah-ayah, informal 1st possessive ayahku, 2nd possessive ayahmu, 3rd possessive ayahnya)

  1. (dated) A nursemaid, usually one of Indian ancestry.
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See also

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References

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  1. ^ Blust, Robert; Trussel, Stephen; et al. (2023) “*aya₂”, in the CLDF dataset from The Austronesian Comparative Dictionary (2010–), →DOI

Further reading

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