Where does “sayang” come from?

sayang (Chinese) comes from Malay sayang, from Austronesian *sayaŋ.

sayang (Chinese): to love; to cherish

Definitions

  1. to love; to cherish

Ancestry of “sayang”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Malaysayanglove
2Austronesian*sayaŋ—
Every word from Austronesian *sayaŋ →Every word from Malay sayang →