[An-lang] etymology of Kasi(h), and sayang...

[David Gil]

The meanings Bill Davies identifies for the exclamation /sayang/ in the 
Philippines are of course widespread also in Indonesian. Moreover, they 
bring to mind the Indonesian exclamation /kasihan/ (derived from /kasih/ 
with suffixation of /-an/), which expresses compassion, prototypically 
in relation to some perceived misfortune, sort of like the English 
(well, my English, at least) /poor thing/.  Though the element of 
misfortune is often vague to the extreme, as for example when one says 
/kasihan/ when admiring a cute but tiny and seemingly helpless baby.  
(An Indonesian-speaking friend of mine originally from South Africa 
informs me that in South-African English, the neareast counterpart of 
/kasihan/, also commonly used in the "baby" context, is /shame.)

/David/


/
On 26/02/2015 07:47, Bill and Donna Davis wrote:
> I’m enjoying this discussion.
>
> I appreciated the affirmation from Ate Nicole regarding my thoughts on SW Palawano *ingasi* (pity/mercy) coming from in- + kasi. Interestingly, SW Palawano does not use the Brookes Point Palawano form *kasi-kasi* for “little gift.” The degree of such differences between relatively close locations is amazing at times.
>
> Koine Greek also has a word which straddles “mercy/gift.” The word *charis* (often translated “grace” in the New Testament) means both love/grace/kindness AND the “gift” for which such grace is the motivation. I think that in the case of *kasi* careful work would be required to tease apart the possibility of any confusing and similar blurring of lexical meaning and associated emotions and motivations.
>
> I cannot speak to the meaning of *saiyang* in Malaysian, but all over the Philippines, this word is hard to pin down. It is most often an exclamation. *Sayang!* is often translated “What a waste!” but also “What a pity!” but this is a difference sense of “pity” than the more social one. However, there is an underlying common ground of ascribing value to the object wasted or the person pitied. SW Palawano has the word *sayang* used as an exclamation in this way. But it also a verb in PV -an form, expressing the idea of “wasting” something intentionally through neglect of its potential, not taking advantage of its benefits, etc. In that usage, the meaning seems to be the opposite of “valuing,” and it something more like “ignoring the value.”
>
> -Bill
>
>
>

-- 
David Gil

Department of Linguistics
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Deutscher Platz 6, D-04103 Leipzig, Germany

Telephone: 49-341-3550321 Fax: 49-341-3550333
Email: gil at eva.mpg.de
Webpage:  http://www.eva.mpg.de/~gil/

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