ยาย

ยาย

1. Thai script form of yāya, which is genitive/dative/ablative/instrumental/locative singular of ยา (yā, “who”)

From Proto-Tai *naːjᴬ (“maternal grandmother”). The /n-/ -> /j-/ transformation is due to contamination by ย่า (yâa, “paternal grandmother”), which is semantically similar. Compare Indonesian nyai; Khmer យាយ (yiəy); Lao ຍາຍ (nyāi), ຍາຽ (nyāi); Shan ၼၢႆး (náai).

ยาย • (yaai) (classifier คน)

1. maternal grandmother; also used as a title for or term of address to one's maternal grandmother or woman respected as one's maternal grandmother, and used by such person to refer to herself.
2. (sometimes derogatory and offensive) aged woman; also used as a title for or term of address to such person, and used by such person to refer to herself.
3. (colloquial) used as a diminutive or affectionate title for or term of address to a young woman or woman of the same age as the speaker.
4. (often derogatory and offensive) used as a title for or term of address to any woman or trans woman.