nyiam

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Buli (Ghana)[edit]

Noun[edit]

nyiam

  1. water
    • 2006, Bulsa Sunsuelima: Erotic Folktales of the Bulsa in Northern Ghana, volume 2, pages 110 and 111:
      [Nipowa] ain wa be ngari nyiam te fi [wa] ya? [...] Wa nye nyiam te wa, wa so ya.
      [The woman] asked if she should fetch water andgive it to you [to him]? [...] She brought him water and he washed [himself].

White Hmong[edit]

Etymology[edit]

This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.
Particularly: “Not mentioned by Ratliff at all. The only other word in the area with similar form and semantics is the sound-symbolic Japanese にやにや (niyaniya, “grinning”); perhaps the Hmong term is also an ad-hoc sound-symbolic formation then.”

Pronunciation[edit]

Verb[edit]

nyiam

  1. to like, to favor, to care for
    Kuv nyiam cev tiab no. ― I like this dress.

References[edit]

  • Heimbach, Ernest E. (1979) White Hmong — English Dictionary‎[1], SEAP Publications, →ISBN, page 219.
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