nyias

White Hmong

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ɲiə̯˩/

Etymology 1

From Proto-Hmong *ɲenᴮ (“thin”), borrowed from Middle Chinese 姌 (MC nyemX|nemX, “slender”).^[1]

Adjective

nyias

thin, not thick

Derived terms

siab nyias (“fearful, worried”)

Etymology 2

This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.
Particularly: “Maybe a semantic extension of Etymology 1? "thin" > "thin cloth" > "baby-carrying cloth" could make some sense.”

Noun

nyias (classifier: daim)

a cloth for carrying a baby on one's back, a baby carrier

Etymology 3

This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.
Particularly: “Native Hmongic? Doesn't seem to bear resemblance to any other words with similar meaning in East Asia except for maybe Chinese 每 (měi, “every”) and Japanese 各々 (onoono), though the Chinese is a stretch and Japonic doesn't seem to share much, if any, connection with Hmong-Mien.”

Determiner

nyias

each, each one
Nyias muaj nyias npe. ― Each has their own name.

References

Heimbach, Ernest E. (1979) White Hmong — English Dictionary‎^[1], SEAP Publications, →ISBN, pages 219-220.

^ Ratliff, Martha (2010) Hmong-Mien language history (Studies in Language Change; 8), Camberra, Australia: Pacific Linguistics, →ISBN, page 157; 280.

[1] Ratliff, Martha (2010) Hmong-Mien language history (Studies in Language Change; 8), Camberra, Australia: Pacific Linguistics, →ISBN, page 157; 280.

[1]