Wayangとは 意味・読み方・使い方

語源

Transliteration of Javanese ꦮꦪꦁ (wayang, “shadow; imagination; puppetry”), from Old Javanese wayaṅ via Malay wayang. Cognate with Dutch wajang.

発音

• (Singapore) IPA: /ˈwɑjɑŋ/

名詞

wayang (countable and uncountable, plural wayangs or wayang)

1. A theatrical performance of mythological events employing puppets or human dancers in Malaysia and Indonesia (especially Java).
2. A shadow theatre performance, or such performances in general.
3. (Malaysia, Singapore, music) Any traditional theatrical work, combining drama, music, song and sometimes dance.
   1. (Singapore) Traditional Chinese opera, performed outdoors. The equivalent term in Mandarin is 街戲 / 街戏 (jiēxì, literally “street opera”).
4. (Singapore, Singlish, Malaysia) Insincere behaviour; an act meant to deceive or mislead.
   • 1991 January 3, Lim Boon Heng, “CONSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF SINGAPORE (AMENDMENT NO. 3) BILL”, in Parliamentary Debates: Official Report (Parliament of Singapore), volume 56, quoted in Jack Tsen-Ta Lee, A Dictionary of Singlish and Singapore English, column 724:

     There had been two important reservations made on the practice of consultation and consensus. […] The other reservation is that consultation and consensus is no more than a “wayang”, because views are not accepted and no changes are made to the original policy.

   • 2006 April 24, Tan Dawn Wei, The Straits Times, quoted in Jack Tsen-Ta Lee, A Dictionary of Singlish and Singapore English, Singapore: Singapore Press Holdings Limited:

     Besides being adept at directing actors from behind the camera, [Royston] Tan is a bit of a wayang king himself.

   • 2006 April 27, Lydia Lim, quoting Chee Soon Juan, The Straits Times, quoted in Jack Tsen-Ta Lee, A Dictionary of Singlish and Singapore English, Singapore: Singapore Press Holdings Limited:

     Dr Chee called the polls a ‘wayang’ and said they were being held so that the PAP could claim to have the people’s mandate to govern.

   • 2006 May 11, Leslie Koh, Aaron Low, quoting Inderjit Singh, The Straits Times, quoted in Jack Tsen-Ta Lee, A Dictionary of Singlish and Singapore English, Singapore: Singapore Press Holdings Limited:

     Mr [Inderjit] Singh […] had said earlier that Mr [James] Gomez told him the minority certificate incident was just a ‘wayang’, Malay for theatre.

   • 2007, lobert, soc.culture.singapore‎ (Usenet):

     They have to review whether they have revealed too much to the public before the wayang goes on.

動詞

wayang (mostly invariable)

1. (Singapore, Singlish, Malaysia) To put up a front, to pretend (e.g., to be hard at work when one’s superiors are watching) or behave in a false and misleading way, especially if it puts one at an advantage.
   • 2008, Zai Zai, soc.culture.singapore‎ (Usenet):

     […] some [MPs] have to do wayang wayang in the evening like meet the people sessions.

   • 2024 December 8, Nadine Lee, quoting Jade, in-house counsel, “Singaporeans Confess How They’re Wayang-ing the December Blues Away At Work”, in ricemedia.co‎, archived from the original on 8 December 2024:

     It’s taboo to say that you’re free, even if you have nothing to do, because that’s like asking to get fired. I think it’s obvious whether someone’s actually busy or just wayang-ing—they start toggling between the same documents or surreptitiously using their phone—we just don’t talk about it.

形容詞

wayang (not comparable)

1. (Singapore, Singlish, never attributive) For show, insincere or fake; ostentatious and showy.

使用する際の注意点

Sometimes reduplicated, as a verb or an adjective.

参照

• “wayang”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• Lee, Jack Tsen-Ta (2004), “wayang”, in A Dictionary of Singlish and Singapore English‎