Yao1
/jaʊ
/noun (plural same)
1A member of an East African people living to the east and south of Lake Nyasa.The Yao have lived in northern Mozambique (formerly Portuguese East Africa)....
- When Arabs arrived on the east coast of Africa they began trading with the Yao people.
2 [mass noun] The Bantu language of the Yao, with over a million speakers.In the north, the Bantu languages of Yao and Makua predominate; in the Zambezi Valley, it is Nyanja is the dominant languages; and in the south, Tsonga is spoken....
- They speak a Bantu language also known as Chiyao("Yao language", chi meaning "language").
adjective
Relating to the Yao or their language.The Yao traders from west of Lake Malawi began to reach the coast around Kilwa in the late sixteenth century....
- A group of 61000 people on the island of Hainan speak the Yao language Kim Mun, but see themselves as Miao (Hmong).
Origin
The local name.
Yao2
/jaʊ/noun (plural same)
1A member of a mountain-dwelling people of the Guangxi, Hunan, Yunnan, Guangdong, and Guizhou provinces of China.Farther north are the Makonde near the coast and the Yao near Lake Malawi....
- Minority groups in this small, mountainous country include the Mon-Khmer, the Yao, and the Hmong.
- Some other scholars have argued that it may have derived from a script used by a non-Chinese people living nearby, called the Yao.
2 [mass noun] The language of the Yao. Also called Mien.Five percent of the people speak Yao, and 30 percent speak Arabic.
adjective
Relating to the Yao or their language.This Yao village is located at the foot of a mountain with a beautiful river zig-zagging around it....
- Although the local government has built new houses at lower elevations for them, Yao people are more accustomed to living in high places.
- It is also a very scenic route, with spectacular landscapes, vegetation, and historical ruins as well as typical Yao villages, temples, and other tourist attractions.
Origin
From Chinese Yáo, literally 'precious jade'.