Editing Yin and yang (section)

=== Loanwords ===
English ''[[wikt:yin|yin]]'', ''[[wikt:yang|yang]]'', and ''[[wikt:yin-yang|yin-yang]]'' are familiar [[loanwords]] of [[List of English words of Chinese origin|Chinese origin]].

The ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'' defines:
<blockquote>'''yin''' (jɪn) Also '''Yin''', '''Yn'''. &#91;Chinese ''yīn'' shade, feminine; the moon.&#93;
'''a.''' In Chinese philosophy, the feminine or negative principle (characterized by dark, wetness, cold, passivity, disintegration, etc.) of the two opposing cosmic forces into which creative energy divides and whose fusion in physical matter brings the phenomenal world into being. Also ''attrib''. or as ''adj''., and ''transf''. Cf. '''yang'''.
'''b.''' ''Comb''., as '''yin-yang''', the combination or fusion of the two cosmic forces; freq. attrib., esp. as '''yin-yang symbol''', a circle divided by an S-shaped line into a dark and a light segment, representing respectively ''yin'' and ''yang'', each containing a 'seed' of the other. </blockquote>
<blockquote>'''yang''' (jæŋ) Also '''Yang'''. &#91;Chinese ''yáng'' yang, sun, positive, male genitals.&#93;
'''a.''' In Chinese philosophy, the masculine or positive principle (characterized by light, warmth, dryness, activity, etc.) of the two opposing cosmic forces into which creative energy divides and whose fusion in physical matter brings the phenomenal world into being. Also ''attrib.'' or as ''adj.'' Cf. '''yin'''.
'''b.''' ''Comb.'': '''yang-yin''' = ''yin-yang'' s.v. '''yin b.'''</blockquote>

For the earliest recorded "yin and yang" usages, the ''OED'' cites 1671 for ''yin'' and ''yang'',<ref>[[Arnoldus Montanus]], ''Atlas Chinensis: Being a relation of remarkable passages in two embassies from the East-India Company of the United Provinces to the Vice-Roy Singlamong, General Taising Lipovi, and Konchi, Emperor, Thomas Johnson'', tr. by J. Ogilby, 1671, 549: "The Chineses by these Strokes ‥ declare ‥ how much each Form or Sign receives from the two fore-mention'd Beginnings of Yn or Yang."</ref> 1850 for ''yin-yang'',<ref>[[William Jones Boone (son)|William Jones Boone]], "Defense of an Essay on the proper renderings of the words Elohim and θεός into the Chinese Language," ''Chinese Repository'' XIX, 1850, 375: "... when in the Yih King (or Book of Diagrams) we read of the Great Extreme, it means that the Great Extreme is in the midst of the active-passive primordial substance (Yin-yáng); and that it is not exterior to, or separate from the Yin-yáng."</ref> and 1959 for ''yang-yin''.<ref>[[Carl Jung]], "Aion: Researches into the Phenomenology of the Self", in ''The Collected Works of C. G. Jung'', tr. by R. F. C. Hull, Volume 9, Part 2, p. 58" "[The vision of "Ascension of Isaiah"] might easily be a description of a genuine yang-yin relationship, a picture that comes closer to the actual truth than the ''privatio boni''. Moreover, it does not damage monotheism in any way, since it unites the opposites just and yang and yin are united in Tao (which the Jesuits quite logically translated as "God")."</ref>

In English, ''yang-yin'' (like ''ying-yang'') occasionally occurs as a mistake or typographical error for the Chinese loanword ''yin-yang''—yet they are not equivalents. Chinese does have some ''yangyin'' [[collocation]]s, such as {{lang|zh|洋銀}} ({{lit|foreign silver}}) "silver coin/dollar", but not even the most comprehensive dictionaries (e.g., the ''[[Hanyu Da Cidian]]'') enter ''yangyin'' *{{lang|zh-hant|陽陰}}. While ''yang'' and ''yin'' can occur together in context,<ref>For instance, the ''[[Huainanzi]]'' says" "Now, the lumber is not so important as the forest; the forest is not so important as the rain; the rain is not so important as yin and yang; yin and yang are not so important as harmony; and harmony is not so important as the Way. (12, {{lang|zh|材不及林，林不及雨，雨不及陰陽，陰陽不及和，和不及道}}; tr. Major et al. 2010, 442).</ref> ''yangyin'' is not synonymous with ''yinyang''. The linguistic term "[[irreversible binomial]]" refers to a collocation of two words A–B that cannot be idiomatically reversed as B–A, for example, English ''cat and mouse'' (not *''mouse and cat'') and ''friend or foe'' (not *''foe or friend'').<ref name="Ames">Roger T. Ames, "''Yin'' and ''Yang''", in ''Encyclopedia of Chinese Philosophy'', ed. by Antonio S. Cua, Routledge, 2002, 847.</ref>

Similarly, the usual pattern among Chinese binomial compounds is for positive A and negative B, where the A word is dominant or privileged over B. For example, ''tiandi'' {{lang|zh|天地}} "heaven and earth" and ''nannü'' {{lang|zh|男女}} "men and women". ''Yinyang'' meaning "dark and light; female and male; moon and sun", is an exception. Scholars have proposed various explanations for why ''yinyang'' violates this pattern, including "linguistic convenience" (it is easier to say ''yinyang'' than ''yangyin''), the idea that "proto-Chinese society was matriarchal", or perhaps, since ''yinyang'' first became prominent during the late Warring States period, this term was "purposely directed at challenging persistent cultural assumptions".<ref name="Ames" />