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kaki lang

Commonly found variants; note these may range from acceptable alternatives to non-standard forms or incorrect spellings*.
* Singlish is a largely spoken creole, and as such descriptivism (recording forms that reflect actual pronunciation in spoken language, or as appearing in the linguistic corpus) is more pertinent than strict prescriptivism. Nevertheless, the use of more standard forms (or for words originating in languages with Latin script, such as Malay, accurate to the original spelling) is recommended and encouraged.

also can:

kaki nang ka ki lang kaki lang

ka ki nang

Teochew / hainanese / min nan:

家己侬

peng'im:

ga1 gi7 nang5

expand for details Detailed etymology

definitions

noun

  1. one of us; one of our own; people in one's circle; close companions; friends and family
  2. He got lucky and made a fortune. His sense of ka-ki nang ... was very strong. He would send remittances home to China to his family, relatives, and close friends. He also recruited one of his relatives in Singapore to help out in his shop and paid him a monthly salary of $1,000, a hefty sum at that time.

    — 2018, Adnan Ariffin. Times of Malaya. Notion Press. ISBN: 9781644297582

    When he reaches out to the Teochews in the crowd, for example, you could feel the particular segment of the crowd loosen up with obvious pleasure as he reassures: "Ka ki nang, ka ki nang! ... "

    — 1987 April 17, Irene Toh. Weekend East, "Freddo’s ‘home’ band". p.17


usage notes

The term exists in all Min Nan languages (the Hokkien version ka-kī-lâng, for example, leads to the pronunciation '~ lang' instead of '~ nang') and related Min languages like Hainanese. However, it is most popularly used among the Teochews, especially to refer to other Teochew people.


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