* The diacritic ◌̃ represents a nasalized vowel.
[ SSS:
keling kiã ]
keling kia
→
Malay:
Keling
+
Min nan:
囝
poj:
kiáⁿ
Detailed etymology
definitions
noun
- (derogatory, offensive) ethnic slur for a person of Indian descent
- (dated) Indian; a person of Indian descent
synonyms:
synonyms:
usage notes
Nowadays, considered extremely offensive. The non-offensive sense is usually considered obsolete.
* The nasal vowel is almost always unmarked by speakers, though it is very important to the pronunciation of the term. In a dipthong or tripthong, the recommended convention is to mark the final vowel, unless it is spelled using a repeated letter, in which case the first-occurring repeated letter is marked.