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zap zeng kia

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:

zap zeng kia

* The diacritic ◌̃ represents a nasalized vowel.

[ SSS:

chap cheng kiã ]

chap cheng kia

Hokkien:

杂种

poj:

cha̍p-chéng

+

十种

poj:

cha̍p-chéng

+

poj:

kiáⁿ

expand for details Detailed etymology

definitions

noun

  1. (derogatory) bastard; a person born out of an affair, or out of wedlock; term of abuse for a bastard or mixed-race person
  2. Many migrant Chinese viewed the peranakan as a community of 'culturally-bastardised Chinese'. Derogatory terms such as chap cheng kia (or bastard) were used liberally to describe the peranakan, and were flashpoints in public spaces.

    — Koh, E. (2007). "Singapore Stories - Language and Class in Singapore: An investigation into the socio-economic implications of English literacy as a life chance among the ethnic Chinese of Singapore from 1945 to 2000" [Ph.D thesis, U. W. Aust.]. p.69

    synonyms:

  3. (sometimes derogatory) a person of mixed ethnic heritage
  4. She loved the idea of having children, children of her own one day. How beautiful a mixed-blood baby would be. But the fear that her children would be labelled 'chap cheng kia' or 'bastards' sent shivers down her spine.

    — 2013, Alex Ling. "Golden Dreams of Borneo", Xlibris Corporation. ISBN: 9781479791699. p.398

    synonyms:

  5. (derogatory) a Peranakan person

usage notes

* 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.

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