Kapampangan Words of Chinese Origins
Achi – older sister (from Hokkien a-chi)
Koya – older brother (from Hokkien ko-ia)
Ingkung – grandfather (from Hokkien in -kong)
Cha – tea (from Cantonese tsa)
Mochi – kapampangan glutinous rice delicacy (from Hokkien moa-chi)
Sakobi – sago, tapioca pearls (from Hokkien sia-ko-bi)
Sang – scallion, green onion (from Hokkien tsan)
Suam – sauteed fish or meatwith garlic and ginger made into a broth with rice water (from Hokkien chu-to cook and am-rice broth)
Tawu – banquet, party, food serve at a party (from Cantonese tsa wu)
Kasua – cockcroach – guagua dialect (from Hokkien ka-choah)
Tuazon – eldest grandson (from Hokkien toa-sun)
Dizon – second grandson (from Hokkien di-sun)
Samson – third eldest grandson (from Hokkien sam-sun)
Buisit – annoyance, annoying (from Hokkien bo-ui-sit)
Giam/Giang – eagernes, obsession (from Hokkien gian)
Bolang – dumb, stupid, silly (from Hokkien bo-leng)
Happy Lunar New Year! Let’s take a look at some Kapampángan words of Chinese origin!
The Kapampángan language of the Philippines has been significantly influenced by Chinese languages, notably Hokkien and Cantonese. Kapampángan is possibly one of the most Chinese-influenced Philippine languages and contains some loanwords of Chinese origin that are unique to Kapampángan and may not be found in many other Philippine languages.
Kapampángan may also be the source of some Chinese loanwords in Tagálog (Filipino) as some Chinese loanwords in Kapampángan are more similar to their Hokkien or Cantonese source than to their Tagálog counterparts which may have been borrowed later and have undergone sound changes. For example, Tagálog áte “older sister” may have been borrowed from Hokkien 阿姊 (á-chí) through Kapampángan achî / atsî / atsé.
These Chinese loanwords may have entered Kapampángan in different periods of history, from precolonial contacts between early Kapampángans and Chinese to the influx of Chinese immigrants to Pampanga as a result of the Chinese massacres in Manila after the Sangley Rebellion in the 1600s under Spanish colonial rule.
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