Race names

[Andrew]

So, apparently the word 'keling' is now considered derogatory in Malaysia and a Kedah MP has had three police reports against him for using the word. Someone should tell the Hokkiens!

Hokkien words for various races (all rude):

Indian - kit-leng-a
Malay - huan-a
European - ang-mo(-kau)

[Guest]

Indian - kit-leng-a
Malay - huan-a
European - ang-mo(-kau)

Hi, all,

Been away for a while. This topic caught my eye, so I thought I'd chip in my two-pence... much as I tread on thin ice!

Please don't quote me on this, but it is an explanation I heard from a couple of independent sources: The term 'kiat-ling' (the -a is, of course, 仔) is derived from the name of the district of Kalinga in Southern India, where a large number of the ancestors of Malaysian Indians came from during the 19th Century. The term is frowned upon by non Kalinga-descended Indians when used as a generic term, mainly for clannish reasons (a phenomenon which which prevails in any society).

Of course, the politically-correct term should be "in-tor-lang" 印度人, but local Hokkien speakers tend to use that term to specifically mean Indian nationals, not local Malaysian Indians.

The words "huan-a" 番仔 apparently mean, strictly speaking, "aborigine" or "native" in Chinese.

Initially, I thought ang-mor 紅毛 was a terminology used only in the Hokkien dialect, and exerted influence on the local Cantonese speakers. But recently, I was surprised to hear the term used in a Hong Kong movie. The -kao 猴 suffix I would agree is quite derogatory.

Cantonese speakers using the same term notwithstanding, I would agree that ang-mor is not very nice, either - it is no different from, say, calling an Oriental a 'yellow', etc. The problem is, it seems the Chinese Language in general never really came up with a politically-correct equivalent for 'Caucasian' (even in Shanghai, the Mandarin speakers there refer to Caucasians as lao3 wai4 老外). Strictly speaking, they are "ao-chiu-lang" 歐洲人. I do get blank stares and incredulous looks when I use the politically-correct terms in casual conversation... what a shame.

Comments/corrections welcome.

Cheers,
Mark

[Guest]

Andrew,

I heard some Hokkian words for various nations from the old persons.

Jew - chu-se-bi
Italian - i-tou-a
Portuguese - but-lang
Spaniard - hoa-lang
Dutchman - ang-mo
Englishman - eng-le-a
French - peh-mo
German - cho-ban
Russian - lau-mo
American - a-tok-a
Korean - ko-le-a
Japanese - oe-lou
Tibetan - hoan-a

SL

[Guest]

European - ki-i, or peh-lang
African - ou-kui-a, or ou-lang
Eastern Asian - ng-cheng-lang

Dutchman - ang-mou
French - peh-mou
Russian - lau-mou

[hong]

http://192.192.169.230/edu_paper/data_i ... 000175.PDF