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Huan-a

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Huan-a (Chinese: 番仔; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: hoan-á) is a Hokkien-language term used by Hokkien speakers in multiple countries, namely mainland China, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia, etc. The word itself when dissected means 番; hoan; 'foreign', + 仔; á; 'diminutive noun suffix', but to the ethnic Chinese that settled overseas in Taiwan and Maritime Southeast Asia, it soon came to refer to the indigenous peoples (natives) in the lands where ethnic Chinese are historical immigrants.

Huan-a
Hàn-jī番仔
Pe̍h-ōe-jīHoan-á
Tâi-lôHuan-á

Etymology edit

The Hokkien word itself when dissected means, 番; hoan; 'foreign', + 仔; á; 'diminutive noun suffix', resulting in Hokkien Chinese: 番仔; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Hoan-á; lit. 'foreigner', originally from the perspective of ethnic Chinese referring to non-Chinese people, especially historically natives of Taiwan and Southeast Asia. In Taiwan, the aboriginal group Hoanya retains an older form of the word, where the second syllable retained the obsolete diminutive suffix, 仔; (iá), in Hokkien, which originally came from a weak form of 囝; (kiáⁿ, káⁿ) and today survives in Hokkien as the diminutive suffix, 仔; (á). "番仔; Huán-nià" is attested in the Dictionario Hispanico Sinicum (1626-1642)[1] and use of the obsolete 仔; (iá) suffix is also recorded in Medhurst (1832).[2]

Over the centuries, it also varyingly took on derogatory connotations depending on how each Hokkien-speaking community perceived non-Chinese or natives, such as the derogatory taboo status of the term in Taiwan in reference to Taiwanese aboriginal groups in general[3] or to any unreasonable persons,[4] although the word has varying connotations in other Hokkien-speaking communities, such as in Fujian (Mainland China),[5] the Philippines,[1][6] Malaysia,[7] Singapore,[7] and Indonesia.[8]

Mainland China edit

Hokkien speakers in mainland China, specifically in Southern Fujian, such as in Amoy (Xiamen), Chuanchiu (Quanzhou), and Chiangchiu (Zhangzhou), use this term to refer to a foreigner or a westerner, especially those from Europe or the Americas.[5]

Taiwan edit

Taiwanese Hokkien and Taiwanese Hakka speakers, as well as non-Chinese speakers in Taiwan, may perceive this term as derogatory owing to historical negative views towards the demographic minority non-Chinese in Taiwan, such as towards the ethnic Taiwanese aboriginals and the ethnic Japanese during imperial Japanese rule over Taiwan.

Huan-á (番仔) is what Taiwanese Hokkien speakers use to refer to the Taiwanese aborigines,[3] but it colloquially took on negative connotations as it was historically used as an ethnic slur when perceived and translated as "barbarian" and may sometimes derogatorily be used to refer to an "unreasonable person".[4] It may also be the origin of the name of the Hoanya people, the Taiwanese aborigines of southwestern Taiwan.

During the Japanese colonial period of Taiwan, the Japanese were also called hoan-á by Han Taiwanese, with geisha called hoan-á-ke (番仔雞, lit. "foreign chicken") and the wives of Japanese men called hoan-á-chiú-kan (番仔酒矸, lit. "foreign liquor bottle").[9]

Historically in Taiwanese Hokkien, it was and still sometimes is meant to mean a foreigner or a westerner,[10] especially those of white european descent.[11]

Incidents edit

In November 2016, while meeting as a member of the legislature's economics committee, Legislative Yuan member Chiu Yi-ying was overheard exclaiming this slur to refer to Kuomintang aboriginal representatives;[12] she later apologized.[13]

In 2019, Yang Meiling, an indigenous Taiwanese tour guide in Jialan, Taitung, used this term several times while leading a group of tourists visiting the Sky Trail (Chinese: 天空步道); she also called the locals "a lost tribe" (Chinese: 失落的部落).[14]

In 2023, a Taichung Municipal Taichung First Senior High School student stirred controversy by naming a fair booth with the Mandarin phrase for sodium cyclopentadienide (Mandarin Chinese: 烯環鈉; pinyin: xīhuánnà; IPA: /ɕi˥ xu̯än˧˥ nä˥˩/), its pronunciation being homophonous to a Taiwanese Hokkien swear word meaning "dead aborigine" (Hokkien Chinese: 死番仔; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: sí hoan-á; IPA: /ɕi˥˧ huan˧ a˥˧/).[15] The school later apologized.[16]

Southeast Asia edit

Indonesia edit

Hokkien-speaking Chinese Indonesians use the term to refer to people descended from the many ethnic groups of Indonesia, otherwise known as pribumi (Indonesian and English) or inlanders (Dutch and English), for example the Javanese, Sundanese, Buginese, Batak, and Riau Malays.[8] A more offensive term also used locally is Indonesian: tiko (simplified Chinese: 猪哥; traditional Chinese: 豬哥; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: ti-ko).[17][18]

Malaysia and Singapore edit

Alongside that, Hokkien-speaking Chinese Malaysians and Chinese Singaporeans use the term to neutrally refer to ethnic Malays[7] and other indigenous groups, such as those classified as Bumiputra, whereas angmoh (紅毛) is reserved for Europeans and kelingna (吉零仔) to Tamils or other ethnic groups of India.[19] It is also sometimes used to refer to the Malay language in Penang and Singaporean Hokkien.

Philippines edit

Meanwhile, Hokkien speakers among Chinese Filipinos in the Philippines use the term to plainly refer to native Filipinos or any non-ethnic-Chinese Filipino when the speaker is not familiar with their ancestry, such as Filipino mestizos.[6][20][21] It is sometimes considered as vulgar by some speakers as well, but it depends on the speaker's perceptions and culture on how they grew up to learn to perceive the term, since non-ethnic-Chinese are the demographic majority in the Philippines and Chinese Filipinos do not have recent historical negative conflict with other Philippine ethnic groups. The usage of the term is mostly used either neutrally or condescendingly to refer to any non-Chinese Filipinos, especially native Filipinos, based on context depending on the speaker's intentions, whether positively, neutrally, or negatively. See also usages in Philippine Hokkien 上番; siōng-hoan; 'well-to-do native Filipino', 番仔; hoan-á; 'native Filipino', and 臭番; chhàu-hoan; 'unrefined native Filipino'. It is first attested in the Dictionario Hispanico Sinicum (1626-1642) as "Yndio 番仔; Huán-nià",[1] where Yndio is the Spanish-colonial-era form of Spanish: indio which historically referred to natives of the East Indies, such as Austronesian and Negrito groups in the Philippines.

The Kaisa Para Sa Kaunlaran organization that runs Bahay Tsinoy, an Intramuros-based museum dedicated to Chinese Filipino heritage and history, discourages the use of Huan-á, which they define as referring to someone as "barbaric" and consider to be widespread among Chinese Filipinos due to a "force of habit", although in reality, the negative meaning was influenced from Taiwan's taboo perceptions, such as subtitle translations from watching Taiwanese TV dramas by some Chinese Filipinos. To avoid negative connotations, the Kaisa organization recommend using "Chinese: 菲律宾人; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Hui-li̍p-pin-lâng" instead when referring to Filipinos,[22][23] which itself is problematic as Chinese Filipinos are also legally Filipinos under the Philippine nationality law.

In other Chinese languages edit

Alongside Hokkien POJ: huan-á, there are several terms with the same meaning in other Chinese languages such as Hakka, Teochew, Cantonese, and Mandarin. One of those is the word, Chinese: 番鬼, which in Mandarin pinyin: fānguǐ, Cantonese Jyutping: faan1 gwai2, Hakka GR: fan1 gui3, Teochew Peng'im: huang1 gui2 and in Indonesian: fankui, which means "foreign ghost" (鬼 means 'ghost' or 'demon'). This term is primarily used by Hakka and Mandarin-speaking mainland Chinese and Chinese Indonesians to refer to non-Chinese people who are considered ill-mannered or rude.[24][25][26][27][28] Hakka speakers also use fan-ngin (番人) as a less offensive alternative.[29] Thai Teochews use Chinese: 番囝 (Teochew Peng'im: huang1 gian2) to refer to ethnic Thais.[30]


See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b c Dominican Order of Preachers, O.P. (1626–1642). Written at Manila. Lee, Fabio Yuchung (李毓中); Chen, Tsung-jen (陳宗仁); José, Regalado Trota; Caño, José Luis Ortigosa (eds.). Dictionario Hispánico Sinicum (in Early Modern Spanish & Early Manila Hokkien and with some Middle Mandarin). Kept as Vocabulario Español-Chino con caracteres chinos (TOMO 215) in the University of Santo Tomás Archives, Manila (2018 Republished in Taiwan ed.). Hsinchu: National Tsing Hua University Press. pp. 569 [PDF] / 545 [As Written].{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  2. ^ Medhurst, Walter Henry (1832). A Dictionary of the Hok-këèn Dialect of the Chinese Language: According to the Reading and Colloquial Idioms: Containing about 12,000 Characters (in English and Hokkien). Macau: East India Press. p. 736.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  3. ^ a b "Pazeh writers get awards for preserving language - Taipei Times". www.taipeitimes.com. 2014-06-15. Retrieved 2024-01-30.
  4. ^ a b Katz, Paul R.; Murray A. Rubinstein (2003). Religion and the formation of Taiwanese identities. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 279.
  5. ^ a b 周长楫 Zhou, Changji, ed. (2006). 闽南方言大词典 MINNAN FANGYAN DA CIDIAN [Dictionary of Southern Min dialects] (in Hokkien and Mandarin Chinese). Fuzhou: 福建人民出版社 Fujian People's Publishing House. p. 405. ISBN 7-211-03896-9.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  6. ^ a b Zorc, David Paul (1982). Core Etymological Dictionary of Filipino: Part 3 (PDF). p. 171.
  7. ^ a b c Tong, Chee Kiong (2010). Identity and ethnic relations in Southeast Asia. Springer. pp. 231. ISBN 978-90-481-8908-3.
  8. ^ a b Hai, Hai (2017-01-17). "Kenapa Pribumi Disebut Huana Artinya Orang Asing Oleh Orang Tionghoa?". Bengcu Menggugat. Retrieved 2023-12-12.
  9. ^ Huang, Junjie (2006). Taiwan in transformation, 1895–2005. Transaction Publishers. p. 164. ISBN 978-0-7658-0311-5.
  10. ^ "Entry #8699: 番仔". 教育部臺灣閩南語常用詞辭典 (Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwan Minnan). Ministry of Education, R.O.C. 2023. Retrieved April 21, 2024.
  11. ^ 小川尚義 OGAWA, Naoyoshi [in Japanese], ed. (1931–1932). 臺日大辭典 [Taiwanese-Japanese Dictionary] (in Taiwanese Hokkien and Japanese). Taihoku: Government-General of Taiwan. p. 794. OCLC 25747241.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  12. ^ Hsiao, Alison (17 November 2016). "KMT slams DPP over Japan imports". Taipei Times. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
  13. ^ Tseng, Wei-chen; Shih, Hsiao-kuang; Chin, Jonathan (19 November 2016). "DPP lawmaker sorry for ethnic slur". Taipei Times. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
  14. ^ 民視新聞網 (2019-07-10). "原住民導遊帶團調侃「番仔」、「失落部落」！當地居民暴怒". 民視新聞網. Retrieved 2024-01-19.
  15. ^ "罵人死番仔有罪嗎？". 法律白話文運動 (in Chinese (Taiwan)). 2023-08-21. Retrieved 2024-01-30.
  16. ^ 自由時報電子報 (2023-05-03). "誤認好玩、吸睛 中一中製作爭議「烯環鈉」文宣的班級道歉了 - 生活 - 自由時報電子報". news.ltn.com.tw (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Retrieved 2024-01-30.
  17. ^ Demokrasi News. "BIADAB! Ini 11 Definisi Istilah "TIKO" di YAHOO ANSWERS". Retrieved 2024-01-19.
  18. ^ Dina, Sovie (2017-04-16). "Begitu Tahu Arti 'Tiko' Langsung Rapat, Komunitas Tionghoa Minta Steven Ditangkap". Duta.co Berita Harian Terkini (in Indonesian). Retrieved 2024-01-19.
  19. ^ DeBernardi, Jean Elizabeth (1 April 2009). Penang: rites of belonging in a Malaysian Chinese community. National University of Singapore Press. p. 262. ISBN 978-9971-69-416-6.
  20. ^ Chan-Yap, Gloria (1980). "Hokkien Chinese borrowings in Tagalog" (PDF). Pacific Linguistics. B (71). Canberra, A.C.T. 2600.: The Australian National University: 132.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  21. ^ Tan, Michael L. (2019-10-18). "My 'huan-na' uncle". INQUIRER.net. Retrieved 2024-01-19.
  22. ^ Ang See, Meah (August 28, 2021). "The true stays true: Kaisa's valued traditions". Tulay.ph. Archived from the original on October 3, 2023. Retrieved January 30, 2024.
  23. ^ "History Tidbit". Facebook. October 11, 2020. Archived from the original on January 30, 2024. Retrieved January 30, 2024.
  24. ^ Rohmah, Ika Lailatul (2023-08-12). "Fankui Itu Apa? Simak Arti Bahasa Gaul yang Viral di TikTok". Mengerti.id. Retrieved 2024-01-19.
  25. ^ "CNN Asiaweek: How Indonesian Am I?". CNN Asia. Retrieved March 2, 2023.
  26. ^ Chee, Harold; West, Chris (2007), Chee, Harold; West, Chris (eds.), "The Chinese are irrationally xenophobic", Myths About Doing Business in China, Palgrave Macmillan UK: 75–84, doi:10.1057/9780230286771_7, ISBN 9780230286771, retrieved 2019-05-11
  27. ^ Bonnet, Robert (2019-04-02). Inspiration. Page Publishing Inc. ISBN 9781644241103.
  28. ^ Lafayette De Mente, Boyé (2000). The Chinese Have a Word for It: The Complete Guide to Chinese Thought and Culture. McGraw-Hill. p. 145. ISBN 978-0-658-01078-1.
  29. ^ Belitung, ANTARA News Bangka. "Spirit "Fan Ngin Tongin Fangin Jit Jong" modal untuk wujudkan pemilu damai". ANTARA News Bangka Belitung (in Indonesian). Retrieved 2023-12-12.
  30. ^ Tejapira, Kasian (2018). "Pigtail: A Pre-History of Chineseness in Siam". Sojourn: Journal of Social Issues in Southeast Asia. 33 (S): S1–S29. ISSN 0217-9520.
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