Cina
Indonesian
Etymology
Through Malay Cina, from a phonetic transcription of Sanskrit चीन (cīna), itself likely deriving from Old Chinese 秦 (*dzin, “State of Qin, Qin dynasty”). Compare Latin Sinae, Ancient Greek Θῖνα (Thîna), Arabic اَلصِّين (aṣ-ṣīn), Chinese 支那, Chinese 震旦, Japanese 支那 and English China.
Alternative forms
- (nonstandard) China
Proper noun
Cina
- (now possibly derogatory) China (the country)
- (now possibly derogatory) Chinese (language)
- (derogatory, ethnic slur) Chink, Chinaman (Chinese person)
Usage notes
In Indonesia, this term is still commonly used, but (as of March 12, 2014) it is no longer used by the Indonesian government and most Indonesian-language media due to its racist overtones.
Synonyms
- (Chinese person (pejorative)): singkek
Derived terms
Italian
Etymology
Borrowed from Japanese 支那 (Shina), from Middle Chinese 支那 (tsye na), a phonetic transcription of Sanskrit चीन (cīna), itself likely deriving from Old Chinese 秦 (*dzin)
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈtʃina/
Derived terms
Malay
Alternative forms
Etymology
From English China, from Persian چین (čin, “Chinese; porcelain”), probably from Sanskrit चीन (cīna, “a people of south-eastern Tibet”).
Pronunciation
- (Johor-Selangor) IPA(key): /t͡ʃinə/
- (Riau-Lingga) IPA(key): /t͡ʃina/
- Rhymes: -inə, -nə, -ə