chuva

chuva filo-filo

chuva fino-fino

light rain (literally, “very thin rain”)

chuva pedra

Nunca costumado têm chuva Otubro


mi

From Portuguese mim with denasalization.

Desde idade de doze ano
ganhá pà unsong vesti;
lavá ropa de sua pai,
judá cô ancusa pà mi.
From the age of twelve
earned money to dress herself;
washed her father's clothes
helped with something for me.


ia

Azinha vai casa-ia, logo cai chuva

Let's get home quickly, it's going to rain

Iou tâ vâi-ia!

Dessâ vai-ia!

Tâ fêde-ia

Pacência-iá.

Já têm-ia!

Más bôm trabalâ-ia manejante têm aqui!

We'd better get to work, the boss is here!


dia

tudo dia

always; every day (literally, “all day”)


mana

Alternative form of mána: older / oldest sister


ano

ano passado

ano trasado

abrí ano

to bring in the New Year (literally, “to open the year”)

fichâ ano

to have a birthday (literally, “to close the year”)


agora

Agora sezâ alta.


agora

Agora ele sai, sua mai sâm mais feliçata.

Since he left, his mom has been happier.

Io sâm remana, agora io irmam sâm adap.

I am rich, while my brother’s hard for cash.

(rare, possibly archaic) on the other hand; while


home

From Portuguese home, denasalized variant of homem.

home-home di hoze


casa

na casa

trabalo di casa


co

nhonha co fula

Já gritâ co iou


co

iou co vôs


chop

Borrowed from English chop, ultimately from Hindi छाप (chāp, “stamp”). Most likely also influenced by Cantonese chop. Sense 2 derives from the absent professor being recorded with a stamp, i.e. a chop, in a register.

Hoje tivemos chope de matemática.

(literally, “Today we had chop of mathematics.”)

Today our mathematics professor was absent.

O Dr. F. deu chope.


pa

From Portuguese para and pra. Compare Kabuverdianu, Papiamentu pa.

Iou muto querê pa vôs

I love you very much (literally, “I very much love to you”)

metê limam pa tirâ amiz

add lemon to remove the unpleasant flavour

águ pa banhâ

bathwater (literally, “water for bathing”)

sô pa iou

passâ iou pa mentiroso

dâ ung'a tricada pa águ


si

si nunca

si sâm capaz

si más pricisâ

si já falâ co iou

si vosôtro querê vêm

iou vai olâ si têm

si têm vagar lôgo vêm


From Portuguese na, itself from Old Galician-Portuguese na. Semantically, compare Chavacano na.

têm na trâs di porta

to be very near, to be just around the corner

botâ na fólia

Já levâ ung'a perada na cara qui ficó vangueado.

The ball hit him so hard in the face that he fainted.

na casa

na festa

estendê na chám


Possibly a reduced form of Portuguese ainda.

Já cavâ fazê liçam di casa? Nunca nâ, faltâ três folia

Have you finished your homework yet? Not yet, I still have three pages

Ela tâ assí chistosa na? Certo, iou-sa Marichai dia-a-dia tâ más bunita

She still looks so pretty, doesn't she? Of course, my Marichai gets prettier by the day


here!, here you go, here you are (offering something to the listener)


Cudí ná!

Vai racolê nâ!


más

más-a-más

si más pricisâ

más bôm

más grándi qui

bigger than (literally, “more big than”)

Ela tâ assí chistosa na? Certo, iou-sa Marichai dia-a-dia tâ más bunita.

She still looks so pretty, doesn't she? Of course, my Marichai gets prettier by the day.

Pa quim têm vagar di más


mau

From Portuguese mau, probably with some semantic influence from Portuguese mal as well.

Êle qui mau coraçám

He is so evil (literally, “He is so bad heart”)

mau repente

impulsive; rash action inspired by a bad temper


sai

From Portuguese sair, either directly or from the third-person conjugation sai. Compare cai for a similar phenomenon.

Quiada já sai

The maid isn't working here anymore (literally, “The maid has left”)

Cedo-cedo sai di casa

Sai di quim?


Macau

Macau (a city and special administrative region of China)


di

From Portuguese de, from Old Galician-Portuguese de (“of”), from Latin dē (“of”).

guínde di águ

Ui di bôm!

Êle pôssa di grándi!

Êle bem di capaz!

of (indicates the semantic relation between two elements: such as possession, origin, place)

d'

optionally, before certain words starting with a vowel


basso

From Portuguese baixo, or some dialectal variant which retains -ss- from Late Latin bassus (“low, short”), with further semantic influence from debaixo.

Basso-Monte

the lower part or area around Fortaleza do Monte


basso

Na básso di sól fórti amestê abrí paché

Under the intense sun it is necessary to use an umbrella


io

io sam


sa

Reduced form of sua. Semantically derived from Cantonese 嘅 (ge³, possessive marker).

der+

iou-sa filo

êle-sa

ilôtro-sa casa

uví mai-sa ladínha

particle appended after pronouns to denote ownership: -'s


sa

Uncertain. Possibly from Portuguese sabe (“know”), thus a doublet of sábi.

Sâm diabo? Nunca, sâm tacho-sa!

expletive particle expressing confirmation or explanation


chá

Borrowed from Cantonese 茶 (caa⁴), uncertain whether via Portuguese or later lent to Portuguese.

Camellia sinensis
Camellia sinensis#Translingual

chá co sucre

vazâ chá

Dâ unga xicra di chá pa iou

chá di hortelám di sopa

chá di pêlo-pê

infusion to ward off frights (literally, “hair-feet tea”)

chá di peso

infusion to protect against indigestion or stomachache (literally, “tea of weight”)

any drink made with an infusion of medicinal plants

chá gordo

festive luncheon served in the late afternoon (literally, “fat tea”)


caixa

From Portuguese caixa (“box”). Unusually, de-diphthongization did not take place (compare caxám, Spanish caja).

measure of weight, one tenth of the condorim, formerly used in Macau to weigh silver used as currency in commercial transactions

camphor or teak trunk, engraved with Chinese drawings and intended for storing clothes


ali

ali-riva

ali-vánda

qui aqui, qui ali


su

From Indo-Portuguese su, from Old Galician-Portuguese seu.

Cad'unga co su telado

Atúto qui boniteza, ja dâ unga ucho pa su mai
Atúto is so sweet, he kissed his mother

Quiánca ta virá ficá nhum, nina azinha têm su sium.

A boy is growing into a young man, a girl quickly has her mister.

third-person reflexive possessive pronoun: his (own), her (own), its (own), their (own)


porco

Presumably from Portuguese porco, from Old Galician-Portuguese porco, from Latin porcus, from Proto-Italic *porkos, from Proto-Indo-European *pórḱos (“young swine, young pig”).

der

ramendâ unga porco

porco balichám tamarinho

Macanese dish prepared with pork, tamarind and balichám (dried shrimp paste)

porco chau-chau parida

special pork stew served to woman after giving birth (literally, “pork stir-fry birthed”)


sora

Clipping of Portuguese professora, feminine form of professor.

Sora, ele sempre chubí eu!

Sora, êle dáli eu!


quim

Vôs sâm quim?

Quim já vêm?

Sâm di quim?

Whose is it? (literally, “Of whom is it?”)

Quim vosôtro tâ buscâ?

Pa quim têm vagar di más

(indefinite) those who; people who; anyone who

Quim lembrá chapá na lado


quim

Vêlo, tudo lô ficá; Quim azinha, quim vagá.

Everyone will grow old; Some quickly, some slowly.


qui

From a merger of Portuguese que, quer, and quão.

Iou sintí qui vôs pôde vai

comê quí ravirâ

to stuff oneself (literally, “to eat to the point of turning (around)”)

rí qui istripâ

to laugh one's head off (literally, “to laugh to the point of disembowelment”)

pió qui


qui

qui cuza?

what is that? (literally, “which thing?”)

qui laia?

qui-foi?

Qui vegónha!

Qui boniteza!

How beautiful! (literally, “What beauty!”)

what a (preceding nouns) (indicates surprise, delight, or other strong feelings)


qui

Qui vida-fêde!

Qui afogoso!

Olá Ano-Bom ta vêm, qui azinha passá tamêm.

I saw in the New Year, how quickly that has passed as well.

how, so (preceding adjectives) (indicates surprise, delight, or other strong feelings)

fáci qui fáci

mucho qui mucho

placed between two of the same adjective to amplify the degree of said adjective


qui

Qui nova?


qui

qui aqui, qui alí


ora

Cinco-óra, assí

têm ora

Desde qui ora?

Since when? (literally, “Since what time?”)

unchinho-unchinho ora


nunca

Êle nunca vêm

Êle já vai maz nunca volta

Iou nunca capaz

sâm nunca?

nunca nâ

negation particle usually (but not always) used in the past tense; did not, had not, would not


nunca

Nunca assí pensam

imperative article expressing negative future tense; don't


nunca

Sâm diabo? Nunca, sâm tacho-sa!


oficina

Presumably from Portuguese oficina, although probably influenced by English office.

tifinâ na oficina

to have lunch at (one's desk at) the office

office (a room used for non-manual work)


tá

Como tá vai?

Alternative form of tâ: present continuous particle


rua

na meo di rua

tambâ buraco di rua

atâi di rua

uneducated boy (literally, “boy of the street”)

varê rua

to always stay outside; to sweep the street


quanto

Quanto custâ?

Vôs têm quanto filo-filo?

(interrogative) how much, how many (what number or quantity of)

quanto cento

Chomâ quanto cúli para cartá tudo ancuza


quanto

estunga quanto

acunga quanto

Estunga quanto casa sâm bem di feo

plural particle for determiners ending in -unga


vaca

From Portuguese vaca, from Old Galician-Portuguese vaca, from Latin vacca.

vaca chacháu margoso

vaca minchi

champurâ vaca com brêdo


vaca

unga nhônha bem di vaca

ela assí vaca


já

From Indo-Portuguese já, from Portuguese já (“already; now”), from Old Galician-Portuguese ja, from Latin iam (“already”). Semantically, compare Chavacano ya.

Iou já falâ

Vôs já uví?

Atútu já vêm di América

Já têm-ia!

past tense marker; marks that an event has reached completion


já

Já churâ, já rí


fula

Borrowed from Marathi फूल (phūl), from Sanskrit फुल्ल (phulla), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₃-. Distantly cognate with Portuguese flor (“flower”).

nhonha co fula


china

a Chinese person, especially from mainland China

China tâ dismanchâ baraca

The Chinese are taking down the scaffolding


como

From Portuguese como. The usage with assí is likely a calque of Cantonese 好似…咁.

vístido como dóci di mui

very well-dressed (literally, “dressed like plum jam”)

alegre como côpo-côpo na primavera na dia de sol

happy as a butterfly on a sunny day in spring

Êle vestí como padre assí.

Nôs nunca-sâm como acunga jovi-jóvi; nôs sâm chacha vêla-ia, sâm nunca?

We are not like those youngsters; we are old ladies already, aren't we?


vivo

From Portuguese vivo, irregularly borrowing from the first-person singular present conjugation rather than the infinitive viver, which would have yielded *vivê.

vivo na estravagáncia

Más bôm nádi vivo na acunga casa, assí maçombrado!

It's better not to live in this house, it's so haunted!


ucho

Já vêm co unga ucho

Atúto qui boniteza, ja dâ unga ucho pa su mai
Atúto is so sweet, he kissed his mother
(literally, “Atúto is so sweet, he gave a kiss to his mother”)


lê

tâ lê

Si cava lê, pegá dá, nadi assi consumido.

To give it back after reading, it won't be as annoying.


filo

filo-di-quim

filo-grándi

filo trás di porta


filo

chuva filo-filo


vai

From Portuguese vai, from Old Galician-Portuguese vai, and also the third-person singular present indicative inflection of ir. Sense 2 is a semantic loan from Cantonese 去.

Êle nádi vai

Já vai sim falâ co iou

Iou vai olâ si têm

Chomâ iou vai tambâ tacho? Nádi!

(literally, “Call me to go repair pan? No way!”)

Invite me to fill in for somebody who can't go? No way!

Beto logo buscâ iou vai tifinâ

(before a verb) to go in order to do something


cadera

From Portuguese cadeira, from Old Galician-Portuguese cadeira, from Vulgar Latin *cathēgra, variant of Latin cathedra, from Ancient Greek καθέδρα (kathédra), from κατά (katá, “above”) + ἕδρα (hédra, “chair”).

dói cadera

(to have) lower back pain; kidney pain; pain in the buttocks

(anatomy) lumbar region (the back at the kidney level)


tarde

Já chegâ tarde vai siviço

Istupôr di Secundino, tudo dia chegâ na casa assí tarde, certo têm cegónha.

That idiot Secudino, arriving home so late every day, he must have a lover.


mas

Mas vôs sábi qui ancusa iou tâ papiâ.


cham

From Portuguese chão (“ground”), inherited from Latin plānum (“level ground”).

Fu-fula semea na cham di Hong-Gong

Flowers picked from the soil of Hong Kong


rí

rí qui istripâ

to split one's sides laughing (literally, “to laugh until the guts turn over”)

nê-bôm fazê iou rí


vê

to appear, to look like, to have the appearance of


unga

Ultimately from Old Galician-Portuguese ũa, possibly through an intermediate form from Indo-Portuguese. Compare Galician unha, pronounced identically.

abri'nga janela

Dâ ung'a xicra di chá pa iou


-ista

Cantonese 白粉 (baak⁶ fan², “heroin”) + -ista → pacfanista (“drug addict”)

suffix added to words to form agent nouns; -ist


ó

Vôs tâ uví, ô tâ finzí surdo?

Are you listening, or pretending to be deaf?

Na alegria, Ó na tristéza


achar

From Malay acar, from Classical Malay اچر (acar), from Classical Persian آچار (āčār, “pickle, marinade”). Compare Indonesian acar. Etymologically unrelated to Portuguese achar or its Macanese descendant achâ.

comê achar

preserve or pickle, made of spring onions, cabbage, coconut, apple, pear, etc. in vinegar and salt, (formerly) eaten as an appetizer or a street food using toothpicks


adiós

From Spanish adiós and Portuguese adeus. Compare Papiamentu ayó.

Adiós minha vôs!

Get lost! (literally, “Goodbye my you!”)


letrado

From Old Galician-Portuguese leterado, possibly with semantic influence from Spanish letrado.


vagar

From Old Galician-Portuguese vagar, with influence from Portuguese devagar.

vagar subí

Vagar-vagar andâ!


vagar

Iou nôm têm vagar

Si têm vagar lôgo vêm


sim

sim vegônha

sim ninguim

Já vai sim falâ co iou


festa

festa di quebrâ testa

big party; solemn commemoration (literally, “party of break forehead”)

festa di fichâ ano

Quelê-tánto náchi-náchi na festa

There were many Chinese people at the festival

missa festa


estória

Úndi vôs uví estunga estória?


feo

From Old Galician-Portuguese feo. Compare Portuguese feio.

feo olâ

it doesn't look good (literally, “ugly look”)

Ânsia feo olâ

It is bad to be greedy (literally, “greed ugly look”)

Estung'a quanto casa sâm bem di feo


nina

From Portuguese nina, clipping of menina. Possibly a doublet of nhim.


buli

Buli su asa, borboleta aguâ


sua

From Portuguese sua (“her, belonging to her”), feminine form of seu. Semantically derived from Cantonese 嘅 (ge³, possessive marker).

Alternative form of sa: possessive particle


aia

Borrowed from Cantonese 哎呀 (ai¹ jaa³), possibly compounded with Portuguese ai.

Aia! Qui boniteza.

Aia, qui susto!

interjection expressing fear, surprise, pain, impatience


minha

From Portuguese minha, feminine form of meu, from Old Galician-Portuguese mĩa.

Nom quero vai meza armuça, mas nunca deça de comê escondito minha rosca melua.

I don't want to have lunch at the table, but I must secretly eat my crescent-shaped sweet bread.


sopa

From Portuguese sopa, from Late Latin suppa (“sopped bread”), from Proto-Germanic *supô.

sopa encorpado

sópa lacassá


orde

Most likely from a de-nasalized variant of Portuguese ordem, Old Galician-Portuguese ordin, orden. Alternatively, from Dutch orde via Indonesian, although this is less likely. Regardless, ultimately from Latin ōrdinem.

seguí orde

orde têm na rabo

to ignore an order (literally, “to have an order at the back”)


chupa

Borrowed from Malay cupak (pronounced /t͡ʃupaʔ/). First documented in the Ou-Mun Kei Leok published in 1751.

wooden or bamboo cylinder, closed at one end, formerly used to measure dry goods such as rice or beans, as well as liquids like milk


pintura

From Old Galician-Portuguese pintura, from Vulgar Latin *pinctūra, from Latin pictūra. Sense 4 possibly a calque of Cantonese 畫／画 (compare Chinese 上畫／上画 (shànghuà, “(of a movie) to release on screen”, literally “up painting”)), and both senses 3 and 4 may have been influenced by English picture.

cog

Ondi vas já vai gafinhâ estunga pintura?

tirâ pintura

olâ pintura


abrí

abrí ano

to bring in the New Year (literally, “to open the year”)

abrí baul

abrí'nga janela

Na básso di sól fórti amestê abrí paché

Under a strong sun, it is necessary to open a parasol


juntado

From Portuguese juntado. By surface analysis, juntâ + -ado.


juntado

Vôs cai, nôs cai juntado co vôs.

Qui-foi êle nunca vêm Macau juntado co vôs?

Why doesn’t he ever come join you in Macau?


muto

muto tánto

iou muto susto

Iou muto querê pa vôs


tacho

chacháu pêle (Macanese stew made with puffed dried pork skin)


nim

Miguel nim sábi papiâ bêm-fêto Patuá

Miguel doesn't even know how to speak Macanese well

not even (introduces an emphatic negation)

do not even (introduces an emphatic negative command)


bazar

Presumably from Portuguese bazar (“bazaar”), from Italian bazar, from Persian بازار (bâzâr, “market”), from Middle Persian [Book Pahlavi needed] (wʾčʾl /wāzār/, “market”).

der

vai bazar comprâ sôm


capaz

Se pôde, sâm capaz; si nom pôde, sâm capám.

If you can, you're smart; if you can't, you're useless.

Maquista-maquista qui capaz, falâ quarto língu-língu!

Macanese are so capable, they can speak four languages!

Iou nunca capaz onçom vai fora na nôti.


riva

From Portuguese arriba (“up”), with alternation of /b/ and /v/. Loss of initial unstressed vowel possibly due to re-analysis as à riba.

aguâ vai riva

ali-riva

Cêo riva, cêo basso, águ na mêo, sã: coco.

Heaven above, heaven below, water in the middle, it is: a coconut.


riva

(with di) above (physically over; in a higher place)


pastro

From Portuguese pássaro, although exact process of emergence of -t- unclear.

pastro tâ aguâ

home di caçâ pastro

bird catcher (literally, “man of catching bird”)

nínho di pastro


bô

Vai panhâ, quiança! Bô-quiança, azinha vai panhâ!

Go get it, child! Good child, get it quick!


grandi

Alternative form of grándi: large, important


-ido

Coordinate term: -ado

durmí (“to sleep”) + -ido → durmido (“asleep”)

cholê (“to touch someone to get their attention”) + -ido → cholido (“nosy, interfering”)


-ado

Coordinate term: -ido

vangueâ (“to faint”) + -ado → vangueado (“fainted”)

estricâ (“to iron”) + -ado → estricado (“ironed”)


cai

From Portuguese cai, third-person singular present conjugation of cair. Compare sai for a similar phenomenon.

cai madre

(of the uterus) to prolapse (literally, “to fall womb”)

cai na asnéra

to commit a faux-pas (literally, “to fall into trouble”)

cai na putau

to blunder (literally, “to fall into a clayen dish”)

Já cai de cadera

Já cai di cumprido na chám

Cuidado, nom-mestê tropeçá! Vôs cai, nôs cai juntado co vôs.

Be careful, don’t stumble! If you fall down, we will fall down with you.

cai pê-mám

to lose one's temper; to become disoriented (literally, “to fall feet-hands”)

cai sin sintido

to faint; to swoon (literally, “to fall without sense”)


rópa

From Portuguese roupa. Compare Spanish ropa.

usâ rópa

to get dressed (literally, “to use clothes”)

levâ rópa-rópa pa mainato

rópa qui sai di bóca di cám

wrinkled dress (literally, “dress that has come from a dog's mouth”)


-í

From Portuguese -ir, the third-conjugation verb-forming suffix.

Malay cubit (“to pinch”) + -í → chubí (“to pinch”)

-â

other verb-forming suffixes from Portuguese


chiste

fazê chiste

fazê pa chiste

chiste qui nóm-têm chiste

Sevandizo sã pensá qui onçôm têm tánto chiste

The sycophant who thinks he has much charm

laia-laia di chiste


ade

From Old Galician-Portuguese ãade (“duck; mallard”), possibly via a de-nasalized variant of Portuguese adem (“mallard”).

ade salgado

ade-cabidela

voz di ade-macho

hoarse/husky voice (literally, “voice of male duck”)


paga

From Old Galician-Portuguese paga. Compare Galician paga (“payment; salary”).

quelóra recebê paga

when getting paid (literally, “when receiving the salary”)

Êle têm bôm paga


aqui

Ui-di tanto atâi aqui.


mungo

From Hindi मूँग (mūṅg) (possibly via Indo-Portuguese), from Sanskrit मुद्ग (mudga).


cám

ferâ cám

to swindle (literally, “to deceive dog”)

rópa qui sai di bóca di cám

wrinkled dress (literally, “a dress that has come from a dog's mouth”)


fita

fita di sapato

fita-cinéma

olâ fita


bife

From Portuguese bife, from English beef, from Old French buef, from Latin bovem (“ox”).

bife pó bolacho


onte

Ultimately from Old Galician-Portuguese onte, probably via an earlier non-nasalized form of Portuguese ontem. Compare Kabuverdianu ónti.


bafo

From Portuguese bafo (“breath”), of onomatopoeic origin.

bafo di ade

a person who talks a lot and repetitively


dále

Apparently from Portuguese dar-lhe or dá-lhe (“give to him/her/it/them (sg.)”), (formerly) used similarly in Daman, Ceylon and Kochi. Most likely also influenced by Cantonese 打 (daa², “to hit, to beat”), such as in the formation 打你 (daa² nei⁵, “hit/beat you”).

Dále di bêm!

pegâ vassôra-pena dále quiança

dále vinho


quê

Tão cedo para quê? Qui afogoso!

(interrogative, sentence-final) what (which thing)


quê

Quê cuza pôde fazê?


sabe

From Portuguese sabe, irregularly borrowing from the third-person present form of saber (which would have yielded *sabê). See têm for a similar phenomenon.

qui sabe!

Dios sabe

Iou nôm sabe úndi já rafundí iou-sa ôclo

Nôs sabe têm na úndi


perto

perto di Macau

perto-perto

Cavâ sentá más unchinho ora, já vêm coraze chomá A Peng vêm perto.

After sitting for a bit more time, he summoned the courage to call for A Peng to come close.

perto fêto


sós

Probably borrowed from English sauce, ultimately from French sauce. Compare Malay sos.

Worcestershire sauce
Worcestershire sauce


mám

From Portuguese mão, with influence from Cantonese 手 (sau²).

pê-mám

mám-fichado

miserly, tight-fisted (literally, “hand closed”)

mám tánto

person who interferes with things that are not their responsibility (literally, “much hand”)

mám cumprido

thief; sticky-fingered, prone to stealing (literally, “long hand”)

mám di fada

nimble-fingered (literally, “hand of fairy”)

mám pa trás

idle-handed; lazy person (literally, “hand at back”)

pegâ mám andâ rua

cai pê-mám

mám-lárgo

mám-macaco

mám-fêde

someone with a dirty mind (literally, “stinky hand”)

mám-cutí

pê-mám


genti

Nôs sã genti di sorti porque já nacê na Macau.

We are lucky people because we were born in Macau.


pió

From Portuguese pior, comparative form of mau, with the loss of final -r akin to the process in verb infinitives; compare -â.

Pió qui êle, nunca olâ


sentí

sentí capaz

sentí bôm

Alternative form of sintí: to feel, to think


aguado

Probably from Portuguese aguado. By surface analysis, águ + -ado.


regra

rabiscâ dôs regra


durmido

From Portuguese dormido. By surface analysis, durmí + -ido.

Já ficâ durmido
He fell asleep
(literally, “He became asleep”)


-ám

goelâ (“to shout, to talk loudly”) + -ám → goelám (“person who talks at the top of their voice”)

masculine augmentative or otherwise noun-forming suffix


lám

Olea europaea
Olea europaea#Translingual


lám

From Portuguese lã, possibly further influenced by Cantonese 冷 (laang¹, “wool yarn”). Ultimately from Old Galician-Portuguese lãa (“wool”), from Latin lāna (“wool”).

tecê lám

bola di lám


-ada

From Portuguese -ada, feminine equivalent of -ado.

fuzilâ (“to dazzle”) + -ada → fuzilada (“a flash produced by lightning”)

pitâ (“to escape”) + -ada → pitada (“escapade”)


cafre

Presumably from Portuguese cafre, from Arabic كَافِر (kāfir, “infidel”).


cafre

mui cafre


cajola

Possibly from some dialectal variant of Portuguese gaiola. Compare Spanish gayola.

leám na cajola


iou

Maria já olâ co iou

Vêm co iou

I, me (first-person singular personal pronoun)


sâm

From Portuguese são, from Old Galician-Portuguese son, from Latin sunt.

iou sâm

êle sâm

nôs sâm


oclo

From Portuguese óculo, from Latin oculus (“eye”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃okʷ-. Doublet of ôlo.

Iou nôm sabe úndi já rafundí iou-sua ôclo

Chacha tâ buscâ su oclo


filiz

Êle bêm-di filiz


turum

Uncertain. Hypothesized by some to derive from Malay turun (“to go down, to descend”).

pardal jugá turum

a traditional Macanese game, played with sticks?, formerly popular amongst the ethnic Chinese in Macau


-ê

From Portuguese -er, the second-conjugation verb-forming suffix.

Malay (men)colek (“to scoop a small amount with the forefinger”) + -ê → cholê (“to spoon”)


têm

From Portuguese tem, present-tense inflection of ter. Compare similar semantic developments in Kabuverdianu têm. Sense 3 may be a semantic loan from Cantonese 有, especially têm gente as a calque of 有人 (jau⁵ jan⁴).

Vôs têm quanto filo-filo?

Têm qui esmolâ pa nádi morê di fome

He has to beg in order to not starve to death

(with qui) to have to, to be required to

têm gente falá

some people say (literally, “there are people saying”)

Têm pâm dóci, têm pâm salgado

There is sweet bread, there is savoury bread

Nôs têm aqui

Iou têm na casa

Úndi têm vôsso mai?

to be (as pertains to physical location)


bóca

From Portuguese boca, with many idiomatic uses being calques of Cantonese 口 (hau²) or 嘴 (zeoi²).

bóca aberto

bóca dóci

sweet-talker, somebody who has an affected manner of speech (literally, “sweet mouth”)

bóca cherâ lete

someone who still has a lot to learn in life (literally, “mouth smell milk”)

bóca sujo

swearer, person who swears a lot (literally, “smelly mouth”)

bóca-torto


caréta

Merger of Portuguese careta (sense 3) and carreta. Senses 1 and 2 are a semantic loan from Cantonese 車／车 (ce¹), although influence from Portuguese carro also possible.

caréta dôdo

careta di suzo

cart formerly used to collect excrement (literally, “cart of excrement”)

pussâ carêta

sentâ caréta

to go by vehicle (as opposed to on foot)

Unga careta já choncâ na otrunga

fazê caréta

to grimace (literally, “to make grimace(s)”)


vun

Borrowed from Cantonese 碗 (wun², “bowl”).

bor+

Já comê dôs vun di arôz agora querê más

They (sg.) ate two bowls of rice and still wants more


vêm

From Portuguese vem and vêm, inflections of vir.

Vêm câ!

Saiám vôs nôm pôde vêm

Fazê iou vêm pa qui cuza?


sium

Possibly from an Afro-Portuguese variant of Portuguese senhor, reduced to *siô, with nasalization taking place by analogy of nhum. Doublet of nhum, via an older form nhom.

Sium Capitám

Nina azinha têm su sium.


seza

From Portuguese seja, inflection of ser.

masqui seza preto

Seza dia, seza nôti, seza sempri


trás

trás di porta

very near; behind closed doors, illegitimate (w.r.t. children); behind of door

mám pa trás

idle-handed; lazy person (literally, “hand at the behind”)

seguí trás

corê trás

porta-trás

risca di trás

vánda di trás


hoze

home-home di hoze

(figurative) today, nowadays, these days


hoze

Hoze sâm domingo


namás

unga namás

Alternative form of na-más: no more, only


nhi

Nhi Pancha, passá bem?


nôm

Ultimately from Old Galician-Portuguese non; compare Galician nom, non. Alternative form nâm derives from Portuguese não. Sense 2 however is a calque of Cantonese 唔; quêro nôm-quêro, as in the collocation, can be directly translated from Cantonese 想唔想 (“do you want”, literally “want not want”); compare also Malaysian and Singaporean English or not.

nôm têm nada

nothing special; it's not important; no problem, you're welcome

Iou nôm têm sapeca

Ilôtro nôm têm vegónha

Vôs quêro nôm-quêro comprâ?

or not (used between two of the same verb)


canje

Presumably from Portuguese canja, from Malayalam കഞ്ഞി (kaññi). Semantically, possibly influenced by English congee (especially sense 2), ultimately also from the Malayalam source.

canje branco

simple broth with rice (literally, “white chicken broth”)

canje fula papaia


pôde

From Portuguese pode, irregularly borrowing from the third-person singular present form of the infinitive (poder) rather than the infinitive itself. See têm for a similar phenomenon.

Vôs pôde priguntâ co êle

Quê cuza pôde fazê?

Se pôde, sâm capaz; si nom pôde, sâm capám

If you can, you're smart; if you can't, you're useless


cumprido

From Portuguese comprido. Compare Guinea-Bissau Creole kumpridu, Kabuverdianu kunprido.

fino cumprido

calçám cumprido

Já cai di cumprido na chám


friza

freezer (appliance or section of a refrigerator used to store food or other perishable items at temperatures below 0° Celsius)


ânsia

ânsia feo olâ


ânsia

ânsia buscâ


crê

Iou nádi crê


laia

tudo laia; laia-laia

destunga laia

qui laia?


fazê

fazê galantaria

fazê tentaçám

to tempt, to seduce (literally, “to do temptation”)

fazê vista

fazê mapeça

Nê-bôm fazê iou rí


sô

sô pa iou


dâ

dâ cara

to give consideration to (literally, “to give face”)

dâ cavaco

dâ comê

dâ comê gente

dâ co falta

dâ co queixo

dâ côr di si

dâ côti

dâ fundo

to stop (literally, “to give the bottom”)

dâ vestí

to help dress (literally, “to give dressing”)

dâ lembrança

to send regards to (literally, “to give memories”)

dâ mordecim

Dios dâ graça

God be with you (literally, “God give you thanks”)

Diabo dâ capa, diabo dâ campenha

(literally, “If the devil gives you a cloak, he will also give you a bell”)

The criminal will always leave a clue that will incriminate him


clareza

Presumably from Portuguese clareza (“clarity”), albeit with a shift in meaning.

fazê favô dâ vosso clareza

dâ clareza

to explain (literally, “to give an explanation”)


comê

From Indo-Portuguese comê, from Portuguese comer (“to eat”), from Old Galician-Portuguese comer, from Latin comedere (“to eat or chew up”).

comê caril

comê babáu

to be disappointed, disillusioned (literally, “to eat disappointed”)

comê negâ

comê quí ravirâ

dâ comê

comê ramatâ

Vai comê jagra!

Go to hell! Get lost! (literally, “Go eat muscovado sugar!”)

Êle tâ comê pensám

He is drawing his retirement pension (literally, “He is eating pension”)


pê

From Portuguese pé, with influence from Cantonese 腳／脚 (goek³).

pê marado

pê solto

cai pê-mám

to lose one's temper; to get disoriented (literally, “to fall feet and hands”)

chá di pêlo-pê

infusion to ward off frights (literally, “hair-feet tea”)


êle

Êle nádi vai

third-person singular personal pronoun; he/she/they (singular)


macaísta

From Portuguese macaísta, from Macau + -ista.


jinela

nhonha na jinela


amôr

Êle qui amôr!

Olá bem-fêto qualunga / Más tánto amô mer'cê.

Look well to see which of them / Is most worthy of love.


vôs

Vôs já uví?

second-person singular personal pronoun; you


comprâ

Tudo dia sentâ bâs vai comprâ sôm

Every day I take the bus to buy groceries

compradô

trusted servant responsible for doing the household shopping and for contracting and supervising the other servants; commissioner on board a ship


judâ

From Portuguese ajudar. For the dropping of the initial unstressed vowel, compare cavâ.

Judâ iou cartâ estunga quanto mala-mala


botelha

From Portuguese botelha, from French bouteille.


cafelo

From dialectal Portuguese cafelo (“first plaster or mortar on a wall”).


bói

Borrowed from English boy. Semantically unrelated to Portuguese boy.

Chomâ bói trazê café co lête

Ask the waiter to bring coffee with milk


cúli

Most likely from English coolie, from Hindustani क़ुली / قلی (qulī, “hired laborer”), possibly from Ottoman Turkish قول (kul, “servant”).

cabéça-di-cúli

stevedore at the docks and markets responsible for a team of coolies; head of coolies

Chomâ quanto cúli para cartá tudo ancuza

Call for a few coolies to carry everything

(derogatory) useless person, person of no worth


tirâ

tirâ vento

to clear wind with medicine (literally, “to pull wind”)

tirâ-pedo, tirâ-pum


lacassá

sópa lacassá


lô

Língu di gente antigo di Macau
Lô disparecê tamêm. Qui saiám!
Unga dia, mas quanto áno,
Quiança lô priguntá co pai-mai
Qui cuza sã afinal
Dóci papiaçám di Macau?
The language of the people of Macau in the olden days
Will soon disappear as well. What a pity!
One day, after several years,
A child will ask their parents
What is, after all,
the sweet language of Macau?

Coraçám andá á-novi, vêlo lô ficá ferado.

If his heart behaves like that of a youth, the old man will be duped.

Alternative form of lôgo: future tense marker


lete

bebinca di lete

café co lête

china di lête


tamarinho

porco balichám tamarinho

Macanese dish prepared with pork, tamarind and the traditional dried shrimp paste, balichám (literally, “pork balichám tamarind”)


sapeca

Apparently Malay sa (“one”) + Malay paku (“thread of one hundred pichi coins”). Originally described a round coppern coin (hence sense 2), with a square hole in the centre, formerly used in China. Term formerly used jocularly to imitate Macanese, however is now the most common term to refer to money, this development possibly being a (relatively old) semantic loan from Cantonese 錢／钱. Compare French sapèque, from the same Malay origin.

com

Iou nôm têm sapeca


bebinca

Unclear. Possibly from Konkani [script needed] (bibik), or borrowed from Malay bingka (“Malay cake made of rice flour, coconut cream, eggs and sugar”), entering Macanese via Indo-Portuguese with reduplication of the first syllable. Likely not related to Portuguese beber (“to drink”). Compare Tagalog bibingka, Cebuano bibingka, Hiligaynon bibingka, Spanish vivinca.

bor+

bebinca di lete

bebinca di nabo, bebinca-rábano

bebinca-pulú


azinha

From Portuguese asinha, with the Portuguese term having gone obsolete after the 18th century. Unrelated to Portuguese azinha.

Azinha vai casa-ia, logo cai chuva

Let's get home quickly, it's going to rain


sentâ

From Portuguese sentar, with senses 2 and 3 being a semantic loan from Cantonese 坐.

sentâ na casa, renâ ancuza triste

sentâ caréta

Tudo dia sentâ bâs vai comprâ sôm

I take the bus every day to go shopping for groceries

to go by; to travel by; to ride (a mode of transport)

Quelóra têm tempo vêm sentâ


fan-tan

Borrowed from Cantonese 番攤／番摊 (faan¹ taan¹, literally “repeated divisions”); see English entry.


fáci

fáci qui fáci


hómi

Respelt by analogy of words like chávi, pódi.

Ung’a hómi cô ung’a mulé.


águ

Vai rua, pussá bafado, / Bebê águ di Lilau.

1983, José dos Santos Ferreira, Poéma di Macau: poesia e prosa, dialecto macaense:

Going on the street, too tired even to breathe, / Drink the water of Lilau.


mulé

From Portuguese mulher. Compare Kristang mulé.


intremente

Most likely from Portuguese entrementes.

intremente ilôtro ta comê


nhonha

Possibly from Portuguese dona or Malay nyonya or Portuguese senhora. See also Spanish doña (“lady”) and Hokkien 娘惹 (nō͘-niâ) & 娘仔 (niô͘-á, “young lady”).

Coordinate term: nhum

Nhonha canta.


amui

head

amui (plural amui-amui, diminutive amuichai)

amui-amui (plural)
amuichai (diminutive)

Borrowed from Cantonese 阿妹 (aa3 mui6-2, aa3 mui6-1).

Amui corrê vem gudam.

girl, specifically an unmarried Chinese girl from a humble background


masquí

Ellipsis of Portuguese por mais que. Compare Malay meski, Indonesian meski, Tagalog maski, Spanish por más que.


masqui

Ellipsis of Portuguese por mais que. Compare Malay meski, Indonesian meski, Tagalog maski, Spanish por más que. By surface analysis, más + qui.


bôm

bôm-sono

más bôm

bôm cara

bôm coraçám

kind-hearted, generous person (literally, “good heart”)

Êle têm bôm paga


tâ

From Portuguese tá, clipping of está, the third-person singular present indicative form of estar. Semantically, compare Chavacano ta and Indo-Portuguese ta.

Tâ lê.

Iou tâ querê gritâ.

Iou tâ vai-ia.

Acung'a quiança tâ churâ.

Êle ramendâ tâ reva.


nôs

From Portuguese nós, from Old Galician-Portuguese nos, from Latin nōs (“we; us”), from Proto-Italic *nōs.

Nôs nádi falâ

first-person plural personal pronoun; we


nhum

From Portuguese senhor, via an older nhom, which seems to have been an abbreviation arisen from Afro-Portuguese. Compare Portuguese nhô, Kabuverdianu nho, nhu. Doublet of sium.

Coordinate term: nhonha

Nhum nunca-sam di aqui.


nhum

Nhum copo agua, cima di telado, sobe di ceu.

A young butterfly flies, above rooftops, below the sky.


-â

From Portuguese -ar, the first-conjugation verb-forming suffix.

English tiffin + -â → tifinâ (“to have lunch”)


rê

rê di festa

rê na bariga

braggart, cocky person (literally, “king in stomach”)

rê-di-bôlo

spoiled, rude child (literally, “king of cake”)

Têm rê na bariga, nôm pôde intra unga fijám

(literally, “He who has a king in his stomach cannot make way for a bean”)

metaphor said of someone who is very arrogant


andâ

pegâ mám andâ rua

to stroll the streets hand in hand (literally, “hold hand(s) walk street”)


assí

From Portuguese assim. Prepositional sense possibly a calque of Cantonese 好似…咁, with likely influence from Cantonese 咁 adverbially as well.

assí azinha

sâm assí

Quando vôs vêm? Cinco-óra, assí!


assí

Êle vestí como padre assí

Saltâ-pulâ como macaco assí


atâi

Atâi corrê vem gudam.


téra

Já ajudâ estunga téra quelê tanto, botâ tanto suor, lágri co sángui, pramor di su saúdi co vida.

We worked hard for this land, with sweat, tears and blood, for its well-being and life.

Já saltâ píqui-píqui di téra na rópa


nómi

From Portuguese nome. Compare Kabuverdianu nómi, Guinea-Bissau Creole nomi.

Nôs-sa Macau sâm Cidade di Nómi di Dios!

Our Macau is the City of the Holy Name of God!

Patuá sã nómi qui genti di geraçám novo chomá língu antigo di Macau.
Patuá is a name that the new generation use to call the old language of Macau.

Êle-sa nómi di casa sâm Chácha.
His nickname is Chácha.

nómi di casa

nickname, diminutive, affectionate family name


iscada

From Portuguese escada (“ladder, stairs”).

iscada qui istrêto


nóvi

From Portuguese nove. Compare Kabuverdianu novi.


carí

Ultimately from Tamil கறி (kaṟi), with the L-less form most likely via Malay or Indonesian kari.

carí di móro


siao

Borrowed from Cantonese 豉油 (si⁶ jau⁴, si⁶ jau⁴⁻²).


cális

From Old Galician-Portuguese calez／caliz, from Latin calicem. Compare Portuguese cálice.

Tóne tâ bebê unga cáliz di vinho-Porto.
Tóne is drinking a glass of port.


nâ

Alternative form of na: emphatic particle


uví

J'uví?

Iou uví falâ

Úndi vôs uví estunga estória?

Uví, defronte!


sintí

sentí galánte

sentí capaz

sentí bôm

Iou sintí qui vôs pôde vai

Nhum falâ Macau sâm grandi, qui fui? Nôs sintí qui nunca sâm

Someone said Macau is big, who says? We never thought that it was


fólia

From Portuguese folha. Sense 3 likely a semantic loan from Cantonese 葉／叶 (jip⁶, “leaf”) and 頁／页 (jip⁶, “page”), although emergence of sense 4 probably not related to Cantonese.

semantic loan

Já cavâ faze liçam di casa? Nunca nâ, faltâ três folia

Have you finished your homework yet? Not yet, I still have three pages

botâ na fólia

Já sai na fólia


cuza

Senses 1 and 2 a clipping of qui cuza or quê cuza (literally “which thing”), while sense 3 a clipping of pa qui cuza (literally “for which thing”). Ultimately derives from dated Portuguese cousa (as opposed to modern Portuguese coisa), as does the -cusa component in ancusa. Semantically, compare Italian cosa.

clipping

Cuza vôs querê?

Cuza chomá iou tai-mong?


cuza

quê cuza?

pa qui cuza?

(obsolete, or only in fixed phrases) thing (a physical object, entity or situation)


mána

Presumably from Portuguese mana, from Spanish hermana.

female equivalent of máno: older sister, oldest sister


xicra

From Portuguese xícara, from Spanish jícara, ultimately from Classical Nahuatl xīcalli.

Dâ unga xicra di chá pa iou


patuá

Derived from Portuguese patoá, borrowed from Old French patois.


istrêto

iscada qui istrêto


mainato

Borrowed from Malayalam [script needed] (mannattan), most likely via Indo-Portuguese.

bor+

levâ rópa-rópa pa mainato

laundry (a place or room where laundering is done)


nhonhonha

Shortened form of nhonha-nhonha, reduplication of nhonha. Compare Malay nyonya-nyonya.

Coordinate term: nhunhum

Nhonhonha canta.


bolacho

From a theoretical masculine form of Portuguese bolacha (“biscuit; slap”).

bolacho-soda


cucús

Speculated to be of North African origin (although semantically challenging to explain a relationship to couscous), but also possibly borrowed from Malay kukus (“steamed”), from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *kukus, from Proto-Austronesian *kukus.

pêsse-cucús


minchi

Borrowed from Cantonese 免治 (min⁵ zi⁶), itself from English mince. Alternatively, from Japanese ミンチ (minchi) (also presumably from the English term), although this is less likely.

traditional Macanese dish made with minced pork or beef and fried with onion and other condiments


nhame

From Portuguese inhame, from Wolof ñàmbi (“cassava”).


nádi

Univerbation of Portuguese não há-de (“there won't be”).

univerbation

Êle nádi vai

Nôs nádi falâ

negative future tense particle; will not, won't


nádi

Chomâ iou vai tambâ tacho? Nádi!

Invite me to fill in for somebody who can't go? No way!

no way! not happening! (expression of refusal or otherwise non-acceptance to a future event)


arôz chauchau

/aˈɾos t͡ʃɐwˌt͡ʃɐw/

/aˈɾoʃ t͡ʃɐwˌt͡ʃɐw/


arôz

arôz grám-grám

undercooked rice (literally, “grained rice”)

Já comê dôs porcelana di arôz


bâs

Borrowed from English bus. Compare Malay bas.

sentâ bâs

Tudo dia sentâ bâs vai comprâ sôm.

I take the bus every day to go buy groceries.


leongfanêro

Chinese diver who collects oysters from the muddy waters of Macau and cracks them open


nê-bôm

Univerbation of Portuguese não é bom (“it is not good (to)”). Calque of Cantonese 唔好 (m⁴ hou², “don't”, literally “not good”).

calque

nê-bôm cabeçudo

nê-bôm medo


vêlo-công

Estung'a velo-công ui-di boca brejero!


bôlo nata

pastel de nata (Portuguese custard tart)


leong-fan

Borrowed from Cantonese 涼粉／凉粉 (loeng⁴ fan²).


Ongcông

Nôs tudo gostá de Ongcông.

Hong Kong (a city, island, and special administrative region in southeastern China)


tai-mong

Borrowed from Cantonese 大懵 (daai⁶ mung², “absent-minded; muddled and forgetful”).

Cuza chomá iou tai-mong?


vêlo

Bulí corpo, sintí qui vêlo...


pâm

torâ pâm

pâm-di-casa

a very light, sweet bread, usually made at home (literally, “home bread”)

nôvo-nôvo, pâm co ovo

a new broom sweeps clean (literally, “very new, bread with egg”)

a small piece of any substance, usually shaped like a brick


-êro

From Portuguese -eiro, with de-diphthongization. Compare Spanish -ero.

fan-tan (“Chinese gambling game”) + -êro → fantanéro (“someone who is addicted to that game”)

forms nouns from nouns or verbs, denoting someone who works or otherwise is involves with the suffixed noun or engages in the suffixed verb; -er; -eer


chau-chau-lau-lau

Borrowed from Cantonese 吵吵鬧鬧／吵吵闹闹 (caau² caau² naau⁶ naau⁶).

Nosso Macau já virâ-ficâ chau-chau-lau-lau


chau-chau-lau-lau

Ung'a chau-chau-lau-lau námas!


anôte

Anôte pódi olâ istrela-istrela.

(literally, “At night one can see stars.”)

At night one can see a sky full of stars.


lôgo

Vôs lôgo olâ

Quim lôgo dâ?

Nos tudo vai passeâ; vos vêm nam vêm? Ai! Iou lôgo vai.

We're all going out; are you coming? I'm coming.


sôm

Uncertain, but possibly borrowed from Cantonese 餸／𩠌 (sung³, “dish”).

Palangana grándi-grándi di sôm

Vai bazar comprâ sôm

to go to the market to get groceries (literally, “to go to the market to buy food”)

sôm-cachôro

dish made by using up odds and ends in the kitchen


sôm

Corneta nôm têm sôm


na-más

Univerbation of Portuguese não mais. By surface analysis, nâm + más. Compare Asturian namás, Catalan només, Romanian numai, Spanish nomás.

Unga istánti na-más.

Iou querê unchinho na-más.


úndi

Vôs têm na úndi?


úndi

Nós sabê sâm úndi


chomâ

chomâ (pa) iou

Iou chomâ Maria

My name is Maria (literally, “I am called Maria”)


… vai … vêm

Literally, “… to go, … to come”. Calque of Cantonese … 嚟 … 去 (“over and over”).

calque

andâ vai andâ vêm

corê vai corê vêm

falâ vai falâ vem

sentence structure used to indicate a repeated action or thought


gudám

Borrowed from Malay gudang (“warehouse”), possibly directly or via Portuguese gudão. Adverbial sense and alternative spelling probably influenced by English go down, itself influenced by the Malay term in the form of godown.


gudám

>? Portuguese: gudão

Atâi corrê vem gudam.


ilôtro

Univerbation of Portuguese ele/ela(s) outro, literally “he/she other”, possibly formed in imitation of nosôtro and vosôtro. Compare French eux-autres, Ligurian liâtri and probably Kristang olotu.

univerbation

Ilôtro nádi vêm

third-person plural personal pronoun; they


santám

Borrowed from Malay santan, from Old Javanese santĕn (“coconut milk”), from Sanskrit सार (sāra, “essence”).

chau-cháu co santám


chau-cháu

Reduplication of Cantonese 炒 (caau², “to stir-fry”). Compare Chinese Pidgin English chow-chow.

chau-chau pêle

said stew made with pêle (puffed dried pork skin), pork, chinese sausages and cabbage

Chinese stew, usually made of a mixture of meats and vegetables


afêt

Cantonese 阿 (“prefix to express familiarity or friendliness”) + English fat (pronounced /fɛt/ in a typical Cantonese accent).


vosôtro

Univerbation of Portuguese vós outro(s). Compare Asturian, Spanish vosotros, Galician vosoutros.

Si vosôtro querê vêm

second-person plural personal pronoun; you, you guys, y'all, youse


náchi

Quelê-tánto náchi-náchi na festa

There were a lot of Chinese at the party

(back slang) Alternative form of china: a Chinese person


nunca-si

Êle nunca-si vêm


quachí

seeds, especially watermelon seeds consumed as a snack


min-pau

Borrowed from Cantonese 麵包／面包 (min⁶ baau¹).

bor+

min-pau quente-quente


tu-tum-piám

Borrowed from Cantonese 頭痛片／头痛片 (tau⁴ tung³ pin³, “headache tablet/pill”). Exact semantic shift unclear.

(derogatory) nincompoop, usually an older person of no worth


tôm-tôm

Sense 1 (and possibly 2) derive from reduplication of Cantonese 糖 (“sugar; candy”), with the reduplication either taking place internally in Macanese or within Cantonese, as part of baby-speak. Influence from French bonbon also possible, but less likely.

Macau-Paio

pejorative name given to Macanese living in Macau by the tom-toms

dried animal excrement, especially from a dog or a cat

(derogatory) a name for Macanese descendants living in Hong Kong


amochâi

amôr + Cantonese 仔 (zai2, “son; affectionate diminutive suffix”).

com

Criança-criança ui-de amochâi

What cute children (literally, “children such sweetie(s)”)


quelóra

Univerbation of Portuguese qual hora, literally “which hour”. By surface analysis, quelê + ora. Compare Papiamentu ki ora and Kabuverdianu ki óra.

univerbation

quelóra largâ iou vêm fora

Quelóra têm tempo vêm sentâ


quelóra

Vôs quelóra vai êle-sa casa?


quelê

Univerbation of Portuguese que laia (“what way”), where laia was pronounced as if spelt *leia in early Macanese. Doublet of qui laia.


quelê

Êle já ficâ quelê afinado


papiâ

From Portuguese papear (“to chat”). Compare Guinea-Bissau Creole, Kabuverdianu, Papiamentu papia.

papiâ vento

to talk nonsense (literally, “to talk wind”)

papiâ nôsso língu

papiâ bêm fêto

Qui cuza vôs tâ papiâ?

papiâ cristám

to speak the Malacca dialect (literally, “to speak Christian”)


quelê-môdo

quelê (“which”) + Portuguese modo (“mode”).

com

Quelê-môdo pôde falâ

Quelê-môdo já dizencantâ noiva assí chistosa?

Vôs quelê-môdo assí janotâ?

quelê-môdo tamêm sâm assí

Quelê-môdo Macau tamêm sâm assí-ia.

(manner) anyway, anyhow, no matter what (in any way or manner whatever)


cacús

Borrowed from Dutch kakhuis (“loo; outhouse”), probably via Malaccan Malay, Indonesian kakus, or another language spoken by Dutch-colonized peoples. Compare Javanese ꦏꦏꦸꦱ꧀ (kakus), Kristang kakus, Papiamentu kakushi (from the Dutch diminutive kakhuisje), Ternate kakus.

bor+

Ora vai pra cacus!

vulgar expression indicating impatience or anger (literally, “It's time to go to the toilet!”)


amuichai

amui + Cantonese 仔 (zai², “diminutive suffix”) and/or Cantonese 阿 (aa³, “familiar prefix”) + Cantonese 妹仔 (mui⁶⁻¹ zai², “maid”).

com

diminutive of amui: very young Chinese girl


ancusa

Ultimately from Old Galician-Portuguese algũa cousa (“something, anything”), likely via an earlier form of Portuguese alguma coisa, possibly algũa cousa reduced via [alguŋa kuza] → [a uŋa kuza] → [aŋkuza]. Semantically, displaced cuza as a noun. Compare Galician algunha cousa.

der

estunga ancusa

tudo ancusa

Sentâ na casa, renâ ancuza triste

To sit at home, thinking about sad things

thing (a physical object, entity or situation)


ancusa

seléa ancusa


lap-sap

Borrowed from Cantonese 垃圾 (laap⁶ saap³).

bor+

Amochâi, vôs atirâ sapeca tê lap-sap!

(literally, “Dear, you are throwing money to the trash!”)

Sorte quê APIM já oferecê bilête pa iou; si nunca, sâm atirâ sapeca tê lap-sap.

(literally, “...it is throwing money to the trash”)

Luckily, APIM offered me tickets; otherwise, it would be like throwing my money away.


suâ

suâ iou


coraçám

coraçám cósca

someone who wants to speak out but remains quiet (literally, “heart tickled”)

coraçám duro

cruel, dispassionate (literally, “hard heart”)

coraçám grándi

coraçám móli

coraçám tanto

dôi coraçám

Êle sâm bôm-coracám é

mau coraçám

evil person (literally, “bad-hearted person”)


vangueâ

/ʋɐŋɡiˈ(j)ɐ/

* Apparently derived from Indo-Portuguese *bangueiro (“drunk”), itself from Hindustani (Urdu بھانگ / Hindi भाँग (bhāṅg, “cannabis”)) (compare English bhang, bangue), with alternation of /b/ and /v/.
* Also proposed is an origin of Portuguese *vanguejar (“to waver, to slip”), having shifted phonologically via [vãgˈʒa] → [vãgiˈa], although the ultimate etymology of this Portuguese term is not given, suggested by some to also possibly derive from the Hindustani term.
* Alternatively, Cantonese 暈／晕 (wan⁴, “dizzy; to faint”) + -â, although this is deemed less likely. The latter may have been derived as a folk etymology, given the overlap in semantics and possible further semantic influence by the Cantonese term. Furthermore, in this case the emergence of -gue- would be unexplained.


apó

apó cartâ águ

elderly Chinese woman of humble background


lugâ

Merger of Portuguese lugar and alugar. As a noun, sense 2 a semantic loan from Cantonese 地方 (dei⁶ fong¹) and 位 (wai6-2). Cognate to Papiamentu lugá.

semantic loan

Êle já lugâ unga casa na vánda di Lilau.
He rented a house near Lilau.


lugâ

Agora Macau nã tẽ lugá parcá carro

These days there is no space in Macau to park a car


ficâ

Ai! Qui grándi já ficâ estunga quiança, qui espigado!

Wow! How tall this kid has become, how grown!

ficâ na Macau


fonçám

From a dialectal variant of Portuguese função, possibly influenced by French fonction.

assistí fonçám


fluquêro

English fluke + -êro. Compare Cantonese 符碌 (fu⁶ luk¹).


façám

Borrowed from Cantonese 花生 (faa¹ sang¹).

Já comprâ unga chuchupa di façám


fóquei

Borrowed from Cantonese 夥記／伙记 (fo² gei³). Alternative form likely derives from the same source as English foki.


saiám

From Malay sayang (“what a pity; to regret, to miss”), from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *sayaŋ (“too bad! it’s a pity! what a shame!”). Compare Malaysian and Singaporean English sayang.

der

Saiám vôs nôm pôde vêm


saiám

churâ saiám Macau


morê

Tem qui esmolâ pa nádi morê di fome

He has to beg in order not to die of hunger


siára

head

siára (plural siára-siára, masculine sium)

From Portuguese senhora, apparently influenced by Afro-Portuguese and/or Kristang.

Siára-siára quelóra comprâ sôm têm qui chipi-cherâ tudo ancuza

When women go shopping they look at everything in detail

Siara já intrâ, iou-sa bôlo já ficá vantú

Vôs-sa siara sâm bêm di astrevida


cavâ

From *acavar, a dialectal variant of Portuguese acabar. Preposition sense may be a semantic loan from Cantonese 完 (jyun⁴).

Alina já cavâ fazê trabalo di casa

Alina has (already) finished her homework


cavâ

cavâ escurecê

Cavâ uví, já ficâ murúm

Êle cavâ comê, lôgo fazê trabalo casa.
He will do his homework after eating.

Cavâ sentá más unchinho ora, já vêm coraze chomá A Peng vêm perto.

After sitting for a bit more time, he summoned the courage to call for A Peng to come closer.

after (subsequently to, following in time, later than)


bôlo batê-pau

batê-pau derives from the motion traditionally used to make mooncakes - by hitting (batê) a wooden stick (pau) on the table, the stick being the traditional wooden mooncake mold.

Bôlo batê-pau sâm dóci.


batê

batê asa

batê bolo

to bake cakes (literally, “to beat cakes”)

batê cabeça

to kowtow (literally, “to beat the head”)

batê costela

batê ôlo

to blink (literally, “to beat the eye(s)”)

batê pê

to tap one's feet (to indicate disagreement or impatience)

batê porta

batê rabicho

to braid hair (literally, “to beat a/the braid”)

batê ti-tí

to slam down objects to show anger (literally, “to beat a fuss”)

batê-cu

batê-pêto

fervent, excessively pious believer; somebody who promises the world, and guarantees the results


sutate

Apparently of Japanese origin. If so, likely borrowed from Japanese すったて (suttate), a dish from Shirakawa prepared by mixing stone-ground soybeans with a miso and soy-sauce-based broth.

minchi burifado co sutate


parcâ

English park + -â, possibly influenced by Cantonese 泊 (paak³). Compare French parquer, Romanian parca, Spanish aparcar, parquear.

Agora Macau nâm têm lugâ parcâ carro


onte-onte

day before yesterday
day before yesterday


antezonte

Univerbation of Portuguese antes (“before”) + onte, literally “before yesterday”.


qui-foi

qui + Portuguese foi (“was; went”), literally “what was; what went”.

com

Qui-foi êle tudo-óra tâ chuchumecâ?

Qui-foi êle nunca vêm Macau juntado co vôs?

Why doesn’t he ever come join you in Macau?

Qui-foi vôs nunca cunfissá?


amanhâm

Êle falâ amanhâm vai Hotê Lisboa dále dôs mám.

He said that tomorrow he’ll be going to Hotel Lisboa to gamble.


amanhâm

Qui saiám! Amanhâm têm festâ mas iou nôm pódi vai.

What a pity! There’ll be a party tomorrow but I can’t go.


divera

Vôsso pápi divera sorte, já tocá lotaria!

Your father is really lucky, he won the lottery!


divera

falâ divera

Sâm divera!

Indeed! It's true! (literally, “It is the truth!”)


palám-palám

Apparently from Malay pala-pala (“out and out”), although reason for nasalization is unclear. Possibly influenced by Malay palang (“cross shape”), where old windows and shutters used in Macau and/or the movement of arms when opening two windows simultaneously may have given the impression of a cross shape.

abrí janela palám-palám


estricado

rópa estricado


estrica

Ultimately from Dutch strijkijzer, likely via Indonesian setrika and/or Malay seterika.


chiripo

Apparently from Tamil, Malayalam [script needed] (cherripu), possibly via Malay or Indo-Portuguese.

clog (a type of shoe with an inflexible, often wooden sole and an open heel)


respondéncia

From a merger of Portuguese correspondência and archaic Portuguese respondência (“commercial profit”), from Latin respondentia.

der

Su sapeca têm respondéncia

Eu nã gosto respondência


unchinho

Blend of unga (“a, an”) + Portuguese poucochinho (“a tiny bit”).

blend

Já faltâ unchinho


unchinho

unchinho-unchinho ora

from time to time (literally, “very little time”)

vêm-câ trelâ unchinho


reportâ

From Portuguese reportar, most likely semantically influenced by Cantonese port.


pramor di

pramor derives from univerbation of pra + amôr. Literally, “because of the love of”. Compare Galician por mor de and non-cognate Norman pour l'amour de.

pramor di nosso pecado

Hoje sã pramor de Mancha / qui eu já vêm Siára sua pé

It is because of Mancha today / that I have come to the feet of the mistress

Já ajudâ estunga téra quelê tanto, botâ tanto suor, lágri co sángui, pramor di su saúdi co vida.

We worked hard for this place, with sweat, tears and blood, for its well-being and life.

for (in order to help, benefit, gratify, honour)


ramatâ

From Portuguese rematar (“to finish off”). Sense as an aspect marker possibly influenced by Cantonese 完 (jyun⁴).

Ramatâ vôs-sa estória


ramatâ

Jâ cunvidâ iou ramatâ

Quim lembrá chapá na lado, dôdo ficá ramatá.

Whoever joins them, will end up mad as well.

fazê ramatâ

comê ramatâ

(intensifier) aspect marker to indicate a completed action or state; thoroughly, completely, off, up


é-né

Univerbation of Portuguese é (ou) não é, literally “is or is not”. Calque of Cantonese 係咪／系咪 (“isn't it?”).


tiro-grandi

Portuguese tiro (“shot”) + grandi (“big”), calque of English big shot.


grándi

palangana grándi-grándi di sôm

bariga grandi

bóca grándi

pompous, boastful, exaggerated (literally, “big mouth”)

filo-grándi

más grándí

Nhum falâ Macau sâm grandi, qui fui?

gente grándi


nhonhônha

Alternative form of nhonhonha: ladies, women


nhunhum co nhonhônha

ladies and gentlemen
ladies and gentlemen


nhunhum

Coordinate term: nhonhonha


bêm

From Portuguese bem. Sense 3 may be a calque of Cantonese 好 (“good; well; very; properly”).

calque

bêm-pôsto

Já cholê êle di bem

(by extension) well, good (to a great degree)

Êle bem di capaz!

Estunga quanto casa sâm bem di feo


bêm-fêto

From Portuguese bem feito (literally “well done; well made”), or may have arisen naturally in Macanese, i.e. bêm + fêto.

der

Olâ bêm-fêto!

Êle papiâ português qui bêm-fêto

Miguel nim sábi papiâ bêm-fêto Patuá

Miguel doesn't even know how to speak Macanese well

China dále sin-pun pa contâ más bém-fêto

The Chinese man used the abacus to calculate more properly


bêm-fêto

upâ di bêm-fêto


labitâ

Uncertain. Suggested by some to be of Portuguese origin. Possibly related to lampita (“busybody, a nosy person”).

Capaz labitâ

to parrot (to repeat exactly without showing understanding)


falâ

falâ mánso-mánso

falâ portuguesado

gente falâ

according to public opinion (literally, “people say”)

falâ vai, falâ vêm

iou virâ falâ co êle

Já vai sim falâ co iou

falâ divera


quêro

From Portuguese quero, first-person singular present form of querer, whence querê. Sometimes considered a de-creolized and hypercorrected form.

Êle nôm-quêro vai

Nôm quêro vai meza armuça, mas nunca deça de comê escondito minha rosca melua.

I don't want to have lunch at the table, but I must secretly eat my rosca melua.

Ai, iou qui discarado, azinha iscondê, nôm quêro olâ!

I was so ashamed that I quickly hid and did not want to look at it any more!

(following nôm or nâm) negative form of querê: to not want

Vôs quêro nôm-quêro comprâ?

(in verb-nôm-verb format) interrogative form of querê: want or not?


querê

Qui-cuza vôs querê?

Iou querê comê lo-pak-kou.

Sâm quim querê?

Iou querê contá vôsso estória pa mundo uví!

I desire to tell your story for the world to hear!

Iou muto querê pa nôsso terra, Macau!

Iou muto querê pa vôs


fêto

From Portuguese feito, past participle of fazer.

perto fêto


isquevê

From Portuguese escrever, with dropping of the first -r- likely taking place in the early stages of East Asians adopting Portuguese.

Isquevê dôs regra pa iou


sôno

pegâ sono

to fall asleep, to pad out (literally, “to take sleep”)

quebrâ sono

to disturb somebody's sleep; to wake up (literally, “to break sleep”)

durmí unga sono erguí


bô-nôte

Probably from Portuguese boa noite rather than derived naturally in Macanese, since *bô is not used in regular Macanese speech.


bô-tarde

Probably from Portuguese boa tarde rather than derived naturally in Macanese, since *bô is not used in regular Macanese speech.


bô-festa

Probably from Portuguese boas festas rather than derived naturally in Macanese, since *bô is not used in regular Macanese speech.


iou chomâ

iou chomâ Maria


rabiscâ

rabiscâ dôs regra


fichâ

fichâ ano

to have a birthday (literally, “to close the year”)

fichâ ôlo


chegâ

Já chegâ tarde vai siviço

chegâ ora

at the right time (literally, “the time arrives”)

nádi chegâ sapeca

nóm pôde chegâ mám

títi nôm pôde chegâ iou corê

to be as much as, to be comparable to, to be equal to


parabém

From Portuguese parabém (modern parabéns).


nomestê

nomestê réva


nuncassá

Believed to be nunca + sã with denasalization, literally, “it is not”, although the older form nuncamçá may be linked to *nôm cansâ (“don't get tired; it is not necessary”).

nuncassá corê

nuncassá cerimónia

nuncassá inventâ

nancassá vegónha, da mostrâ

Bôbo-bôbo de agora, nuncassá cubrí su rosto

Fools of today, don't have to paint their faces


mestê

From Portuguese mester (“necessary”), from Old Galician-Portuguese mester. Alternative form derives from Portuguese há mester (“there is necessity”).

...mestê primêro / fazê três quatro viazi

...first it is needed / to make three or four trips


nâm

Nos tudo vai passeâ; vos vêm nam vêm?

We're all going out; are you coming or not?


tóc-tóc

Apparently a reduplication of Portuguese toque (“touch”).


estricâ

estricâ rópa


ôlo

Alternative form of ólo: eyes; shoot, sprout


lágri

lágri cacho-cacho

lágri di crocodilo


botâ

botâ faladura

to give a speech (literally, “to put talkative”)

botâ figura

botâ na fólia

botâ mesa

botâ vazo-fula na chám

botâ corê

botâ fuzí


olâ

From Old Galician-Portuguese aollar. By surface analysis, ólo + -â.

oclo pa olâ

Já olâ?

feo olâ

it doesn't look good (literally, “ugly to look”)

Olâ bêm-fêto!

Olâ olâ sabe ia

olâ pintura


ólo

From Portuguese olho, with many adverbial senses being a calque of Cantonese 眼. Doublet of oclo.

ólo batê-batê

to blink quickly (literally, “to hit the eyes”)

ólo enfiado

ólo fino

ólo di gaviám

lively eyes (literally, “eyes of a hawk”)

ólo sentado

comê qui ficâ ôlo sentado

to overeat, to gorge (literally, “to eat to the point of sitting eyes”)

ólo empatucado

ólo galado

ólo más grándí qui baríga

a gluttonous person who takes more than he can ingest (literally, “eyes bigger than one's belly”)

fichâ ôlo

pussâ ôlo

to attract attention (literally, “to pull eyes”)

rancâ ôlo

to stare frighteningly (literally, “to snatch eyes”)

bassâ ôlo

virâ ôlo

to roll one's eyes; in a very short amount of time

ólo bambú

ólo di figuêra

sapling, shoot, sprout (of plants and trees)


onçóm

Portuguese um (“a, one”) + só (“alone”) (Macanese unga + sô), hence the older forms unsó and unçom, first formed in Malaysian Portuguese and Kristang. Final nasalization possibly influenced by the nasality of the un- (and later on-) component. For the /u/ → /o/ shift, compare fonçám (versus expected *funçám). For the word-final nasalization, compare sium.

êle onçóm vêm

já ficâ onçóm


onçóm

têm na onçóm sa casa

sâm êle onçóm falâ


Macau-filo

head

Macau-filo (plural Macau-filo-filo or Macau-filo-fila, feminine Macau-fila)

Macau-filo-filo (plural)
Macau-filo-fila (plural)
Macau-fila (feminine)

Possibly a calque of Cantonese 澳門仔／澳门仔 (literally “Macau son”), possibly inspired in usage by 香港仔 (hoeng¹ gong² zai², “Hongkonger”, literally “Hong Kong son”).

calque

Iou sâm Macau-filo

Macanese (native of Macau, especially those born and raised in Macau)


maquista

Alteration of macaísta, reducing /kɐ.i/ or /ka.i/ to /ki/. By surface analysis, Macau + -ista.

maquista chapado

Macanese (descendant of mixed Portuguese-Chinese heritage)


maquista

língu maquista

Macanese (of or relating to the mixed Portuguese-Chinese culture)


quiança

From Portuguese criança. For /kr/ → /k/, compare quiada and isquevê.

Acunga quiança tâ churâ


quiada

From Portuguese criada, feminine form of criado. For /kr/ → /k/, compare quiança, isquevê, and maquiâ.

quiada já sai

the maid isn't working here anymore (literally, “the maid has left”)

elâ na rabicho di quiada


durmí

From Portuguese durmir, variant of dormir.

durmí assésta

to take a nap (literally, “to sleep a nap”)


drêto

Likely from Portuguese direito. Compare Kabuverdianu dretu.

sâm drêto

bem di drêto


prendê

From a merger of Portuguese prender and aprender.

Puliça prendê êle

Maria tâ prendê cuzinhâ


póng-chán

Borrowed from Cantonese 幫襯／帮衬 (bong¹ can³).

bor+

to visit; to patronize; to be a customer of


chuchumeca

chuchú (“to poke”) or chúcho (“interfering, nosy”) + English maker.

com

Quelora, ficá careca, vôs nunca bom chuchuméca.

When you grow bald, don't be a troublemaker.

busybody, gossiper, chatterbox, troublemaker


chuchú

Borrowed from Malay cucuk, pronounced /t͡ʃuˈt͡ʃuʔ/ in Malay. Compare modern Malay mencucuk (“to poke”), Indonesian cocok (“prick; small pointed object”). Doublet of chúcho.

cog

chuchú pau na chám

chuchú pê na buraco

to skewer, to drive something in, to poke, to pierce

chuchú bico

somebody sleepy who has to keep their eyes open; poke beak


puliça

Ultimately from Latin polītīa, probably through Portuguese polícia and the colloquial slang form puliça.

puliça-môro

Indian soldier formerly recruited from Goa, Damao and Diu to serve in Macao's police force

puliça pau

(historical) policeman carrying a wooden stick; policeman stick

Puliça prendê êle


chúcho

Either borrowed from Malay cucok (“to poke”) or a clipping of chuchumeca. Doublet of chuchú. Semantically, compare English poke one's nose into.


parám

Borrowed from Malay parang (“short, heavy, straight-edged knife or machete”).

bor+

cleaver, butcher's knife (rectangular knife, commonly used in kitchens in Macau)


miçó

Alternative form of missó: miso, soybean paste


chili-missó

chili paste, chili sauce (spicy Chinese condiment prepared with chile, vinegar and soybean paste)


missó cristám

Literally, “Christian/Catholic miso”. Speculated by some that because the miso used is different to the Japanese variety, it was considered pagan.

Macanese dish made with a base of soybean paste, minced pork, and saffron


missó

>? Portuguese: missô

Borrowed from Japanese 味噌 (miso). First recorded in the Ou-Mun Kei-Leok published 1751. Possibly entered Macanese via the Japanese Catholic population who settled in the Pátio do Espinho during the 17th and 18th centuries.

any kind of savoury paste used in dishes


cristám

From Portuguese cristão. Linguistic senses an ellipsis of língu cristám.

cristám-nôvo

adult Chinese convert to Catholicism (literally, “new Catholic”)

papiâ cristám

papiâ cristám


cristám

língu cristám

Portuguese; Macanese; Kristang; Christian/Catholic language

Christian (relating to or following Christianity)


tipâ

A merger of English type and English tip + -â.

to type (to enter text using a typewriter or keyboard)


greza

corê greza

to go to multiple churches on Maundy Thursday (literally, “to run church(es)”)

Nôs véla-véla têm-qui cubrí dol pa vai greza.

We old ladies have to cover our heads with a veil when we go to church.


dangeroso

/dɐŋd͡ʒiˈɾɔzu/

/dɐŋd͡ʒeˈɾɔzu/

Borrowed from English dangerous, reformed likely by analogy with perigoso and other adjectives ending in -oso.


gossô

Borrowed from Malay gosok, from Proto-Malayic *kusuk.

gossô chám


mám-di-buda

Calque of Cantonese 佛手 (fat⁶ sau²). Literally, “hand of Buddha”.

Buddha's hand; fingered citron (Citrus medica var. sarcodactylus)


dále dôs mám

Calque of Cantonese 打兩手／打两手 (“gamble a bit”, literally “hit two hands”) (modern Cantonese 賭兩手／赌两手), borrowing the sense of 打 as in to play games such as mahjong or card games.

calque

Nôs tâ vai dále dôs mám.

He says that tomorrow he will go to Hotel Lisboa to gamble.

to gamble (to play risky games, especially casino games, for monetary gain)


dôs

From Old Galician-Portuguese dous, probably through dated Portuguese dous and descendants from Indo-Portuguese and/or Kristang.

Já comê dôs vun di arôz


dôs

Isquevê dôs regra pa iou


atachamento

Most likely borrowed from English attachment, or some now-obsolete Portuguese descendant of French attachement.


faitiám

Borrowed from Cantonese 快艇 (faai³ teng⁵).

bor+

speedboat (light, speedy boat, used for transporting goods and people)


falânpám

Apparently borrowed from English frying pan.


favôr

favour (instance of voluntarily assisting someone)


fazê favôr

From Portuguese faz favor (modern se faz favor).

fazê favô dâ vosso clareza


paché

Borrowed from Cantonese (一)把遮 ((jat¹) baa² ze¹, “an umbrella”, literally “one classifier for objects held using handles umbrella”).

Na básso di sól fórti amestê abrí paché

Under a strong sun, it is necessary to open a parasol


pacfanista

Cantonese 白粉 (baak⁶ fan², “heroin”, literally “white powder”) + -ista (“agent noun suffix”), probably influenced by Cantonese derivations such as 白粉仔 (baak⁶ fan² zai²) and 白粉友 (baak⁶ fan² jau⁵⁻²).

suffix

drug addict (person with a chemical or psychological dependency on drugs)


iam-chá

Borrowed from Cantonese 飲茶／饮茶 (jam² caa⁴).

bor+

yum cha (Chinese meal served between breakfast and lunchtime, usually featuring dim sum)


chanquêm

Borrowed from Cantonese 巡警 (ceon⁴ ging²), borrowing the now-obsolete sense of "police officer".


hám-chói

Borrowed from Cantonese 鹹菜／咸菜 (haam⁴ coi³, “pickle”, literally “salty vegetable”).


hortelám

From Portuguese hortelão. Compare modern Portuguese hortelã (“mint”).


sopa-sopa mulado

Reduplication of sopa (“soup”) + mulado.


sôr

sôr pingado di testa


hirói

From Portuguese herói, from Latin hērōs, from Ancient Greek ἥρως (hḗrōs, “demi-god, hero”), from Proto-Indo-European *ser- (“to watch over, protect”)


hortelám di sopa

Literally, “soup mint”. Referred to as such due to its common usage in soups in Macanese cuisine, in addition to various other dishes.

chá di hortelám di sopa


hortelám malavar

Literally, “Malabar mint”, possibly due to this species growing in the region of Malabar.

Anisochilus carnosus
Anisochilus carnosus

thick-leaved lavender (Anisochilus carnosus)


mulado

From Old Galician-Portuguese mollado. By surface analysis, mulâ + -ado.


mulado

Corê-corê, escoregâ cai chinchám na chám mulado

While he was running, he fell and crashed onto the wet ground


hotê

Probably from Portuguese hotel, from French hôtel, from Latin hospitāle.


laissí

red packet, lai see (a monetary gift which is given during holidays or special occasions)


mulâ

From Old Galician-Portuguese mollar, from Vulgar Latin *molliāre (“soak”).

mulâ goela

to have a drink (literally, “to wet shout”)


pisidénte

From Portuguese presidente. For R-dropping, compare isquevê, quiança, and also pisente (“present”).

Olâ Pisidénte


siviço

From Portuguese serviço. Likely entered Macanese relatively early, given the R-dropping.

Já chegâ tarde vai siviço

trabalo siviço


copo-copo

copo-copo tâ aguâ

alegre como côpo-côpo na primavera na dia de sol

happy as a butterfly on a sunny day in spring


intresmentes

Possibly from Portuguese entrementes, thus a doublet of intremente.


divinhâ

From Portuguese adivinhar, from Old Galician-Portuguese adevinnar, adevỹar, from Latin ad + dīvīnāre (“foretell”).


vassôra

vassôra pena

feather duster with rattan handle (literally, “feather brush”)

vassôra bambú

stiff broom made from vine or bamboo strips (literally, “bamboo broom”)

vassôra côco

brush made from coconut fibre (literally, “coconut brush”)

pegâ vassôra-pena dále quiança

to beat a child with a feather duster (literally, “to beat a child with a feather brush”)


perdê chávi

Literally, “to lose the key”. Derivation uncertain.


chávi

From Portuguese chave, from Old Galician-Portuguese chave, from Latin clāvis, from Proto-Italic *klāwis (“bolt, lock, bar”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kleh₂u-.

key (object that opens and closes a lock)

key (object that is inserted into a device and rotated to activate it)


perdê

Vai jugá perdê sapeca, vêm casa sentá cuçá careca.

I gamble and lose money, I come home and scratch my bald head.

Quelora vêlo, vida fêde, perdê juízo... qui ramêde!

When you get old, life is miserable, you lose your judgement... what can you do!


ui-di

ui derives from Portuguese ui (“interjection commenting on a close call”).

ui-di fácil fazê

comizaina ui-di sabroso

Uí-di sim!

Ui-di tanto bronco aquí

Aia, êle ui-di chico

João capaz, António muito capaz, mas José — ui de capaz!
João is smart, António is very smart, but José — extremely smart!


empê

Univerbation of Portuguese em pé (“standing”), literally “on foot”, re-analyzed as a verb.


empido

empê + -ido. Note the change from -ê to -ido, as is consistent with Portuguese grammar (cf. Portuguese morrer, morrido).

Olá nhónha... morê empido!

Looking at women... you will die standing!


choncâ

Blend of Cantonese 撞 (zong⁶) + Portuguese chocar. Alternative form possibly derived from Portuguese chocalhar.

blend

Unga careta já choncâ na otrunga


faichista

faichi (“chopstick”) + -ista. Related to the rules of fan-tan, where a player uses a rod shaped like a chopstick to play the game.


si nunca

Probably influenced by Portuguese senão.

Sorte quê APIM já oferecê bilête pa iou; si nunca, sâm atirâ sapeca tê lap-sap.

Luckily, APIM offered me tickets; otherwise, it would be like throwing my money away.


tifim

Borrowed from English tiffin, possibly via Indo-Portuguese, given the prevalence of the term in Indian English.


tifinâ

English tiffin + -â, possibly via Indo-Portuguese, given the prevalence of the term in Indian English.

tifinâ na oficina

Beto logo buscâ iou vai tifinâ

Beto comes looking for me so we can go have lunch


téra-china

Mandá chomá ung-a lingo pra fazê asinha-asinha dos chito, ung-a pra tera china Nam-hói...

Call for an interpreter to quickly make a couple of tickets, one for the mainland China South China Sea...


chubí

Qui-foi chubí iou?

Já chubí braço

Sora, ele sempre chubi eu!

chubí pâm


restrate

Portuguese raiz (“root”) + trate (“lotus”).


aguâ

Uncertain. Possibly from Portuguese a voar (“flying”), with an unexplained /v/ → /g/ shift. Likely unrelated to Portuguese aguar.

Pastro tâ aguâ

Semana aguá, vem vai.

(idiomatic, of time) to fly by (to pass very quickly)

aguâ vai riva


janotâ

From Portuguese janotar. By surface analysis, janota + -â.


jóvi

From Portuguese jovem or a de-nasalized variant. For loss of final nasal consonant, compare Galician xove.

Tio Cha-Chai quelora jóvi, nho-nhónha andá à-nóvi!

Uncle Cha-Chai when young would be on the go all day!


jóvi

Nôs nunca-sâm como acunga jovi-jóvi; nôs sâm chacha vêla-ia, sâm nunca?

We are not like those youngsters; we are old ladies already, aren't we?


xiripo

Alternative form of chiripo: clog, clogs


chaminica

small teacup with no handle, used in Chinese restaurants

clay dish formerly used as a mold for homemade cakes


bafo di ade

(idiomatic) someone who talks excessively and repetitively; chatterbox


bafo cumprido

Calque of Cantonese 長氣／长气 (coeng⁴ hei³, literally “long air”).


sai bafo

Likely a partial calque of Cantonese 嘥氣／嘥气 (saai¹ hei³, literally “waste air”) rather than related to Macanese sai (“to go out”).

partial calque

Nê-bôm sai bafo!


fijám

fijám-vemêlo

fijám-frade

fijám-chicote

Chinese long bean (literally, “whip bean”)

Têm rê na bariga, nôm pôde intra unga fijám

(literally, “He who has a king in his stomach cannot make way for a bean”)


queique

large, heavy spiced fruit cake soaked in brandy, usually served at Christmas and in general at all important Macanese parties


corn-star

(small) cake made with corn starch or cornflour


cachôro

From Portuguese cachorro (“puppy; dog”). Adjectival senses of unclear origin.

cachôro-china

dog whose bark is worse than its bite (literally, “Chinese dog”)

cachôro-fêmea

cachôro morto

cachôro-doido

suzo di cachôro

sôm-cachôro

dish made by using up odds and ends in the kitchen; dog dish


jêto

From Portuguese jeito, from Old Galician-Portuguese geito, from a Vulgar Latin *iectus, alteration of Latin iactus.


jêto

Jêto qui ta querê


calçám

From a merger of Portuguese calça (“trousers”) and calção (“shorts”).

calça-moura

light trousers worn by men at home or in bed

calçám cumprido


taufufá

Borrowed from Cantonese 豆腐花 (dau⁶ fu⁶ faa¹).

bor+

tofu pudding (cold tofu served with a syrup made of rock sugar and ginger)


tancarêro

tancá + -êro. Intrusive -r- due to hypercorrected form tancar.


gafinhâ

Unclear. Possibly from Portuguese gavinha (“tendril”) + -â, with tendrils being compared to insect legs.

gafinhâ ôsso di bur-bur

used of an extremely nosy person who asks indiscreet questions; to search out bones of a boneless fish

to scrape, tickle or scratch with fingernails

Ondi vas já vai gafinhâ estunga pintura?

(idiomatic) to uncover, to ferret out, to search out something difficult to find


tancá

Borrowed from Cantonese 蜑家 or 蛋家 (daan⁶ gaa¹, dang⁶ gaa¹).

small Chinese rowing boat, normally with no canvas cover

(derogatory) people living on these boats


tancarêra

tancá + -êra. Intrusive -r- due to hypercorrected form tancar.

Nhonha na jinela
Cô fula mogarim,
Sua mãe tancarera
Seu pai canarim.
Girl at the window
With a jasmine flower,
Her mother a boatwoman
Her father a Goan.

female equivalent of tancarêro: boatwoman


tapilu

Borrowed from Cantonese 打邊爐／打边炉 (daa² bin¹ lou⁴).

hot pot (meal in which the food is brought to the table raw and then boiled in a communal pot on a special burner, called steamboat)


-êra

From Old Galician-Portuguese -eira, from Latin -āria.


damostrâ

dâ (“to give”) + Portuguese mostrar (“to show”). Possibly also influenced by Portuguese amostrar.


maquiâ

Univerbation of Portuguese má criar or mal criar (literally “bad raise”). Compare Spanish malcriar (“to spoil”), malcriado (“spoiled”). Usage of ma- over mal- may be due to natural consonant dropping in Macanese, or it may be due to influence from the noun maquiaçám. Related to quiança and quiada, also displaying /kr/ → /k/.


bassâ

From Portuguese baixar, or a dialectal variant of it which preserves -ss- from Vulgar Latin *bassiāre. By surface analysis, basso (“low”) + -â.

bassâ cabeça

to lower one's head until the chin touches the chest

bassâ ôlo


maquiaçám

From Portuguese malcriação, or a univerbation of Portuguese má criação, literally “bad nursing”. Compare Spanish malcriar (“to spoil”), malcriado (“spoiled”). Related to quiança and quiada, also displaying /kr/ → /k/.

univerbation

fazê maquiaçám

to behave spoiledly (literally, “to do spoiledness”)


dóci

capa-dóci

helpful person; female know-it-all; sweet winter coat

Têm pâm dóci, têm pâm salgado.

There is sweet bread, there is savoury bread.

Vôs sabe falâ dóci língu di Macau?

(literally, “Do you know how to speak the sweet language of Macau?”)


dóci

dóci camalenga

dóci vestido

selection of decorated sweets given to the guests at a christening or wedding; dressed sweets

visitido como dóci di mui

very well-dressed; dressed like plum candy


pódi

Respelt by analogy of words like chávi, sábi.

Qui saiám! Amanhâm têm festâ mas iou nôm pódi vai.

What a pity! There’ll be a party tomorrow but I can’t go.

Alternative form of pôde: to be able to, can


sábi

Respelt by analogy of words like chávi, pódi.

Têm nôm sâm qui nôm têm, nôm sabi úndi têm!

No doubt we have it, we just don’t know where we have it!


dançâ

From Portuguese dançar. Compare Kabuverdianu dansá.

Dansá até ficá perna azedo!

(literally, “Dance until the legs get shaky!”)

Vai passeá! Vai gozá! Vai chocorri! Vai dançá!

Come for a walk! Come and enjoy! Come and flirt! Come and dance!


juntâ

juntâ rancho

juntâ sapeca

to save money (literally, “to gather money”)


usâ

usâ rópa

usâ sapato nôvo

usâ chinela vai rua


cudí

Gente, cudí, cudí pa iou!


cadacê

Possibly Portuguese cada (“each”) + você (“you”).

Cadacê sandê unga candia-céra


jugâ

From Portuguese jogar. Compare Spanish jugar.

jugâ sôco


cadunga

Portuguese cada (“each”) + unga (“one”). Compare Portuguese cada um, cada uma.


andâ a nóvi

Likely from old-fashioned Portuguese andar a/à nove (“to move quickly”, literally “to walk to (the) nine”), derived from Lisboner tram driver slang, where reaching the 9th contact point is required on the lever to reach the highest speed of the tram.

der

Uncle Cha-Chai when young would be on the go all day!

(of people) to be busy, to be on the go all day

Coraçám andá á-novi, vêlo lô ficá ferado.

If his heart behaves like that of a youth, the old man will be duped.


cai chuva

Possibly a calque of Cantonese 落雨 (lok⁶ jyu⁵, literally “fall rain”).

calque

Azinha vai casa-ia, logo cai chuva

Let's get home quickly, it's going to rain


obigado

Bom, obigado.


panhâ

panhâ chapêu cubrí

já panhâ subissalto

panhâ carôlo qui fundâ miolo

to get a huge thwack (literally, “to get a hit to the head that finds the brain”)

Jâ panhâ!


sapeca fêmea

(idiomatic, possibly derogatory) easy money, money gained through dishonest means


candia

sandê candia

candia cera


cholido

cholê + -ido, most likely semantically related to the third sense (to tap someone to get their attention). Note the change from -ê to -ido, as is consistent with Portuguese grammar (cf. Portuguese morrer, morrido), which compare also empido.

ficâ cholido

to interfere; to be accused of interfering (literally, “to become interfering”)


fluquice

Qui fluquice!

a good move made by mere chance, stroke of luck


cholê

Ultimately from Malay colek (“digging out with a pin”), mencolek (“to scrape out with a pointed 1nstrument”) or colet (“a dig with the point of the finger”) + -ê. Compare modern Malay mencolok.

cholê águ co chareta

Nã tem colher pra cholê?

Já cholê êle di bem

to tap (touch with fingers) someone to get their attention


estunga quanto

Judâ iou cartâ estunga quanto mala-mala


estunga ancusa

Estunga ancusa sâm fêo.

this (the thing being discussed; the current situation)


estunga

Portuguese este + unga. Compare cadunga for a similar formation.

Undi já vai dizencantâ estunga chapeu?

Acunga-quanto pêsse-pêsse sâm di estunga pescadô


vánda

Likely from Portuguese banda (“band, stripe”), with alternation of /b/ and /v/.

pa estunga vánda

vánda di trás

otrunga vánda

Êle já lugâ ung'a casa na vánda di Lilau

He rented a house in Lilau (literally, “He rented a house on the side of Lilau”)


acunga ancusa

Acunga ancusa sâm bom pa saúdi

that (the thing near you; the thing mentioned that concerns you)

Acunga ancusa sâm salgado


péssa

From Portuguese pressa (noun) with R-dropping, but semantically supplanted by depressa (adverb). See vagar for a similar phenomenon.

Péssa vai


acunga

Portuguese aquele + unga. Compare cadunga for a similar formation.

Qui pussâ bafado subí acunga ladéra!

I'm quite out of breath going up that slope!

Acunga quiança tâ churâ

that (far from the speaker and listener)


acunga quanto

Êle jâ botâ acunga-quanto sapato-sapato na estunga armário


otrunga

ôtro + unga, where ôtro derives from Portuguese outro.

otrunga dia

otrunga vánda

other (not the one previously referred to)


otrunga

other one (not the one previously referred to)

Unga careta já choncâ na otrunga


Saiong

Borrowed from Cantonese 西洋 (sai¹ joeng⁴, “the West”, literally “western sea”).

bor+

Tem quanto ano-ano qui ele tem na Saiong, vivo nali-vánda.

He has been in Portugal for many years, living there.

Portugal (a country in Southern Europe, on the Iberian Peninsula)


cunfissâ

Qui-foi vôs nunca cunfissá?


chuchumecâ

Logo iou ta vai chuchumecâ cô vôs!

I’ll be gossiping something with you soon!

Qui-foi êle tudo-óra tâ chuchumecâ?


pêsse

pêsse-cucús

pêsse-dorado

Acunga-quanto pêsse-pêsse sâm di estunga pescadô.


máno

Presumably from Portuguese mano. Sense 3 (especially with chomâ) possibly also a semantic loan from Cantonese 大佬 (daai⁶ lou²).

semantic loan

Passado más quánto ano, quim logo chomá êle mano?

After all these years, who will call him the boss?


nôsso

Iou muto querê pa nôsso terra, Macau!

our (first-person plural possessive pronoun)


vôsso

your (second-person singular possessive pronoun)


estopôr

Uncertain. Possibly from Portuguese estupor (“stupor”).

Êle qui estopôr!


pacapiu

Borrowed from Cantonese 白鴿票／白鸽票 (baak⁶ gaap³⁻² biu¹, literally “white pigeon ticket”).


porquéro

From Portuguese porqueiro. By surface analysis, porco + -éro. Compare Spanish porquero.


portuguesado

From Portuguese aportuguesado (“made Portuguese”). By surface analysis, português + -ado.

der

falâ portuguesado

to speak in a Portuguese manner (as opposed to having a patuá accent); to use Portuguese expressions or accent when speaking

Portuguese-style, in a way reminiscent of European Portuguese

torâ português

to try hard to speak Portuguese correctly, with an affected pronunciation; to toast Portuguese


malau

Borrowed from Cantonese 馬騮／马骝 (maa⁵ lau¹).


virâ ficâ

Nosso Macau já virâ-ficâ chau-chau-lau-lau

to become, to convert into, to transform into


virâ

From Portuguese virar. Sense 2 likely influenced by Portuguese voltar.

virâ ôlo

to roll one's eyes in despair (literally, “to turn eye(s)”)

virâ mám

in the flash of an eye, in an instant (literally, “to turn hand(s)”)

virâ beço

to talk, to chat (literally, “to turn lip(s)”)

iou virâ respondê

I answered again (literally, “I returned to answer”)


gostâ

Nôs tudo gostá de Ongcông.

Iou nunca gostâ uví seléa ancusa.


seléa

From Portuguese semelhante or semelha, likely with some form of metathesis.

olâ selêa fronha

Iou nunca gostâ uví seléa ancusa.

I never liked to listen to these kinds of things.

Já olâ seléa boboriça?

Have you ever seen this kind of nonsense?


sunhâ

From Portuguese sonhar. By surface analysis, sonho + -â. Related to sono (“sleep”).

Sunhâ qui tudo genti / vivo na paz di Diós

Let's dream that everyone / will live in God's peace


chuchupa

Já comprâ unga chuchupa di façám

cone made from newspaper to wrap peanuts or roasted chestnuts


buscâ

Chico-chai tâ buscâ êle-sa oclo.

Chico-chai is searching for his pair of glasses.


qualunga

Vôs têm na qualunga canto sentado?

Qualunga Natal avô já isquecê dâ pisente pa vôs?

Which Christmas has grandpa ever forgotten to give you a present?

Qualunga bolo bate-pau sâm pa iou?


buscâ sarna pa cuçâ

Possibly derived from or in imitation of Portuguese procurar sarna pra se coçar. Literally, “to look for scabies to itch”.

lit

Êle tudo-óra tâ buscâ sarna pa cuçâ.


cuçâ

cuçâ cabeça

to be at a loss (literally, “to scratch head”)


galánte

Presumably from Portuguese galante, from French galant.

Estunga eleçám qui galánte, têm laia-laia di gente.

This election is so strange, there are all kinds of people.

Macau sã téra galánte di quánto-cento papiaçám.

Macau is an extraordinary place with hundreds of languages.


goelâ

goelám

person who talks at the top of their voice

Êle-sa siára sômente sabe goelâ.

Chicho justo vêm, cavâ uví Mími goelâ di alto!
Chicho just arrived and heard Mími singing aloud!


bunitéza

Qui buniteza!

Andâ-cá, bunitéza!

Êle tâ andâ cô unga bunitéza, êle-sa siara tâ vai dále di bem!

He is always with a pretty girl, his wife is going to give him a proper beating!


boboriça

Portuguese bobo + -riça. Origin of suffix uncertain.

Nê-bôm papiâ boboriça!

Já olâ seléa boboriça?


como tá vai

From Portuguese como vai. Insertion of tá may be due to the influence of English how's it going or how goes it.


nôm têm nada

Literally, “there is nothing”. Possibly a clipping of Portuguese não tem nada que agradecer (“there is nothing to be thankful for”).


nuviléro

Possibly from Portuguese novilheiro (“calf-fighter”) (cf. Spanish novillero), with a semantic shift due to Portuguese novidade (“news”) and more distantly Latin novellus (“new; novel”). By surface analysis, Portuguese novo + -éro.

surf

person who likes to spread and know about news


balichám

→ English: balichao

→ Portuguese: balichão

Borrowed from Malay belacan or older variants balacan, balacang. Possibly reinforced by cognate Cantonese 馬拉盞／马拉盏 (maa⁵ laai¹ zaan²). Alternatively, from Portuguese baleia (“whale”), but this is less likely, both semantically and phonologically.

B-A-ba, primêro letra,
L-I-li divinhaçan;
Quim querê sabe minha nome
Botá ôlo na chan.
Sã Balichan.
B-A-ba, the first letter,
L-I-li guessing;
Whoever wants to know my name
Put your eye on the floor.
It's balicham.

balichao (savoury condiment prepared with very small, dried shrimp or krill)

porco balichám tamarinho

Macanese dish prepared with pork, tamarind and balichám


vegónha

From Portuguese vergonha, with R-dropping (compare siviço).

Qui vegónha!

Ilôtro nôm têm vegónha êles


vegónha

iou vegónha

Nancassá vegónha, da mostrâ


tambrinho

Dissimilation of tamarinho, either internally in Macanese or via Portuguese tambarino or a similar variant.


nacê

Quiança já nacê

Beba já nacê quiança


naçám

envegonhâ naçám

Masqui seza preto, sam nossa naçam.

Even though we are black, that is our race.

nation, race (group of people sharing aspects of language, culture and/or ethnicity)


cabéça

From Portuguese cabeça. Sense 3 most likely a semantic loan from Cantonese 頭／头.

cabéça-di-bonzo

soup prepared in a bain-marie using the skin of a winter gourd (literally, “head of monk”)

cabéça-di-vento

forgetful, head in the clouds (literally, “head of wind/air”)

cabéça-di-cobra

trafficker of illegal immigrants (literally, “head of snake”)

quebrâ cabéça

to dwell on one topic; to search for a solution to a problem (literally, “to break head”)

cabéça di atum

cabéça-grandi

innovator; ringleader (literally, “big head”)

cabéça-di-cúli

stevedore at the docks and markets responsible for a team of coolies (literally, “head of coolie(s)”)

cabéça-di-hui

person who chairs and presides over the meetings of the hui

cabéça-di-lorcha

captain of a boat (literally, “head of lorcha”)


teu cabeça

Calque of Cantonese 你個頭／你个头 (nei⁵ go³ tau⁴, literally “your head”).

calque

"Sopa salgado, é n'é?" "Salgado, teu cabeça! Assim bom."

"The soup is too salty, isn't it?" "Salty my ass! It's good."

expression used to disagree with the speaker: my ass! my arse! nonsense!


calâ-bóca

Cala bóca, né-bôm papiâ boboriça


sabola

From Portuguese cebola. Compare Kabuverdianu sabóla.


tambâ tacho

Literally, “to fix pot/pan”. Possibly a calque of Cantonese 補鑊／补镬 (bou² wok⁶, “to fix a mess”, literally “to repair a wok”).

Chomâ iou vai tambâ tacho? Nádi!

Invite me to replace someone missing? No way!

to substitute or fill in for someone at the last minute


tambâ

Possibly Indonesian tambal (“to patch”) + -â.

tambâ calça

tambâ buraco di rua


tábu

From Portuguese tábua. For word-final /ua/ → /u/, compare águ, língu.

tâbu di istricâ rópa


destunga

From Portuguese deste + unga. By surface analysis, di + estunga.

destunga manêra, destunga laia

Contraction of di estunga (“of/from this”).


quachi

Alternative form of quachí: (watermelon) seeds consumed as a snack


fijám-chicote

Vigna unguiculata subsp. sesquipedalis
Vigna unguiculata subsp. sesquipedalis

asparagus bean, yardlong bean, Chinese long bean (Vigna unguiculata subsp. sesquipedalis)


ambâ

Vôs nê-bôm ambâ ela!

Alternative form of ambâc: to take advantage of someone, to bully


tagalám

Apparently from obsolete dialectal Portuguese tagalhão, possibly related to tagalho (“portion”). Further etymology uncertain.


ambâc

Vôsse ambâc iou!

to bully, to take advantage of someone's good faith, weakness or innocence


assilai

assí + laia. Possibly a calque of Cantonese 噉樣／噉样 (gam² joeng⁶⁻²).

assilai cuza


pidí

From Portuguese pedir. Compare Kabuverdianu, Papiamentu pidi.

calor qui pidí misericordia

it's so hot! (literally, “heat that asks for mercy”)

pidí sapeca

to ask for tips (literally, “to ask for money”)


nhame chicú

Alternative form of chicú: arrowhead tuber


chicú

Borrowed from Cantonese 慈姑 (ci⁴ gu¹, “arrowhead, Sagittaria sagittifolia”), although semantically closer to (and possibly influenced by) Japanese 慈姑 (kuwai, “Sagittaria trifolia”).

cog

arrowhead (Sagittaria trifolia), particularly its tuber


nhim

Possibly a diminutive of Portuguese menina, ultimately from Old Galician-Portuguese meninha, with possible metathesis.

Coordinate term: siára

formal address for young girls, single women and lowly women of a certain age: young lady, miss


assésta

durmí assésta

to take a nap (literally, “to sleep nap”)


brêdo

From obsolete Portuguese bredo (“Amaranthus herb”). Compare Kristang bredo.

champurâ vaca com brêdo

Sã ramendá aporóna,
Cartá pinga vendê brêdo.
She appears to be an ordinary woman,
carrying baskets of vegetables for sale.

brêdo vaca-vaca

selection of cheap, poor quality vegetables


ach'á

a Muslim, especially an Indian, Pakistani or otherwise South Asian Muslim


afordâ

to afford, to provide, to support, have the means to


môro

From Portuguese mouro (“Moor”). Compare Spanish moro.

môro-chut

puliça-môro

Indian soldier formerly recruited from Goa, Damao and Diu to serve in Macao's police force

carí di móro

(by extension) any non-Christian Indian (person from India)


árve

árve di panha

árve S. José

weeping fig, Ficus wightiana (literally, “St. Joseph's tree”)

árve pagode

banyan fig, Ficus restusa (literally, “pagoda tree”)

arve di péscu


múchi

Almost certainly borrowed from Japanese 餅 (mochi). Unclear whether alteration of the first vowel may have been influenced by Okinawan 餅 (mūchī) and/or a dialectal form in Japanese, or it may have happened internally in Macanese; compare fucinho and Portuguese focinho (“snout”).

mochi (rice cake made from glutinous rice and filled with desiccated coconut, roasted beans and sesame)


caxám

Presumably from Portuguese caixão, from caixa (“box”) + -ão (“augmentative suffix”). By surface analysis, caixa + -ám.


-róna

From Portuguese -ona. -r- is due to rebracketing of mulherona (“large woman”) from Portuguese.

rebracketing

amui (“young girl”) + -róna → amuiróna (“well-developed young girl”)

Alternative form of -óna: feminine augmentative suffix


-óna

pilizâ (“to quarrel”) + -óna → pilizóna (“quarrelsome woman”)

suffix that forms feminine animate nouns from other parts of speech


pensám

Êle tâ comê pensám

(literally, “He is eating retirement pension”)


pensám

iou qui pensám

nunca assí pensám


amuiróna

amui (“girl”) + -róna (“feminine augmentative suffix”).


pilizóna

Probably from obsolete and/or low colloquial Portuguese pelejona. By surface analysis, pilizâ + -óna.


aporóna

apó (“elderly Chinese woman”) + -róna (“feminine augmentative suffix”).

(possibly derogatory) large, heavy, ordinary middle-aged Chinese woman


pilizám

Probably from Portuguese pelejão. By surface analysis, pilizâ (“to argue, to dispute”) + -ám.


pilizâ

From Portuguese pelejar, from Old Occitan pelejar.


cambrám

From Portuguese camarão and obsolete cambrão. For dissimilation of -mar- → -mbr-, compare also tambrinho.

bolo di cambrám

shrimp dumpling (literally, “shrimp cake”)

cambrám mizóna


cai sol

Possibly a calque of Cantonese 日落 (jat⁶ lok⁶, “sunset”, literally “sun fall”).

calque

to darken, to grow dark (as night approaches)


ispêlo

From Portuguese espêlho, from Old Galician-Portuguese espelho, from Vulgar Latin speclum, syncopated form of Latin speculum.

pegâ ispêlo

to take the mirror, to look at oneself in the mirror

Nôm têm ispêlo na casa?


camiám

From Portuguese camião (“lorry”), from French camion.

sentâ camiám

to take the bus (literally, “to sit bus”)


pegâ

From Portuguese pegar, with semantic and syntactic influence variously from Cantonese 攞／𫽋 (lo²), 拎 (ling¹), 揸 (zaa¹), and other similar verbs.

pegâ mám andâ

to walk hand in hand (literally, “to hold hand to walk”)

pegâ sono

to fall asleep (literally, “to hold sleep”)


inventaçám

From Portuguese inventação, variant of invenção.


malinguâ

ma-língu + -â. See also Portuguese maldizer.

Tudo dia malinguâ
He spends all day badmouthing people

to badmouth, to curse (to say bad things about others)

Chiquita boca-rôto qui nôm pôde más, nôm têm fim di malinguâ pa tudo vánda!

Chiquita can't keep any secrets, she doesn't stop gossiping everywhere!


uncento

Univerbation of unga + Portuguese cento.


uncento

uncento fora

Tâ papiá uncento di parabiça

Tâ papiâ um cento pantominice

(figurative) many, a quantity, a lot, a bunch


ma-língu

Probably from Portuguese má-língua. By surface analysis, Portuguese má (“bad”) + língu (“language”).

surf

Vôs sã bem di ma língu


inventâ

Nancassá inventâ


lembrâ

From Portuguese lembrar, from Old Galician-Portuguese nembrar, from Latin memorāre.

Sentá lembrá tempo antigo,
Sã divera unga castigo.
Quelora, têm fórça di Sansám,
Agora... ai qui dôi coraçám.
Sitting there remembering old times,
Is really a punishment.
When once one had the strength of Samson,
Now... what nostalgia.


insaguâ

From Portuguese enxaguar. Related to águ.

insaguâ rópa

insaguâ vista

to enjoy looking at some pleasing thing or person; to have a wandering eye; to rinse view


inchí

From Portuguese encher, from Old Galician-Portuguese encher, from Latin implēre. Unusually, Portuguese -er shifted to Macanese -í rather than -ê (compare fazê).

Já inchí vinho na buiám


pó-bolacho

breadcrumbs or cookie crumbs intended for batter and breading


pó-bolacho

lombo pó di bolacho

bife pó bolacho


pó-brânco

Literally, “white powder”. Calque of Cantonese 白粉 (baak⁶ fan²).


curum

curum di galinha


leám

leám na cajola


fula-papaia

canje fula papaia


floristia

Possibly from Portuguese flostria, folestria or folastria, with metathesis and/or possible contamination by Portuguese flor (“flower”). Portuguese flostria further derived from Old French folastre or folastrie (modern French folâtre).


custâ

Quanto custâ?


bifalhada

From Portuguese bifalhada (“big portion of steak”), augmentative form of bife.


guní

From Portuguese grunhir, with R-dropping.

Pirú ta guní na horta.


gúni

Borrowed from Malay guni and/or English gunny, ultimately from Sanskrit गोणी (goṇī́, “sack”), from Dravidian.


intrâ idade

Quelê-môdo nos nádi
Virá ôlo intrá idade?
How can we avoid
In a twinkling turning old?

Nho-nhónha intrá idade,
Sã divera crueldade!
For women to age
Is so cruel!

Quim magro sã nuvidade.
Quelora, intrá idade.
It is unusual to find a thin person
in old age.


ravirâ

From Portuguese revirar. Related to virâ, although ra- is not productive in Macanese; nonetheless, it is common for Portuguese words beginning with re- to enter Macanese as ra-.

ravirâ cabêça

comê qui ravirâ

to stuff oneself (literally, “to eat until turning (one's intestines)”)


intrâ

Intrâ, chapâ assento

Siara já intrâ, iou sua bôlo já ficá vantú

Têm rê na bariga, nôm pôde intra unga fijám

(literally, “Has a king in the stomach, cannot enter a bean”)

Fichâ ôlo... intrá Quaresma,
Abri ôlo... já vai Quaresma.
I close my eyes, and Lent has begun,
Open my eyes, and Lent has ended.

Dia intrá, dia sai


ravirado

From Portuguese revirado. By surface analysis, ravirâ + -ado.

torto-ravirado

extended lengthwise (literally, “twisted-extended”)


ravirado

past participle of ravirâ: turned over, overturned


raspiáti

Uncertain. Variously speculated to be from either French rapiat (“avid; greedy”) or Indo-Portuguese rajputo, rasbuto, resbuto, reisbuto, a military caste in ancient Gujarat, ultimately from Sanskrit राजपुत्र (rājaputra). Semantically, the derogatory senses may have come about when the resbutos, after the Moors took over their Gujarati kingdom, turned to banditry, and were referred to as "great thieves and tyrants".

Raspiáti si sã querê
Tud'ora mostrá grandéza,
Sã têm qui onçôm gemê,
Pinchado na su pobréza.
The pauper who always goes about
Showing off grandeur,
Will end up suffering,
Cast down in his poverty.


péscu

From Portuguese pêssego, from Old Galician-Portuguese pessego, from Latin persicum (“peach”), from Persia (“Persia”). Compare Kabuverdianu pésigu.

arve di péscu