am-am

Cebuano

Alternative forms

Etymology 1

Undetermined.

Verb

am-am

  1. to appease; to mollify; to pacify

Etymology 2

Possibly onomatopoeic or possibly a reduplication of Hokkien 飲 / 饮 (ám, “rice water”)[1] and reduplication of Hokkien 唵 (ām, “to eat”, childish). Compare Tagalog am (“rice water”), Sakizaya aam (“congee”), Cantonese 飲飲食食 / 饮饮食食 (jam2 jam2 sik6 sik6).

Pronunciation

  • Hyphenation: am‧am

Noun

am-am

  1. (childish) food

Verb

am-am

  1. (childish) to eat

References

  1. ^ Douglas, Carstairs (1873) “ám-ám”, in Chinese-English Dictionary of the Vernacular or Spoken Language of Amoy, With the Principal Variations of the Chang-chew and Chin-chew Dialects. (overall work in Hokkien and English), London: Trübner & Co., page 3; New Edition, With Corrections by the Author., Thomas Barclay, Lîm Iàn-sîn 林燕臣, London: Publishing Office of the Presbyterian Church of England, 1899, page 3
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