kawani

• cauani — obsolete, Spanish-based spelling

From ka- +‎ wani, according to Panganiban (1973).

Alternatively, borrowed from Malay kerani (“clerk”) (written in Jawi as کراني), ultimately from Tamil கிராணி (kirāṇi, “clerk”) or from Sanskrit करण (karaṇa, “scribe”). Theories on the linkage from Malay include:

• According to Potet (2016), when the word was introduced to Tagalog, the Jawi letter ر (r) was probably mistaken for the letter و (w).
• According to Zorc (1981), the /r/ possibly shifted to /l/ when borrowed then the /l/ was lost later on and became /w/.

• (Standard Tagalog)
  • IPA^(key): /kawaˈni/ [kɐ.wɐˈn̪ɪ]
    • Rhymes: -i
  • IPA^(key): /kaˈwani/ [kɐˈwaː.n̪ɪ] (nonstandard)
    • Rhymes: -ani
• Syllabification: ka‧wa‧ni

kawaní or kawani (Baybayin spelling ᜃᜏᜈᜒ)

1. (formal) employee

   Synonyms: empleado, tauhan

   kawani ng pamahalaan ― government employee

2. helper; aid; assistant

   Synonyms: katulong, katulungin

kawaní or kawani (Baybayin spelling ᜃᜏᜈᜒ)

1. working as an employee or helper

• “kawani”, in KWF Diksiyonaryo ng Wikang Filipino, Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino, 2024
• “kawani”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, Manila, 2018
• Noceda, Fr. Juan José de, Sanlucar, Fr. Pedro de (1860) Vocabulario de la lengua tagala, compuesto por varios religiosos doctos y graves‎^[1] (in Spanish), Manila: Ramirez y Giraudier
• Potet, Jean-Paul G. (2016) Tagalog Borrowings and Cognates, Lulu Press, →ISBN, page 103
• Panganiban, José Villa (1973) Diksyunaryo-Tesauro Pilipino-Ingles (overall work in Tagalog and English), Quezon City: Manlapaz Publishing Co., page 276
• Zorc, David Paul (1981) Core Etymological Dictionary of Filipino: Part 2, page 83