kuwan

• IPA^(key): /kuˈan/ [kuˈwan̪]
• Hyphenation: ku‧wan

kuwán (Basahan spelling ᜃᜓᜏᜈ᜔)

1. so-and-so, whatchamacallit

   Synonyms: kuyan, ano

• coan, couan — obsolete, Spanish-based orthography

Possibly either from the following:

• From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *kuan (“to speak, talk”), or derived from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *kua (“whatchamacallit”). Cognate with Ilocano kua, Cebuano kuan, Bikol Central kuwan, Tausug kuwan, Karo Batak er-kuan (“to speak”), and Tontemboan kuan (“what is said or thought”). See also Kapampangan kayi.
• From Sanskrit क्व (kva, “somewhere”), according to Potet (2016).
• From a corruption of Spanish cuál (“what”), according to Panganiban (1973). See also Spanish cuan.

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /kuˈan/ [ˈkwan̪]
• Rhymes: -an
• Syllabification: ku‧wan

kuwán (Baybayin spelling ᜃᜓᜏᜈ᜔)

1. so-and-so, whatchamacallit (placeholder name for a person or thing)

   Synonyms: ano, eme, kiyeme

   Nakita mo ba si kuwan? Ipapadala niya kasi dapat yung kuwan ko sa kuwan.

   Did you see the guy? Because he's supposed to send my thing to the place.

• “kuwan”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, Manila, 2018
• Potet, Jean-Paul G. (2016) Tagalog Borrowings and Cognates, Lulu Press, →ISBN, page 286
• Panganiban, José Villa (1973) Diksyunaryo-Tesauro Pilipino-Ingles (overall work in Tagalog and English), Quezon City: Manlapaz Publishing Co., page 327
• San Buena Ventura, Fr. Pedro de (1613) Juan de Silva, editor, Vocabulario de lengua tagala: El romance castellano puesto primero‎^[1], La Noble Villa de Pila
  • page 327: “Fulano) Covan [(pc)] bordonçillo que tienen eſtos como en eſpañol como [ſe llama], pero eſtos ncada paſo lo diçen como noſe acuerden del nombre propio, vt. [ſi covan] [ſi caſambil], ſulano caſambil.”
  • page 358: “Hulano) Covan [(pc)] bordonçillo vſado entre eſtos ſiao ſe acuerdan de lo quee van a deçir, vt. covã dico naalala, como ſe diço a que nome acuerdo, ſi covan, hulano”
• Blust, Robert; Trussel, Stephen; et al. (2023) “*kuan₂”, in the CLDF dataset from The Austronesian Comparative Dictionary (2010–), →DOI
• Blust, Robert; Trussel, Stephen; et al. (2023) “*kua-n”, in the CLDF dataset from The Austronesian Comparative Dictionary (2010–), →DOI

• kunwa