kuwekong

Tagalog

Alternative forms

• kwekong — nonstandard

Etymology

Borrowed from Hokkien 龜公／龟公 (kui-kong, “pimp; brothelkeeper”), according to Manuel (1948). Alternatively, according to Chan-Yap (1980), it is from 雞公／鸡公 (koe-kong, “rooster; cock”), but the pronunciation "koe-kong" is not used in relevant Hokkien dialects and does not mean “rooster”, while the relevant pronunciations "koe-kang" and "ke-kang" are more phonologically distant from the word kuwekong.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /kuˈekoŋ/ [ˈkwɛː.xoŋ]
• Rhymes: -ekoŋ
• Syllabification: ku‧we‧kong

Noun

kuwekong (Baybayin spelling ᜃᜓᜏᜒᜃᜓᜅ᜔)

1. pimp; procurer; pander; person that manages prostitutes

   Synonyms: bugaw, alkahuwete

Further reading

• “kuwekong” at KWF Diksiyonaryo ng Wikang Filipino‎^[1], Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino, 2021
• “kuwekong”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, Manila, 2018
• Chan-Yap, Gloria (1980) “Hokkien Chinese borrowings in Tagalog”, in Pacific Linguistics, volume B, number 71 (PDF), Canberra, A.C.T. 2600.: The Australian National University, page 133
• Manuel, E. Arsenio (1948) Chinese elements in the Tagalog language: with some indication of Chinese influence on other Philippine languages and cultures and an excursion into Austronesian linguistics, Manila: Filipiniana Publications, page 34