Huan-a

Huan-a
Hàn-jī番仔
Pe̍h-ōe-jīHoan-á
Tâi-lôHuan-á

Huan-a (Chinese: 番仔; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: hoan-á) is a Hokkien-language term used by Hokkien speakers in multiple countries, namely mainland China, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia, etc. The word itself when dissected means ; hoan; 'foreign', + ; á; 'diminutive noun suffix', but to the ethnic Chinese that settled overseas in Taiwan and Maritime Southeast Asia, it soon came to refer to native Southeast Asians and Taiwanese aborigines.