kaukau

Etymology

Related to chow-chow, from Chinese Pidgin English.

Noun

kaukau

1. food

Verb

kaukau

1. to eat

   Horse no kaukau cow kaukau, cow kaukau cow kaukau!

   Horses don't eat cows' food, cows eat cows' food!

Etymology

Borrowed from Tok Pisin kaukau.

Noun

kaukau

1. sweet potato

References

• Sálán má Worwor Talas uri tan Kuir Wor Sursurunga‎, Papua New Guinea: Summer Institute of Linguistics, 2018, page 295

Pronunciation

• Audio (Kenya):

  (file)

Noun

kaukau class IX (plural kaukau class X)

1. potato crisp, potato chip

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

kaukau

1. potato or sweet potato
   • 1995, John Verhaar, Toward a reference grammar of Tok Pisin: an experiment in corpus linguistics‎, →ISBN, page 433:

     Mekim olsem pinis, orait tupela i planim taro na banana, na kumu, painap, kon, tomato, na kaukau tu.

     After doing this, the two of them planted taro and bananas, and vegetables, pineapple, corn, tomatoes, and sweet potatoes as well.

Etymology

From Proto-Polynesian *kau-kau. Cognates include Hawaiian ʻauʻau and Samoan 'au'au.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈka.u ˈka.u]
• Hyphenation: ka‧u‧ka‧u

Verb

kaukau

1. (intransitive) to swim

References

• R. Simona, editor (1986), Tokelau Dictionary‎, Auckland: Office of Tokelau Affairs, page 145

Verb

kaukau

1. to wash