kakitangan
See also: kaki tangan
Malay
Etymology
From kaki (“foot”) + tangan (“hand”), i.e. “hands and feet” - in contrast to kepala, meaning "head" (both in anatomical and social sense) but also "leader".
Pronunciation
- Rhymes: -an
Noun
kakitangan (plural kakitangan-kakitangan, informal 1st possessive kakitanganku, 2nd possessive kakitanganmu, 3rd possessive kakitangannya)
- staff, personnel
Usage notes
The word is part of false friends between Standard Malay and Indonesian due to shared etymology. The Indonesian usage can be seen in Indonesian kaki tangan.
Further reading
- “kakitangan” in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu | Malay Literary Reference Centre, Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017.