“KUAN”
I was at the hallway when “Hey, Charlene kuan kaayo ka ay… “ my classmate Rhodesa always used the term “kuan” whenever she’s talking to me or when she’s preferring to something. When I got home my mom would tell me to kuan my things so it won’t be mess. Every day kuan term is always term that I always hear. And I was wondering what really kuan means?
Kuan is generally used as bisaya expression term that used to pause word to fill in when the speaker cannot think of the right word (example: um…, well). It is commonly used by the Cebuano sentence. But kuan somehow used as other term in other places. According to the 2010 United States Census, “Kuan is the 20676th most common surname in the United States, belonging to 1280 individuals. It is most common among Asian/Pacific Islander (82.19%) individuals”. Kuan term spread throughout years, Cebuano is not the only one who used this term in an everyday life but also Kagay-anon, Boholano, Pagadianon and other places in Visayas and Mindanao used this famous term with the same meaning as it is. However, my close friend Eliza once told me about this goddess in China namely Guan Yin that spelt Kuan Yim which means their Goddess name of Compassion, Mercy and Kindness is considered to be a mother-goddess and patron of seamen. It is the short form for Kuan-Shi Yin, meaning- observing the sounds (or cries) of (human) world. She told me that this Goddess is highly respected among all Asian cultures.
Kuan is a universal bisaya word used if a person is uncertain of something. As I was sitting in this cozy sofa couch, thinking that learning bisaya expression is easy but who would have taught that common bisaya expression has different meaning in different places.