Kampong

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Kampong or kampung is a word in Malay and Indonesian language which means "village".

The word is also a common title for names of places in Cambodia, (where the name has further been applied to regions), Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore which, although modern, retains the word "kampong" for historical purposes.

In Indonesia, people who are deemed to behave in uncivilised manner are often called kampungan (village-like).

"Kampung chicken" means free-range chickens raised on a small scale in a homeowner's backyard or even loose in the neighbourhood, not necessarily in a village - one can find kampung chicken in the suburbs.

[edit] Anglicisation

The standardised (baku) spelling in Malay is kampung. The word kampong has also been anglicised and is commonly used in the regional versions of the English languages - e.g. in Singlish or Manglish. For example, although the plural of the word in Malay is kampung-kampung meaning villages, the same word when used in a (mostly) English sentence will take the form kampungs taking the -s suffix as is the common English rule of forming plurals.

e.g.
What kampung you from? - Which village are you from?
The kampungs here so modern ah? - Are the villages here so modern?. (indicating surprise)
The holiday season is here again! Are you planning to balik kampung? - Are you planning to go back home / visit your hometown?

[edit] Other uses

The word 'kampung' in Malay when used as an adjective is an insult with a meaning 'not equivalent to', in the sense of being unsophisticated and to illustrate a person of a 'lesser culture'. An example would be "kau ni kampung sial!"