quelê

See also: quele and quelé

Macanese

Etymology

Univerbation of Portuguese que laia (“what way”), where laia was pronounced as if spelt *leia in early Macanese. Doublet of qui laia.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /keˈle/

Determiner

quelê

1. which

   Synonym: qui

Derived terms

• quelê-môdo (“how”, literally “in what way”)
• quelê tánto (“any amount; a lot, many”)

Adverb

quelê

1. very, well

   Êle já ficâ quelê afinado ― He became very angry

Usage notes

• Like qui, quelê can be used to connect a noun with an adjective, similarly to Portuguese bem, for example:

  Irmandade quelê unido ― close-knit siblings (literally, “siblings well connected”)

  fruta quelê maduro ― ripe fruit (literally, “well-ripe fruit”)

Further reading

• https://www.macaneselibrary.org/pub/english/uipatua.htm