kita orang

Malay

Alternative forms

kitorang, torang

Etymology

Calque of Hokkien 我儂 / 我侬 (góa-lâng, “we; us; our”, literally “me people”), in which kita is likely meant to be a first-person singular pronoun. Compare dia orang and kau orang, and also the development of French on (“we, person”).

Pronunciation

(short form):
- IPA^(key): [ki.to.raŋ]
  - Audio (Malaysia): (file)
- IPA^(key): [to.raŋ]
(full form, uncommon):
- (schwa-variety) IPA^(key): [ki.tə ʔo.raŋ]
  - Audio (Malaysia): (file)
- (Baku) IPA^(key): [ki.ta ʔo.raŋ]
  - Audio (Malaysia): (file)
Hyphenation: kita orang

Pronoun

kita orang

(informal) Exclusive first person plural pronoun; we, us (excluding the person spoken to).
Synonym: kami

Kita orang nak keluar makan kejap. Kau nak ikut?
We are going out to eat for a bit. You wanna come too?

Descendants

Manado Malay: torang
North Moluccan Malay: torang
Papuan Malay: kitorang

This table mostly only shows personal pronouns that are commonly used in the standard language and within the Klang Valley area.
The second person pronouns are often replaced by kinship terms, titles, or the like.
The enclitic -nya is only used obliquely (as an object or possessor).
The second person pronoun kamu is usually only used when speaking with younger speakers.

See each entry for more information.

	Singular	Plural
1^st person	saya¹ aku³	kita⁴ kami^{2 & 5} kita orang^{3 & 5}
2^nd person	awak¹ anda² awda⁸ (eng)kau³ kamu³	(2^nd person) + semua⁶ kalian² (eng)kau orang³
3^rd person	dia ia beliau⁷ -nya²	mereka² dia orang³