chifa

See also: chífǎ, chǐfǎ, and chǐfà

Spanish

FWOTD – 28 March 2019

Etymology

Unknown. Perhaps from Cantonese 煮飯／煮饭 (zyu2 faan6). The Comisión Lexicografía de la Academia Peruana (CLAP) proposed that it is from Cantonese 食飯喇 (sik6 faan6 laa3).

Compare Spanish chaufa, from Cantonese 炒飯／炒饭 (caau2 faan6).

Sometimes said to be from Mandarin 吃飯／吃饭 (chīfàn), but this is improbable as the Chinese Peruvians are from southern China.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃifa/ [ˈt͡ʃi.fa]
• Rhymes: -ifa
• Syllabification: chi‧fa

Noun

chifa m (plural chifas)

1. (South America) a Chinese restaurant
   • 1997, Matilde Artés, Manuel Vázquez Montalbán, Crónica de una desaparición: la lucha de una abuela de Plaza de Mayo [Chronicle of a Disappearance: the Fight of a Grandmother of the Plaza de Mayo]:

     Tenía muchas expectativas, de modo que para aliviar las tensiones, esa noche me reuní con Juan y con sus hijos para cenar en una chifa.

     I had many expectations, so in order to relieve the tension, that night I joined Juan and his children for dinner at a Chinese restaurant.

2. Peruvian Chinese cuisine

Derived terms

• chifita

 

Further reading

• “chifa”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014