浮羅交怡 / 浮罗交怡
Fúluójiāoyí
Langkawi is expressed in Mandarin as 浮羅交怡 / 浮罗交怡 (Fúluójiāoyí) or 蘭卡威 / 兰卡威.
Meaning: Island in Kedah (name)
Ways to say it
| Mandarin | Romanization (Wiktionary) |
|---|---|
| 浮羅交怡 / 浮罗交怡 | Fúluójiāoyí |
| 蘭卡威 / 兰卡威 | Lánkǎwēi |
These terms refer to the island located in the state of Kedah.
Which one should you use?
蘭卡威 / 兰卡威 (Lánkǎwēi) is the standard phonetic transliteration used in modern Mandarin. In contrast, 浮羅交怡 / 浮罗交怡 (Fúluójiāoyí) is an older, more classical transliteration that is less common in contemporary travel contexts.
How does it change in a sentence?
To specify 'Langkawi Island' in a sentence, you can add the word 島 (dǎo, island) to the end of the name, forming 蘭卡威島.
How do you pronounce it?
Fúluójiāoyí
Did you know?
- The name 浮羅交怡 is actually a translation of 'Pulau Langkawi' rather than just 'Langkawi'. The first two characters 浮羅 (fúluó) serve as a phonetic approximation of the Malay word Pulau, meaning 'island'.
- If you see 浮羅交怡 on a traditional business sign in Malaysia, it often signals that the establishment has deep historical roots or was founded by an older generation of Chinese settlers.
- The modern name 蘭卡威 is a purely phonetic construction, meaning the characters were chosen solely for their sounds and carry no actual meaning related to the island.
Example sentences for Mandarin are not verified yet.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “langkawi” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries 浮羅交怡, CC BY-SA 4.0.
