常在

Etymology

 * "(Hokkien) often"
 * The first character has an irregular pronunciation in this word. The Taiwanese-Japanese Dictionary (1932) considers it to be borrowed from Mandarin. Along with John Macgowan's "English and Chinese Dictionary of the Amoy Dialect" (1883), they both interpret chhiâng-chāi as "constantly present", but modern dictionaries, such as 《台灣話大詞典》, assign siông-chāi to that sense.

Verb

 * 1) to exist always; to be constantly present

Noun

 * 1)  first-class female attendant during the Qing dynasty

Adverb

 * 1)  often; frequently; usually