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The Little Prince By Antoine De Saint-Exupéry Is Now Available In Chabacano!

While Le Petit Prince (The Little Prince) written by Antoine De Saint-Exupéry in 1943 now has over 300 translations in different languages worldwide and is now considered the world’s most translated book (not counting religious works), there have been surprisingly only two translations of his book in the Philippines (Filipino and Bicol). El Diutay Principe is only the third edition featuring a Philippine language. The Little Prince is a classic French novella about a pilot who gets stranded in the desert after a plane crash and encounters a little fellow who asks him to draw a sheep for him. Through the course of their meeting, the pilot rediscovers the true meaning of life and what people should value the most. When I came across the book in 2013, I found that I could relate very well to the negative image given to “growing up” in the book. When the idea to translate the book into my mother tongue was presented to me, I didn’t think twice. I thought, ‘a lot of people my

Mi Hermano, El Caviteno

In my short existence on this planet, I have come to realize that one of the most important tools of diplomacy in this world is language. If you speak the language of a certain group of people, that makes forming a relationship with them much easier. Forming friendships with someone is also easier if you speak a common language.

It has come to me as a surprise to know that Zamboangueños and Caviteños speak a (almost) mutually intelligible language. I have known for a long time that the cities of Cavite and Zamboanga are sister cities however what surprises me is the apparent lack of fondness between the two groups of people. I have recently come into contact with some Caviteños in a Facebook group called Chabacano Siempre and I feel a strong connection with these people that it made me want to write an article encouraging Zamboangueños to mingle more with Caviteños who we can practically call our brothers in the far north. Below are some conversations that I've had with some Caviteños in Chabacano and English.











As you may have noticed, Zamboangueños can converse with Caviteños using their own Chabacano languages and we still would understand each other! There are differences of course, but they are not too many to hinder comprehension. Take note though that the people present in the above conversation are speaking the Chavacano in Cavite city and not the Chavacano in Ternate, Cavite (or what is known as Bahra).

I hope that one day there will be more interactions between the Zamboangueños and Caviteños because we obviously share a part of history with each other and that we will be sister cities not just on paper but also in our actions and emotions. 💙

Comments

  1. Gracias na tu informacion Jerome!
    yo tambien tene un amigo y compañero na fb, un Bahra Hablante ele de Ternate.

    ta entende kame uno otros..

    pero amo lang gane, mas ta entende le conmigo que yo con ele por causa na maga pronombres
    kame/kita = mijotros/motro
    sila = lojotros/lotro
    kanila = con eli o con ilos.


    pero ahora, ta puede ya gat yo entende.

    ya crea pa gane yo un grupo na fb para uni todos los hablantes de Chavacano "Los Chavacanos" pero hasta ahora, poco pa lang el miembro alla.

    simple lang man el objetivo de aquel grupo... para uni lang conaton todo Chavacanos, que Bahra o Caviteñ, Ermiteño si tene pa o Cotabateñ, Zamboangueño o Castellano Abakay.

    cuand gale, tene gale tambien yo amigo Cotabateñ... na mi observacion, su dialecto tene influencia Maguindanao y maranao.

    bueno hasta ya lang anay el mi comentario.


    Dios te Bendiga!


    Arondayot
    a.k.a Acer_Cyle

    ReplyDelete
  2. Well,just last Monday I posted this 😊...Glad to bump into FLN (Jun Natividad) at my favorite cafe'. Happy to catch up! And I got to practice my Chavacano! Nagkaintindihan din naman ang Caviteña and Zamboangueño eh! Si!...Verday! 😃

    ReplyDelete

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