Origins of the Chabacano Pono

The word for tree in Chabacano is pono. This word obviously comes from the Tagalog puno which means the same thing. I recently have found out though, that this word also exists in the Chavacano de Ternate. Now, because the Chavacano de Ternate is known to have existed before the Chabacano de Zamboanga, I believe that it is more correct to say that the word comes from the Chavacano de Ternate instead of Tagalog.

Although the Spanish word arbol also exists in the Chabacano de Zamboanga, it is not used anymore by today’s youth. Most young people wouldn’t probably even know the meaning of the word arbol. Both the words arbol and pono exist in the Chavacano de Ternate.

Here are some examples of how the word pono is used in Chabacano.

Chabacano: Cosa clase de pono ese?

English: What kind of a tree is that?

Chabacano: Pono de mangga ba ese?

English: Is that a mango tree?

Chabacano: Necesita kita siembra mas mucho pono.

English: We need to plant more trees.