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
In western countries, they have four seasons: winter, spring, summer, and fall or invierno, primavera, verano, and otoño in Spanish. In the Philippines, we only have two seasons: the wet and dry season or soles and tiempo de aguasero in Chabacano.
From June to December, the country is visited by more or less twenty typhoons or what they call in TV Patrol Chavacano tifun. To my knowledge though, people don’t use this word in everyday conversations. Maybe fuerte aguasero would be used more often. Most of the people however use the Tagalog word baguio (without the stress at the end).
Even the word aguasero is not that used anymore when referring to rain. Most people now use the Tagalog word ulan. A very interesting idiom using this word is: quiere cae ulan which literally means ([it] wants to fall rain). Figuratively, it means it looks like it’s about to rain. Here are some sentences using this idiom:
Chabacano: Anda pa ba kita na iglesia? Dao quiere man cae ulan.
English: Are we still going to the church? It looks like it’s about to rain.
Chabacano: Quiere cae ulan. Esta ya lang kita na casa.
English: It looks like it’s about to rain. Let’s just stay at home.
One of the reasons why I love the climate in Zamboanga city is that the temperature never goes down too low and neither does it go up too high. This is in contrast to the weather in Manila wherein during December and January, one can feel the temperature go down and during March, April, and May, one can feel the temperature go way up.
I know some people though (all of them Zamboangueños who have immigrated to Manila) who would say that it is bien caliente (very hot) in Zamboanga city. I however believe that this is an artificial feeling brought about by the fact that there aren’t many tall buildings in Zamboanga city that would provide shade from the sun in contrast to Manila.
What’s good about the weather in Zamboanga city is that it is outside of the typhoon belt. Not one typhoon has visited Zamboanga city in the past. This (I was told) was because of the mountain range that surrounds it. We experience strong rains every now and then but not like in Manila where it is accompanied by fuerte viento or strong winds.
From June to December, the country is visited by more or less twenty typhoons or what they call in TV Patrol Chavacano tifun. To my knowledge though, people don’t use this word in everyday conversations. Maybe fuerte aguasero would be used more often. Most of the people however use the Tagalog word baguio (without the stress at the end).
Even the word aguasero is not that used anymore when referring to rain. Most people now use the Tagalog word ulan. A very interesting idiom using this word is: quiere cae ulan which literally means ([it] wants to fall rain). Figuratively, it means it looks like it’s about to rain. Here are some sentences using this idiom:
Chabacano: Anda pa ba kita na iglesia? Dao quiere man cae ulan.
English: Are we still going to the church? It looks like it’s about to rain.
Chabacano: Quiere cae ulan. Esta ya lang kita na casa.
English: It looks like it’s about to rain. Let’s just stay at home.
One of the reasons why I love the climate in Zamboanga city is that the temperature never goes down too low and neither does it go up too high. This is in contrast to the weather in Manila wherein during December and January, one can feel the temperature go down and during March, April, and May, one can feel the temperature go way up.
I know some people though (all of them Zamboangueños who have immigrated to Manila) who would say that it is bien caliente (very hot) in Zamboanga city. I however believe that this is an artificial feeling brought about by the fact that there aren’t many tall buildings in Zamboanga city that would provide shade from the sun in contrast to Manila.
What’s good about the weather in Zamboanga city is that it is outside of the typhoon belt. Not one typhoon has visited Zamboanga city in the past. This (I was told) was because of the mountain range that surrounds it. We experience strong rains every now and then but not like in Manila where it is accompanied by fuerte viento or strong winds.
In Caviteño, I've heard aguacero, lluvia, and baguio (with the stress on the 1st syllable!).
ReplyDeleteAlso, regarding your post on Mar 31st 2013, I've also heard: "¿Recio ba el baguio el mes pasado?"
Thanks for sharing. Very interesting!
ReplyDelete