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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

4 Simple And Polite Ways To Give Advice In Chabacano

Here are four simple ways on how you can give advice effectively and politely in Chabacano.


1. Put yourself in the shoes of the other person

One very good way to introduce an advice in English is by saying ‘if I were you…’. Giving an advice this way is very tactful and polite. This translates to si yo contigo... in Chabacano.

Here are some examples:

Chabacano: Si yo contigo, dona yo cen para na mga pobre.
English: If I were you, I would donate money to the poor.

Chabacano: Si yo contigo,anda yo na iglesia *todo'l semana.
English: If I were you, I would go to church every week.

As you may have noticed, would + verb is expressed in the future tense in Chabacano. If you have a hard time figuring out why I’m saying the verbs presented above are in the future tense form, just note that there is no ya nor ta in front of the verb. In this context, it can’t be in the imperative tense either. Thus, you can conclude it is in the future tense. As I have discussed in a different blog post, the future tense marker ay is very rare in Chabacano, it is only used for emphasis. Of course, if you add the word ay in any of the sentences above, it would still/also be correct.

2. Turn your advice into a question

To be more diplomatic, we can turn our advice into questions. In Chabacano, one way of doing that is by saying hinde ba mas bueno si… (wouldn’t it be better if…).

Here are some examples:

Chabacano: **Hinde ba mas bueno si tu el anda aqui?
English: Wouldn’t it be better if you will be the one who would go here?

Chabacano: Hinde ba mas bueno si esta ya lang kita na casa?
English: Wouldn’t it be better if we would just stay at home?

3. Make a subtle suggestion

Another way to give an advice is by making suggestions. In Chabacano, one good way of doing that is by saying si conmigo tu pregunta… (if you ask me…).

Chabacano: Si conmigo tu pregunta, malo ese cosa tu ta hace.
English: If you ask me, what you are doing is bad.

Chabacano: Si ***conmigo tu pregunta, hinde tu debe dale conele cen.
English: If you ask me, you shouldn’t give him (any) money.

4. Just be frank

Sometimes, we just need to be blunt about it so that the other person will listen to us. A very good way of doing that is by saying debe tu/ necesita tu... (you ought to/ you need to). And no, you shouldn't use dapat because it is not a Chabacano word! 😠😜😂

Chabacano: Debe ya gayod kita move para na bien del de aton pais.
English: We should really act now for the good of our country.

Chabacano: Necesita tu volve na Zamboanga ahora mismo!
English: You have to go home to Zamboanga right now!

Just for fun, I made up some very contemporary Chabacano sentences using dapat which you will more likely hear on the streets or read on social media websites.

Chabacano: Dapat numa (no mas) ya tu mansmoke.
English: You ought to stop smoking.

Chabacano: Dapat ya gad (gayod) ka busca boyfriend kay man thirty ya ka next year.
English: You really should start looking for a boyfriend already because you will be turning thirty next year.

When I told a friend that most people who work at KCC speak Tagalog, she told me dapat sana man Chavacano pa rin. And I was like did she just say that in Chabacano or Tagalog? 😛

*todo'l is a contraction of todo and el
**hinde is pronounced as hindeh or hendeh (h as in ham and glottal e)
***conmigo is normally pronounced and spelled as kumigo

This article was also published in Riquezas: Chabacano Essays and Studies Volume II (an annual journal published by the Local Government of Zamboanga).

Comments

  1. Jerome:

    Me gusta mucho tu blog. ¡Felicidades! ¿Por qué no escribes sobre las contracciones en Chabacano? Aquí usas todo'l. También he visto entre'l, sobre'l, desde'l. ¿Existen más?

    Un abrazo de un latinoamericano a un hermano latinoasiático.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hola! Voy a tratar de escribir sobre las contracciones en Chabacano algun dia! Gracias por su sugerencia.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Jerome:

    I love your blog and read it all the time...congratulations!

    I watch TV Patrol Chavacano on a regular basis, as I am learning Chabacano de Zamboanga. Last week I heard one of the reporters say 'Maga parque lleno de maga vivientes ar llegar el noche'. Since I speak Spanish, I understood the meaning. However, the 'ar llegar' part caught my ear. Is this an expression?

    'Parques llenos de ciudadanos/habitantes al llegar la noche'
    'Parks full of citizens when/as soon as the night comes'

    Are there other expressions in Chabacano using ar + verb ending in 'r'?

    Regards

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi. It's nice to know that you're learning Chabacano. The expression al + verb ending in r does exist in Chabacano. It means exactly the same as in Spanish. It is mostly used in the news or in formal occasions.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Jerome,

    Thanks you so much for your explanation on the al + verb ending in 'r'.

    1. 'P' and 'f' alternate in Chabacano. Pilipinas = Filipinas. In Mexico the men named Francisco are affectionately called Pancho.

    2. 'R' and 'l' alternate as well. ar llegar = al llegar. This 'r-l' alternation also occurs in Cuban, Dominican, and Puerto Rican Spanish. Thus, Puerto Rico becomes Puelto Lico.

    ReplyDelete

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