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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

How To Say 'Next Time' in Chabacano

I think that many Chabacano speakers would agree with me if I say that one of the many instances they would borrow words from English instead of using the Chabacano equivalent is when they say 'next time'. I believe that this is specially true for young Chabacano speakers. Next time ya lang kita come afuera. Next time ya lang kita manmirahan. Sounds familiar? 😜

So how do you say the phrase 'next time' in Chabacano? Otra vez. Two words, not one. Literally, it means another time or instance in Spanish. Here are some Chabacano sentences using this phrase.

Chabacano: Otra vez, no mas ya tu hace con ese.
English: Next time, don't do that again.

Chabacano: Otra vez ya lang yo contigo llama, cuando no hay tu cosa ta hace.
English: I'll just call you next time when you're not doing anything.

Chabacano: Otra vez ya lang yo contigo visita alli na Manila kay no hay yo sen ahora.
English: I'll visit you another time in Manila because I don't have any money right now.

Of course, the otra vez that we are talking about in this post should not be confused with the other meaning of otra vez which is: again.

Other instances wherein Chabacano speakers would borrow from English is when they say: next year, next month, and next week. The Chabacano equivalent of these phrases are na año que vienena siguiente año, na mes que viene/ na siguiente mes, na semana que viene/ na siguiente semana respectively. I'm sure that everyone who watches Chabacano news or listen to Chabacano radio is already familiar with these terms, but did you know that you can also use the phrase na + otro + año, mes, semana to mean the same thing? Here are some example sentences:

Chabacano: Na otro año ya lang daw volve canda Daisy.
English: Daisy (and company) won't be going home until next year.

Chabacano: Na otro semana pa llega el carta.
English: The letter will not arrive until next week.

I actually asked other people how they say 'next time' in Chabacano and most said otra vez but one of them gave a unique answer which is otro dia. If you substitute otra vez with otro dia in the sentences above, you'll find that it will work for the second and third sentences.

So there you go. Hopefully, this minimizes your need to use the English terms for the phrases: next time, next year, next month, and next week especially as there is a more beautiful Chabacano equivalent for them. 😀

Comments

  1. Honestly, the chabacano way to say this it's much more easier to be understood and also to be used.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Next time ya lang kita comé afuera.

    This phrase, from our generation, we used to express it this way "Otro día día ya lang kita comé afuera."

    Mucho expression puede dalé con el "Next time" pero depende na situación como ya explicá tú.


    "I'll just call you next time."
    Can also be expressed as "Otro día ya lañg yo hay llamá contigo." Or "Hay llamá ya lang yo contigo otro día."

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Amo, culpa gayod este del maga jovenes. =P

      Delete
    2. Jajaja . .
      Para mi, jendêh también culpa del mana nuevo generaciones sino del mana generaciones antiguo que no hay defendé para mantenerse por el enseñanza de la Lengua Materna de aton na Escuela o como parte de la currículo o sistema de educación na de aton Ciudad de Zamboanga.

      De ila ese culpa porque no hay sila guarda ese importante decisión antes sila ya despedí na mundo...

      Bueno pa el mana Cebuano porque ellos nunca ya hinca ni alabá el imposición hegemonía de la lengua nacional, el tagalo que disfrazada como filipino. ^_^

      Delete

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