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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 ...
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A Case of Hypercorrection?

In a recent Facebook post from IFM Zamboanga, the word empeza was spelled as en feza . This immediately caught my attention. Could this be a case of hypercorrection? Ancient astronaut theorists say YES. But seriously, there is a pattern behind this. 1. The M/N shift in Chabacano Chabacano speakers often pronounce the middle n as m, especially before certain consonants. Examples: un poco → umpoco en frente → emprente This pronunciation habit might lead speakers to assume that the spelling should also change accordingly. 2. F/V/Z vs. P/B/S confusion Another common feature among Chabacano speakers is the shifting of F → P, V → B, and Z → S in actual speech. Because of this, some people tend to reverse the process when writing, thinking the “correct” form must be the opposite. Examples: gobierno → govierno (very common!) pesca → fesca (observed a long time ago in a  TV Patrol Chavacano post) These spellings come from the idea that “F and V sound more Spanish,” so people insert them ...
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The Chabacano Tifon

Today, I realized that I had been spelling the word tifon in Spanish wrong all my life. I found out that it is spelled with an O and not a U from someone in Spain who asked me if I was doing okay after the recent typhoon. I had always spelled this word as tifun because that’s how I heard it pronounced on TV Patrol Chavacano. In Chabacano, we often use the Tagalog and Visayan word bagyo for “typhoon.” However, the pronunciation in Chabacano has no stress on the last syllable, similar to how Baguio (the place) is pronounced. In fact, the only reason I know the word tifun/tifon is because of TV Patrol Chavacano. Now I’m asking myself: is this word borrowed directly from Spanish, or is it truly used in Chabacano for everyday conversations? It’s no secret that TV Patrol Chavacano borrows a lot of Spanish words. Whenever there’s a change in pronunciation between Spanish and Chabacano, it’s often a telltale sign that the word is used in daily conversations. Examples include bula (from volar, ...
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Peanuts Comics in Chabacano

I have always wanted to translate Snoopy into Chabacano so here is my first attempt at it. This was taken from Facebook, the original text erased and replaced with my Chabacano translation. I debated whether I should spell it as firme (which is the correct spelling based on the Chabacano dictionary published by the City hall) but not a lot of people use it and it looks weird or awkward for most Chabacano speakers. Pirmi is the more common spelling and that is also how we pronounce this word. Since landline telephones are no longer in use in most homes, the humor in this comic strip is probably no longer relevant. ### Second Attempt (October 10, 2025) The more natural translation would have been "dueño" because we don't call dog owners as "masters" of their dogs. However, the humor would have been lost if the word "dueño" was used. The original English word in this comic strip was "master". 
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Forming Chabacano Adjectives using 'Con'

In this blog post, we are going to learn how to express some of our physical needs in Chabacano and using the word con or 'with'. You may see this word spelled as kun or cun but the recommended spelling from Chabacano/Chavacano Lexicography is 'con'. There are three physical needs that we can express in Chabacano just by using the word con. 1. Sleep- Con Sueño (Sleepy) This is how it is used in Chabacano: - Con sueño ya yo. (I am already sleepy.) -Anda ya dormi (Go, sleep.) Con sueño in Chabacano means to be sleepy. Literally, it means 'with sleep'. 2. Hunger- Con Hambre (Hungry) This is how it is used in Chabacano: -Con hambre ba tu? (Are you hungry?) -Si, con hambre ya yo. (Yes, I am hungry.) I'm not sure if it's standard Spanish but I remember a friend who was studying Spanish at Instituto Cervantes not knowing this phrase. I think most students at Cervantes are familiar with the phrase 'tengo hambre' (I am hungry) but she made a mistake (when...
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Plural Nouns in Chabacano

  In songs and perhaps poems or formal speeches, we do tend to hear people use a plural form for Chabacano nouns. For example it's not uncommon to hear terms like mujeres , oficiales and actividades . Sometimes the word maga is also added so that it becomes maga mujeres , maga oficiales , and maga actividades . Another instance wherein Chabacano nouns seem to have a plural form is  "muchas gracias" and "las cosas" however, these phrases seem to have been transferred into the Chabacano language as they were in the originating language. There are times when it is confusing whether a noun ends in S or not. An example is the word 'pie' and 'huevo'. I swear I hear both 'pie' and 'pies' as well as 'huevo' and 'huevos'. Sometimes, people could be saying 'huevos' and 'pies' but the S gets ommitted at the end because of their accents. Some Spanish-derived words have been transferred into Chabacano in their...
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A Kahlil Gibran Poem in Chabacano

On a lazy Saturday, I decided to translate a poem written by the famous author of the book "The Prophet", Kahlil Gibran into Chabacano. "El Rio No Puede Vira" de Kahlil Gibran Tiene ta habla que antes anda para na mar,  el rio ta tembla de miedo. Ta mira 'le con el camino donde ele estaba, Desde el pico del maga monte, Hasta na largo camino para na maga gulod y maga barrio. Acabar en frente con ele ta mira 'le con el mar bien grande, Donde si ay zambulli ele, Ay guinda ele para na oscuro eternidad. Pero no hay otro camino. No puede mas vira el rio. No hay quien ta puede vira. Imposible ese. Necesita queda valiente el rio antes guinda na mar. Por medio de este manera lang ay perde el miedo, Alli ay entende el rio Hende ele necesita desaparece para na mar, Sino necesita ele queda el mar. The poem "Fear" is part of the book titled "The Prophet" written by Kahlil Gibran.
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Chronicles of Tony the Explorer

Today, we are investigating a mysterious text in Chabacano. El Renacimiento was a Filipino newspaper founded after American colonization and in fact published articles that criticized the American colonial government in the islands. In this croniquilla, an exchange is featured between a playful Spanish-speaking gentleman and a Chabacano-speaking dalaga. At first, the setting is not that clear. Were they talking about Zamboanga in a different place altogether or were they actually in Zamboanga? Was the visitor a would-be visitor to Zamboanga or was he already there. Since, the dalaga uses the word aqui when she described Zamboanga, it obviously means that they were both in Zamboanga. But were they inside the walls? Who knows. Let's divide the croniquilla into three parts and scrutinize each part separately. CRONIQUILLA Desde la tierra Samboangueña -Señorita ¿puede V. decirme si Zamboanga es bonita población? -Ati man... ¡oy Jisús! (con un tono al parecer extraido de lo más hondo de ...
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Porque by Maldita Lyrics (Original Chabacano and Translated Spanish version)

Here are the original lyrics of the song Porque by Maldita as well as a rough Spanish translation below. Original Chabacano Version: Solo-solo na mi cuarto Hinde ta puede dormi Vira-vira na cabeza El dolor yo ya senti Por que pa contigo yo ya quiere? Como bula lang tu ya perde Por que contigo yo ya escoge? Ahora mi corazon ta sufri Bien simple lang yo ta pedi Era senti tu el cosa yo ya senti Ta pedi milagro, vira'l tiempo El mali hace derecho Na de mio rezo ta pedi yo Era olvida yo contigo Todo-todo yo ya dale Ahora ta arrepenti Sobra-sobra el dolencia Tormento para vivi Por que pa contigo yo ya quiere? Como bula lang tu ya perde Por que contigo yo ya escoge? Ahora mi corazon ta sufri Bien simple lang yo ta pedi Era senti tu el cosa yo ya senti Ta pedi milagro, vira'l tiempo El mali hace derecho Na de mio rezo ta pedi yo Era olvida yo contigo No tu distorba Y no atraca kay baka palmadea yo contigo Nunc...
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How To Say 'I Love You' And 'I Hate You' In Chabacano

Saying I love you in Chabacano is a bit tricky. Most people just say 'I love you' (pronouncing the word love as lab ). But in songs or formal occasions, Chabacano speakers say 'I love you like this': ta ama yo contigo . Let’s dissect this sentence. Ta= Present tense indicator Ama= love Yo= I Contigo= you Again, you’ll only hear this in songs. You really won’t hear people saying to each other  ta ama yo contigo. Saying I hate you in Chabacano is also a bit difficult. In the dictionary of Santos (2010), the word hate in Chabacano is rabia or odia . However I’m not really sure how to use these two words in a sentence because to me ta rabia yo contigo or ta odia yo contigo just doesn’t sound natural. Rabiao yo contigo (which is something people frequently say in Chabacano) just doesn't convey the correct emotion because it means something like I am angry at you (milder than hate). So how do we say the English 'I hate you' in Chabacano? One of...
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Chabacano Possessive Pronouns and Possessive Adjectives

Chabacano possessive adjectives are exactly like Spanish however they don’t have a plural form. Possessive adjectives always come before the noun just like in Spanish and English. Here is a list of Chabacano possessive adjectives: Mi  (My) Tu  (Your) Su  (His/ Her) Chabacano: Este mi casa. English: This is my house. Chabacano: Tu sobrina ba aquel? English: Is that your niece? Chabacano: Donde su tia? English: Where is his/her aunt? Nuestro/Nuestra and Vuestra/Vuestro are not used in Chabacano (except maybe among older Chabacano speakers). The Chabacano De Zamboanga handbook by Bernardino S. Camins (1988) still has the word nuestro , however, the Chavacano de Zamboanga Compendio y Diccionario by Rolando Arquiza Santos (which was published 2010) does not list this word anymore. The Chabacano possessive adjectives are not used often and one would most probably encounter this usage when listening to Chabacano on TV or the radio. Personally, I seldom use t...
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