Bien Chabacano

Posts

Hello in Chabacano

During last year's Día del Libro, I was placed in a booth along with a foundation. A guy from the foundation walked up to me and asked what “hello” was in Chabacano. My mind went into a spiral because one of my pet peeves is when I see people online say that “hello” is hola in Chabacano. I mean, you have the same issue in Tagalog or Filipino. I notice that when foreigners ask what “hello” is in Tagalog, they usually say magandang araw or kumusta, which are all indirect translations. When he saw that I was having a hard time answering the question, he said, “Oh come on, you translated Le Petit Prince but you can’t translate one simple word?” But isn’t it possible that the concept of a verbal greeting is a Western import? I mean, what if the original native greeting was just a nod or raising of the eyebrows, or even a grunt? For me, the best answer to the question “what is hello in Tagalog, Filipino, or even Chabacano?” is simply that it is also “hello.” I also wrote about the word ...

Bringing Chabacano to Life Through Stickers

Chabacano Merchandise Alert! About twenty years since I started this blog, I have now finally come around to creating some merchandise. Last year, I joined Dia del Libro, and all I had in my booth was El Diutay Principe. This year, I asked Instituto Cervantes if I could sell some merchandise aside from the book, and they agreed. So I decided to have some Chabacano stickers designed to be debuted in person at the upcoming Dia del Libro. Note that except where the name of the blog is mentioned (Bien Chabacano), I decided to spell the name of the language with a V. The Chabacano words were spelled using the system I created for El Diutay Principe, in which words deemed to be of Philippine origin are spelled using Filipino and based on how they are pronounced in Chabacano. Words from the Spanish language or any of the languages in Spain are spelled in Spanish, generally without taking into account how they are pronounced in Chabacano. This is a preview of how these stickers will be present...

The Venao is Back!

The Philippine venao has been spotted once again. Upon hearing that the once-thought-to-be-extinct Philippine deer has made a comeback, I was reminded of one of the conversations from a letter in 1883 sent to Hugo Schuchardt (a German linguist) by Jacinto Juanmartí, a priest, wherein the venao, or the Philippine deer, was mentioned. According to the distribution map of the Philippine deer, or the Rusa marianna, on Wikipedia, this animal was definitely present in almost the entire Philippine archipelago. Funny enough, the conversation from 1883 starts out like most conversations today do: Cosa el ulam? Here is the original text. -Cosa el de iño ulam -no hay nada ñora, yá andá gane yó na tiangui endenantes, no hay gayot nada que puedé comprá. -Yá jablá comigo sí Nita, taba dao tá llevá pescao el maga moro? -Nosé ñora, cay yó aga pá estaba allá, y no hay man yó mirá ní un pescao -Sí Biboy yá andá vá na sugut mirá venao? -Nóse ñora, tallí man cajá si Nita, preguntá usté si yá andá ó no ha...

Chabacano Signs at SM City Zamboanga

Back in the early 2000s, rumors of an SM Mall in Zamboanga City were always abound but theyn remained just that, rumors. At that time, there was a collective sense of despair that the city was being left behind economically compared to other cities. Having been born in the late 80s, I have never experienced the more progressive Zamboanga city that my dad talked about, famous for the Pasonanca tree house as well as beautiful mestiza dalagas. I was born at a time when there was constant news of bomb threats and the opening of a fastfood chain such as McDonalds and Jollibee felt like rain after a drought. It's very much a different story nowadays where stores only once seen in Manila are already setting up shop in Zamboanga city all the time. Today, we finally have an SM City in Zamboanga and we are going to take a look at Chabacano signs spotted during its soft opening. The first sign simply says Hola which means hello. I dont believe this is a traditional greeting in Chabacan...

Are We Seeing the First Signs of Hyperinflation?

Are we living through hyperinflation? Today, I was floored when I saw cans of luncheon meat in a locked shelf at the nearby supermarket. It instantly reminded me of the 1901 Chabacano conversation between Ticang and Buchang, where they mentioned that during the short-lived Zamboanga Republic, rice was being confiscated, causing severe food shortages. Moments like these in our history are not hard to imagine because major transitions often bring periods of hyperinflation. Ticang: Ay! Cosa ya man gane este tiempo! Nunca gayot ya observa carestia como ahora ni ya subi el precio del ganta del arroz hasta cuatro reales. Buchang: Quilaya uste, cuando el tiempo del Republica ta decomisa todo el arroz y no hay pa pode sembra ninguno cay no sabe pa quita aquel si quilaya ba quita ay queda. When I first read the word carestia in the dialogues, I did not recognize it from either Spanish or Chabacano. A bien Chabacano colleague in the office later explained that it referred to an increase in the ...

Venya and Viña: A Small Discovery Across Chabacano Variants

Languages often surprise us in the most unexpected ways. Even with a language as familiar and personal to me as Chabacano, there are moments when a small detail suddenly reveals a bigger story connecting variants, hinting at histories, or simply reminding us how alive and adaptive languages truly are. Recently, I stumbled upon one such detail. Look! The Chabacano of Cavite City also uses the term “viña!” This instantly caught my attention because, in Zamboanga Chabacano, we have “venya,” a word I’ve only connected to the Spanish ven ya (“come now”) when I started studying Spanish as a hobby while in university. This can perhaps even be a contracted "vene ya". Whether through evolution, simplification, or just natural linguistic drift, seeing a similar form in the Cavite city variant makes the connection so fascinating. For reference, I previously wrote about the Chabacano word vene, which, contrary to what many might assume, is not a standard Spanish word. You can read that p...

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 ...

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, ...

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".

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...

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...

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.

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 ...