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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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When Chabacano 'no' occurs...

In Spanish, the word for the English 'no' is no (without the slurring at the end). In Chabacano though, we tend to use the Tagalog hindi (pronounced hinde or hende *with a glottal sound at the end). Here are some examples:

Chabacano: Hinde ta llora si Maria
Maria is not crying

Chabacano: Hinde frio el agua
The water is not cold

However, there are some instances in Chabacano wherein Spanish no is used. Here are some examples:

Chabacano: No hay pa aqui si Maria (no hay is pronounced by locals as 'nu-ay')
English: Maria is not yet here

Chabacano: No hay llama conmigo si Maria ayer (note that if this statement is positive, it would become ya llama conmigo si Maria ayer)
English: Maria did not call me yesterday

Chabacano: No tu llora
English: Do not cry

Chabacano: No habla malo palabra
English: Do not say bad words

Chabacano: No mas estudia
English: Stop studying or do not study anymore

Chabacano: No mas anda alla
English: Stop going there or don’t go there anymore

No mas is sometimes pronounced by locals as numa or noma. These sentences can also stand without the word mas. If mas is removed, it would mean 'do not study' and 'do not go respectively'.

In summary, the Spanish no occurs in Chabacano when making negative commands and whenever no hay occurs.

If you have any grammar questions, you may post them in the comments section below.

This article was also published in the International Year of Indigenous Languages Philippines website.

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