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Showing posts from February, 2011

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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9 Chabacano Words You Didn't Know Were From Hiligaynon (Ilonggo)

Most people think that the Chabacano in Zamboanga is Spanish mixed with Cebuano (Bisaya) and the Chavacano in Cavite is Spanish mixed with Tagalog. However, I have recently discovered that there are some Chabacano de Zamboanga words that actually came from Hiligaynon (Ilonggo). The first word that I discovered was of Hiligaynon origin is amon . When I learned that this word which we use a countless number of times in daily speech is of Hiligaynon origin, I immediately set out to find other words in Chabacano which are from that language. I just couldn’t believe that only a single Hiligaynon word can creep into Chabacano and a pronoun at that! Here are ten Chabacano words that you may not know were from the Hiligaynon language. 1. Subay (Ant) Chabacano: Tiene subay na tuyo detras. Hiligaynon: May subay sa likod mo. English: There are ants on your back. 2. Hutik (Whisper) Chabacano: Tiene yo cosa man hutik contigo. Hiligaynon: May hutik ko sa imo. English: I have someth...
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The Chabacano Tiene and No hay

Last week, I was listening to a friend of mine teach our colleague at work how to speak Chabacano. Now since this person spoke Spanish it made things a bit easier. It was strange to find out though that Chabacano grammar is not at all that simple. My friend told this person that in Chabacano when asking someone if he/she has something, you simply have to say tiene + pronoun + thing. An example is this: Chabacano: Tiene tu comida? Spanish: Tienes comida? English: Do you have (any) food This person told me tiene yo pregunta (which was correct) and then I asked him cosa tuyo pregunta ? This was where he made a mistake because he said no tiene yo pregunta . That was when I realized that the rule he was taught only applies to positive sentences. However, in the negative, it should be no + hay + pronoun + thing. Here is a negative response to the sample sentence above: Chabacano: No hay yo comida Spanish: No tengo comida English: I don’t have any food This article was also publ...
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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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A Chabacano Christmas Song + An Interview in Spanish With A Former Zamboanga Mayor

It’s that time of the year again when we all feel generous and kind towards one another. For most of us, Christmas is a very busy time of the year with family reunions and Christmas dinners to think about. But there was a time in the not so distant past when Christmas was a quiet holiday. This is what is being described in the song that is featured in this blog post. Noche sagrao, brillante maga estrellas oh noche que el Salvador ya nacé. Por largo tiempo el mundo ya esperá se que aquí canaton el Dios hay vené. Ta gozá el mundo por este esperanza, un día nuevo hay podé llegá. Todo hincá y oí voces del ángel, oh noche divino, el Cristo ya nacé ! Divino noche, oh noche de amor! Ta llevá el luz de fe sereno y claro, y adorá con el Niño Jesús. Ta llevá el luz del cielo bien ardiente, ya llegá Magos de lejos lugar. Na un pesebre el rey de los reyes, amigo diaton, Ele ahí quedá. Sabé el Señor hacé lo que se debe, mirá con el rey y na su presencia incá. Ta aquí el ...
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