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Showing posts from March, 2012

The Little Prince By Antoine De Saint-Exupéry Is Now Available In Chabacano!

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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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Origins of the Chabacano Precura

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The Chabacano word precura  most probably comes from the Spanish word procurar . In both languages, this word means to attempt or to try to do something. I have only recently learned about the word procurar in Spanish while reading a book by Paulo Coehlo. It was then that I started to think that the Chabacano word precura most probably came from the Spanish procurar . In a book titled La Lengua Espanola en Filipinas by Antonio Quilis and Celia Casado Fresnillo , the authors also support the idea that the Chabacano word precura came from the Spanish word procurar . If you speak the Chabacano de Zamboanga, you might pronounce this word as either pricura or precura . Others even say it as picura or pecura (without the 'r'). Personally, I use  precura . Here is a Spanish sentence that I took from the WordReference Forums which I will be translating into the Chabacano de Zamboanga: Spanish: Procura que no se escape el amor como agua entre tus manos. Chabacano: Precura
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Origins of the Chabacano Chucha

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When you hear the Chabacano word chucha, it doesn’t sound like it is a Spanish word. However, according to a book (La Lengua Espanola en Filipinas by Antonio Quilis and Celia Casado-Fresnillo), the Chabacano word chucha comes from the Spanish achuchar. In Spanish, the word achuchar means penetrar con algo punzante (to penetrate with something sharp). I guess this means poking in English. Wordreference.com defines the word achuchar to shove. In Chabacano, the word chuchar means to shove something in or to insert something. Here are sample sentences of how this word is used in Chabacano: Chabacano: Ya chucha yo mi dedo na agujero English: I shoved or pushed my finger inside a hole. Chabacano:  Hinay hinay lang chucha conel earbuds na orejas. English: Be careful when inserting earbuds in your ears. Another meaning of achuchar in Spanish is petting (as in making out). It can also mean to pressure someone to do something. These meanings are not present in Chabacano though. The d
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Mi Ciudad de Zamboanga Lyrics (Original Chabacano and Translated Spanish version)

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Original Chabacano Version: Desde'l dia de mi nacimiento Hasta que ya llega yo engrandece Pirmi yo ta oi Tu nombre alaba maga residentes de aquí. Siempre 'se na mi pensamiento por eso bien deficil yo puede olvida bien amable'l maga jente con carino ta sirvi por eso todo bien contento ta vivi Mi ciudad de Zamboanga desde antes popular donde ta reina-el amor bajo tierra proteccion de La Virgen del Pilar Mi ciudad de Zamboanga tema d'este mi cancion came siempre ay ama ese nombre ta lleva na di amon Corazon Translated Spanish Version of the Chabacano song Mi Ciudad De Zamboanga: Desde el día de mi nacimiento. Hasta que yo crecí. Siempre escucho Su nombre se alaba al pueblo Zamboangueño Siempre está en mi pensamiento Por eso no puedo olvidar La gente es muy amable. Se sirve con cariño. Por eso todo vive contento. Mi ciudad de Zamboanga. Desde antes popular. Donde el amor reina. Bajo la protección de La Virgen del Pilar Mi ciudad de
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Origins of the Chabacano Corazonada

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It’s funny how one word means one thing in Spanish and another thing in Chabacano. Take the word corazonada for example. In Chabacano, corazonada means to have feelings for somebody or a crush. In Spanish, it means to have a gut feeling or a hunch. Now if you speak Chabacano, you probably won’t be able to recognize the word that I’m talking about in this form. You probably know it more as cursunada . Yes, those two are one and the same. I don’t know if there’s still anyone who would pronounce this word as corazonada as most people I know would say cursunada . Here is an example of how this word would be used in Chabacano de Zamboanga: Chabacano: Corazonada contigo aquel gente English: That guy has a crush on you The word corazonada also is sometimes used to mean preference. Here is an example: Chabacano: Cosa tu alli cursunada? English: Which one do you like? The corazonada is also present in Tagalog, although I rarely hear people use it. According to this blog pos
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Fiestas: A Story from the Past in Chavacano

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Today, because I am unable to sleep and my housemate has the radio’s volume on maximum, I have decided to translate one article from that blog which was written in the Chavacano de Cavite to the Chabacano de Zamboanga. Here is the original article written in Chavacano de Cavite: Ung anyo ya desde ya escribi yo aqui na blog. Que mucho ya ya pasa. Tiene ya niso nuevo presidente y nuevo gobyerno. Pero maski no ma yo ta hace post aqui, tiene pa rin ta le, y ta escribi conmigo. Abajo el comment de Senior Gallo, porcasa fiesta ya naman, y tiempo ya tambien para culda el mga cuento de ayer: Un cuento del pasado. Hola para los legitimos chabacanos del ciudad del Cavite. Fiesta ya naman. Celebaracion katakot takot. Mucho handa puro gastos hasta el ano nuevo. Ta culda yo cuando diquel chiquito pa nisos mi mga hermano y hermana, ta desperta nisos temprano porcasa ta oi nisos con el mga banda del musico qui ta pasa na calle Lopez Jaena. Y mi aguelo ta cumpra el potu y cochinta para co
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The Chabacano Uste

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I recently invited my mom and her younger brother to a dinner at a restaurant in Manila. Listening to them talk was really fascinating because they are about the only people I know who would use uste  ( usted ) when speaking in Chabacano. Here is an exchange e that I heard from them during our dinner. Younger brother: Que tal man uste ate? Mom: Enbuenamente man. Donde man vos ( bo ) ahora ( ara ) ta queda gale? Younger brother: Alla cerca na casa de mio amigo. Notice that the younger sibling uses uste  and the older one uses vos . What’s stranger is that they don’t use tu . I only find this usage of uste  in my mom’s family. A few months ago, I have heard two people speaking to each other in Chabacano at the airport. They have clearly just met each other judging from their conversation but I was surprised to hear them use uste  on each other. And yes, I was eavesdropping. When I asked an uncle of mine what he knows about the Chabacano uste , he said that he and his friends wh
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Philippine Elections in Chavacano de Cavite

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This is a conversation between a blogger and her grandma in Chavacano de Cavite regarding an election day in the Philippines. This conversation was taken from Habla Chabacano which is a blog about the Chavacano de Cavite. I will be translating the conversation to the Chabacano de Zamboanga and will point out differences between the Chabacano de Zamboanga and the Chavacano de Cavite that I will find. The English translation is courtesy of the blogger at  Habla Chabacano . This is the original conversation in Chavacano de Cavite: My Grandmother (MG): Temprano yo ya anda na Cavite. Ya kumbida Lauring con niso alla ya lang daw almusa. Al llegando alla, que mucho genti. Mucho ya atraca comigo, hija daw de si quien. No ma yo ta conoci. Muchong mucho genti, kalat na kalat, ta lluvi de papel. Pobre naman ilo si no gana. Me: Ya escribi tu plojo. MG: Plojong plojo yo. Ya haci yo claro para pudi ilo le. Me: Con quien tu ya vota? MG: Con Aquino siyempre Diyes nombre lang. No hay kasi
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Porque by Maldita Lyrics (Original Chabacano and Translated Spanish version)

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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 Nunca acepta Si tu ay vira por el dolor ya senti Por que contigo yo ya escoge? Ahora mi corazon ta suf
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How To Say 'I Love You' And 'I Hate You' In Chabacano

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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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How to say I Miss You in Chabacano

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In Facebook groups, a lot of people, even Chabacano speakers themselves, seem to be wondering how to say 'I miss you' in Chabacano. Most Chabacano speakers get away with just saying tan miss ya yo contigo . However, the verb miss is still untranslated. The English verb to miss (someone or something) may very well be untranslatable. I googled I miss you in Tagalog  and I nearly fell off my chair when I saw what Google Translate had to say: In very formal Tagalog, one can say nangungulila ako sa iyo although it will probably make you cringe saying it. Most formal Chabacano translations of I miss you  are similar; they will make you cringe saying them. Besides, most people wouldn't understand you anyway, if you use them. In Cebuano, they actually have a translation for I miss you  and that is gimingaw kaayo ko nimo. I'm not sure though if Cebuano speakers actually say this. My friend tells me that it's more common to hear people say namiss na ta ka which if yo
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