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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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Origins of the Chabacano Chucha

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 disappearance of certain vowels in Chabacano words from its Spanish original is a common occurrence in the Chabacano language.



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

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  1. AnonymousAugust 15, 2012 at 11:09 PM

    CONGRATULATION/FELICIDADES FOR YOUR WEB JEROME. I APPRECIATE THE EFFORTS OF SOME PEOPLE TO MAINTAIN THE CHABACANO LANGUAGE AND THE LINKS WITH SPAIN. ALBERTO (MARRIED WITH A FILIPINA AND RESIDENT IN BARCELONA, SPAIN) TIOMANILA@YAHOO.ES

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