Skip to main content

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 ...

Origins of the Chabacano Encanta

The Chabacano word encanta would often be heard in the boutiques, department stores, and malls in Zamboanga city. The word encanta in Chabacano usually means to fall in love with a thing. It is used mostly when shopping or window shopping.

Here is a dialogue between two friends shopping in the mall:

Pilar: Fred, mira tu este camisa. Dao ta encanta man yo con este.
Fred: Cuanto man ese?
Pilar: Doscientos lang. Cosa tu ta pensa? Compra ba yo con este?

Here is the English version of this Chabacano dialogue:

Pilar: Fred, look at this dress. I think I like this dress.
Fred: How much is that?
Pilar: It’s only two hundred (pesos). What do you think? Will I buy this?

Here is another one:

Pilar: Anteayer, ya anda yo na mall y tiene yo ya encanta aretes.
Fred: Ansina? Ay, bien mucho ya gane gayod tu aretes.

Here is the English translation:

Pilar: The day before yesterday, I went to the mall and there was an earring that really got my attention.
Fred: Really? But you already have a lot of earrings.

As you very well may have observed, the Chabacano word encanta is used to mean great liking on an item (primarily) when shopping. I personally would use it when I “fall in love” or get fixated with something that I saw on the mall like a watch for example.

In Spanish, the word encantar means to 'love something' or 'to be bewitched'. It is commonly used to express likes and dislikes. Here is an example of how it is commonly used in Spanish,

Spanish: Me encanta leer libros.
English: I love reading books.


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

Comments

  1. Quilaya gale este, "Su Hermosura se Encantada"?

    jendeh man este un cosa sino un gente o persona esp. una mujer.

    ReplyDelete
  2. To be honest, I haven't heard this phrase before. I think it's not being said anymore today. Anyway, I think what is being referred to here is the beauty and not the person. I think the sentence roughly translates to I like your beauty. So it's not really the person that we're liking, but the beauty of that person.

    ReplyDelete
  3. si! correcto tu.

    ya lee yo este na un libro zamboangueño... actualmente ese es un poema para con un mujer que el hombre ta ama gayot.

    tambien ya olvida ya yo el tema de este libro pero sabe lang yo el color que verde.

    na ese libro hay puede tambien encontra todo el mana adivinanza, proverbios, poemas, canciones de amor, de alabanza, de despedida, de harana, et.al., tambien el mana historia acerca el cada barrio del ciudad de zamboanga, mismo el fortaleza del pilar, tambien el mismo ciudad de aton.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

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...

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...

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 ...