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 ...
12 comments

Origins of the Chabacano Amarea and Aplaya




Guess what these two words have in common.

Are they Chabacano words that have their origins in the Spanish language?

True.

But there is one more thing.

These two words added an extra 'a' at the front when they were made into Chabacano words. Yes, remove the 'a' at the beginning of these two words and you have yourselves Spanish words.

The Chabacano word amarea means 'to be dizzy' (or experience nausea). While the word aplaya means 'beach'. The word marear in Spanish means to be dizzy and the word playa in Spanish means beach.

There are other variations of the word amarea in Chabacano. Some people say almarea. Another word for amarea in Chabacano is buyung. Buyung is a word that probably originates from one of the Philippine languages that influenced Chabacano like Tausug and Hiligaynon.

Camins' Chabacano dictionary spells this word as almarria. Aside from almarria, his dictionary also has the words almarrio (diziness) and almarriao.

The word amarea has another figurative meaning in Chabacano. It can also mean to be confused.

Here are some examples of the word amarea being used in Chabacano:

Chabacano: No move que move. Ta hace vos conmigo amarea.
English: Quit moving! You're making me feel sick!

Chabacano: *Firme ya lang man yo amareao...
English: Why do I always feel dizzy....

Chabacano: Amareao man este gente!
English: This person is confused!

Chabacano: Amareao ya vos?
English: Have you gone crazy?

Chabacano: Cuando ya **llega yo na casa, bien amareao gayod yo.
English: When I arrived home, I was so nauseated.

Here are some sample Chabacano sentences using the word aplaya.

Chabacano: Mucho ba aplaya na Zamboanga?
English: Are there many beaches in Zamboanga?

Chabacano: Quiere yo anda na aplaya.
English: I want to go to the beach.

Chabacano: Cosa el nombre de aquel aplaya?
English: What is the name of that beach?  

*Spelled and pronounced by most as pirmi
**Spelled and pronounced by most as liga


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

Comments

  1. AnonymousMay 17, 2012 at 9:01 AM

    La playa = a playa = aplaya

    LOL

    ReplyDelete
  2. Carl Richard DagaleaMay 20, 2012 at 8:20 PM

    I think we also need to count in the words "afuera" and "abajo." In Spanish, they would omit the letter "a" from those words unless when motion is implied. In Chabacano for example, we say "El gato ta para afuera del casa." In Spanish, this is "El gato está (parando) fuera de la casa." (In English, that's "The cat is standing outside the house.") We say, "EL gato ta sinta abajo del bangko (o banco). In Spanish, it's "El gato está sentado bajo de la silla." (The cat is sitting under the chair.)

    When there is motion involved, the letter "a" is added. For example, "The cat walks out of the house" is "El gato está caminando afuera de la casa" and so on.......

    ReplyDelete
  3. Jerome HerreraMay 21, 2012 at 10:02 PM

    Thanks for the contribution. :D

    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...
17 comments
Read more

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 ...
9 comments
Read more

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...
98 comments
Read more