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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

Chabacano Possessive Pronouns and Possessive Adjectives

Chabacano possessive adjectives are exactly like Spanish however they don’t have a plural form. Possessive adjectives always come before the noun just like in Spanish and English. Here is a list of Chabacano possessive adjectives:

Mi (My)

Tu (Your)

Su (His/ Her)

Chabacano: Este mi casa.
English: This is my house.

Chabacano: Tu sobrina ba aquel?
English: Is that your niece?

Chabacano: Donde su tia?
English: Where is his/her aunt?

Nuestro/Nuestra and Vuestra/Vuestro are not used in Chabacano (except maybe among older Chabacano speakers). The Chabacano De Zamboanga handbook by Bernardino S. Camins (1988) still has the word nuestro, however, the Chavacano de Zamboanga Compendio y Diccionario by Rolando Arquiza Santos (which was published 2010) does not list this word anymore.

The Chabacano possessive adjectives are not used often and one would most probably encounter this usage when listening to Chabacano on TV or the radio. Personally, I seldom use this form because to me it sounds very formal. I only use this form when I am with my aunt who seems to think that my Chabacano is incorrect. 😜

Chabacano possessive pronouns are almost like the Spanish possessive pronouns.

Possessive pronouns follow the noun. They are the English mine, of ours, of yours, etc. In Spanish, the possessive adjectives modify the noun thus it needs to match the noun in subject and number. In Chabacano however, possessive pronouns modify the subject however it must match the subject in number only when it comes to the possessive pronoun your/ yours.

Here is a list of Chabacano possessive pronouns:

Mine (mio, de mio)

Yours (tuyo, de tuyo, de uste, de vos) *singular

His, hers (suyo, de suyo)

Yours (de ustedes, de vosotros)  *plural

Theirs (de ila, de inyo)

Our, ours (de amon, de aton)

Here are sample sentences using these possessive pronouns.

Chabacano: Limpio el mio.
English: Mine is clean.

Chabacano: Donde el tuyo aqui?
English: Where is yours here (or among these things)?

Chabacano: Suyo ba este?
English: Is this his?

Chabacano: Limpio el de mio mano.
English: My hands are clean.

Chabacano: Donde el de tuyo camisa aqui?
English: Where are your clothes (among these clothes)?

Chabacano: De ila ba este tijeras?
English: Is this pair of scissors theirs?

Chabacano: De suyo ese zapatos.
English: That pair of shoes is his.

De Amon vs De Aton

De amon is the equivalent of the English ‘our’, while de amon is used when saying ‘our’ including the person spoken to.

Here's an example.

Situation: Husband and wife see their baby in the nursery.

Husband says: Ese el de aton anak. (That is our child)

In this situation, husband points out to his wife their child. The child is both the wife’s (the one spoken to) and the husband’s (the person speaking).

De Ila vs De Inyo

The case between de ila and de inyo is the same. De ila is used when saying the English ‘their’ excluding the person spoken to. Meanwhile, de inyo means ‘their’ including the person spoken to. Note though that de inyo is only used among friends. I personally don’t use de inyo because it sounds a bit coarse to my ears. The same goes for de vos, I seldom use it. So even though I am with friends, I use de ustedes.

Here is a dialogue demonstrating how de ila, de inyo, de amon, and de aton are used in Chabacano.

Mario: Donde el casa de inyo familia?
Pilar: Aquel grande casa alla el casa de amon familia.
Mario: De inyo ba ese perro?
Pilar: Hinde. Del vecinos de amon ese perro.
Mario: Ah. Aquel gato, de ila ba tamen ese gato?
Pilar: Oo gaha.
Mario: Cerca lang gale de aton dos casa no?
Pilar: Oo.

Here is an English translation of the dialogue above.

Mario: Where is your family’s house?
Pilar: That big house over there is our family’s house.
Mario: Is that dog yours?
Pilar: No. That dog is our neighbor’s.
Mario: Oh I see. How about that cat, is that cat theirs also?
Pilar: I think so.
Mario: Hey, our houses are near to each other, aren’t they?
Pilar: Yeah.

I hardly ever use de uste. If you ask me, uste is gone from the vocabulary of most of the Chabacano speakers. If it still does exist, it would only be among Chabacano speakers in the rural areas of Zamboanga city. The same goes for de vosotros.

As you may have noticed, the Chabacano possessive pronouns can precede or follow the noun. You will see that the word de is placed in front of mio, tuyo, and suyo. This usage might seem strange to Spanish speakers (since it is incorrect grammar in Spanish) but it is perfectly acceptable in Chabacano. This usage though does not seem to exist in the traditional Chabacano and might even be considered as incorrect grammar by old Chabacano speakers. One will also hear Chabacano speakers put mio, tuyo, and suyo in front of the noun. For example, donde tu casa becomes donde tuyo casa. and este mi hermano becomes este mio hermano. In fact, this is the more used form among Chabacano speakers, especially among the youth. For emphasis, some people will even put el and de in front of mio, tuyo, and suyo. Some people will only put the word de (without the el) and others would only put the word el (without the de). Thus, donde tu tia can become donde tuyo tia, donde de tuyo tia, donde el tuyo tia, and donde el de tuyo tia.


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

Comments

  1. Great post! By the way, something I realized reading posts at ZdA is that older speakers usually don't put the article "el" before the possessive.
    So whereas the younger ones would say things like "Cosa el de tuyo nombre?" and "Mio nombre __", the eldery seem to say "Cosa tuyo nombre?" and "El de mio nombre __". Is that really so?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Yuji. Yes that's true. The el is not very used among people who speak traditional Chabacano (although it is just an emphasizer anyway).

      Delete
  2. dito ako na part sa Chabacano nalilito. I always interchange mi/dimiyo, tu/dituyo etc. Thank you for clarifying this confusion.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My pleasure! I'm glad you found this post useful.

      Delete
  3. gud day sir! it's wonderful noh but i'm a little bit sad why do these words aren't used anymore? it's more like a spanish. the 'de amon' and 'de aton' sounds more like 'amo-a' and 'atu-a' in bisaya :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi. Thanks for commenting. Chabacano has been influenced by Bisaya over the years thus we see Bisayan words all over the language. :D

      Delete
  4. can you give us some chavacano words that are not spanish. I think for example is the word "gayot" where did it come from? tnx..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Anonymous, thanks for commenting on my blog. There are several words that are not from Spanish. Majority of these words come from Ilonggo, Bisaya, and Tausug. Gayod/ Gayot I believe comes from the Bisaya jud or giud. I am not sure if gayod/ gayot exists in Ilonggo. You can check my post about Ilonggo words in Chabacano here: http://bienchabacano.blogspot.com/2010/08/ilonggo-in-chabacano.html

      You can find some interesting posts on the featured posts section of the blog. :D

      Delete
    2. thank you for your reply
      muchas gracias para con repuesta :)
      (pls correct me if my chavacano is wrong hehe)

      Delete
    3. You're most welcome. :D
      It's almost correct (the correct way to say it is muchas gracias na tu respuesta or tuyo respuesta)

      Delete
  5. hola! do you also used the word "si" for yes or the "oo"? tnx

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi Anonymous. Yes we also use the word si for oo but it is only used in formal occasions such as when speaking to an older person.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Cosa el diperensya na aquel/akel from ese? (Aside from the spelling. hehehe. and tama ba ang Chavacano ko? XD)

    and what is the Chavacano from the word "from" or "mula"? :)

    btw, Hiligaynon uses gid (I am from a place full of Hiligaynons. hehehe) As far as I know, Cebuanos are the ones who use "gayod", that became "gyud". Yung mga Bisayang Dako dito sa Mindanao (Davao, Gensan), they use "jud" instead of "gyud" or "gayod". Gayod is used in formal conversations. :)

    Btw, ang Chavacano shortcut ba ng gayod is gat/gad? :) Correct me if I am wrong.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Strictly aquel is used when referring to objects far away from both speakers while ese is used to refer to objects near to the speakers although these are interchangeable in conversations. Yes, your Chabacano is correct.

      The Shortcut of gayod/gayot is gat/gad. :D

      Delete
  8. Gracias. Tu blogsite dale kumigo ayuda para man learn el Chabacano. Quiere iyo anda na Zamboanga City para mas vale. My Chavacano schoolmate (who lives here in Davao) said that your accent in ZC is "wagas" (he seems to mean quite distinct). :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Usted o Uste is ont being use in the rural areas... sino masquen tambien mana urban area.

    como yo jendeh miembro del mana antes Zamboangueño hablantes sino de nuevo generaciones ya pero ta usa yo el palabra "usted, vosotros o vosotras y ellos" pero el vuestro o vuestra solamente si ta ESCRIBI yo un aviso o solicitacion.

    ReplyDelete
  10. ""gud day sir! it's wonderful noh but i'm a little bit sad why do these words aren't used anymore? it's more like a spanish. the 'de amon' and 'de aton' sounds more like 'amo-a' and 'atu-a' in bisaya :)""

    ACtually the word "de aton, De amon" is the Chavacanized form of "aton and amon", words that came from Ilonggo Language. same thing with the word "inyo" also came from Ilonggo. though what happen when it was Chavaacanize it is already written using the Chavacano Writing System or Script especially in the Zamboangueño Dialect it was already written as " iño "
    example:
    " de iño "

    another example for the Possessive Pronouns which came from Ilonggo that does need chavacanzation which i've read in a book entitled "El Libre del Comunidad". instead of writing "de amon tata or de amon nana", it was simply written this way as "amon tata or amon nana" and "aton nana or aton tata".

    ReplyDelete
  11. Si. Ya oi tambien yo se ansina. Aquel mio amiga quien ya queda grande na Manila pero su tata ta conversa conele Chabacano, ta habla le amon tata en vez de de amon tata (como kita).

    ReplyDelete

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