Skip to main content

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

By
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
11 comments

Origins of the Chabacano Vira

Image
By
Since I don’t speak much Spanish, I’m afraid I can’t explain very well how the word virar is used in Spanish. My Spanish dictionary though says that it means to turn or to go back (vehicle). I guess if a vehicle makes a U-turn, that would be virar. Or maybe, if a ship is heading to Manila from Zamboanga and decides to turn around and head back to Zamboanga, that is virar.

In Chabacano, this word is pronounced and spelled by most as bira. It means to return or go back (not to be confused with the Chabacano volve). Here are some examples of how to use the word vira in Chabacano.

Chabacano: Vira yo na Zamboanga despues de diez anos.
English: I will go back to Zamboanga after ten years.

Chabacano: Vira kame otra vez na Manila algun dia.
English: We will go to Manila again someday.

Chabacano: Cuando tu vira na oficina?
English: When will you go back to the office?

An expression that we can derive from this word is vira cara meaning 'to look back'. Here are some examples of this kind of usage:

Chabacano: Vira anay tu cara kay ta muda pa yo.
English: Turn around because I'm getting dressed.

A common expression in Chabacano is vira-vira (can also be viray vira or vira que vira). This means 'someone going back again and again' or 'something happening repeatedly'.

Here is an example using this.

Chabacano: Vira-vira man ese perro aqui?
English: Why is that dog always coming back here?

Chabacano: Vira-vira lang man el salida na TV.
English: The shows on TV are just replays.

Labels:

Comments

  1. PrinsOctober 22, 2012 at 6:13 PM

    My curiosity toward the chavacano language keeps me reading your blog. Keep posting! :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Andrew AlmazanSeptember 2, 2021 at 9:29 AM

    Just wanted to add that, at least according to the RAE's Diccionario de americanismos, "virar" can be used in Cuba to mean:

    "Regresar, volver al lugar del que se ha partido."

    DeepL's translation of it into English:

    "To return, to return to the place from which one has departed."

    Source: Diccionario de americanismos - virar - https://lema.rae.es/damer/?key=virar

    Not sure if it's still used though

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jerome HerreraSeptember 2, 2021 at 12:56 PM

      Oh, wow! That is fascinating information, indeed! Thanks for sharing, Andrew! :)

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Porque by Maldita Lyrics (Original Chabacano and Translated Spanish version)

By
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
16 comments
Read more

How To Say 'I Love You' And 'I Hate You' In Chabacano

By
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

How to say I Miss You in Chabacano

By
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
11 comments
Read more