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Showing posts from December, 2012

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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A Sample of Spoken Chavacano de Ternate or Ternateño

I recently found a video on YouTube featuring a group of people, one of them speaking in Spanish and the others speaking in Chavacano de Ternate. In the past, I have concluded that Chavacano de Cavite and Chabacano de Zamboanga are somehow mutually intelligible especially if it is written. It is a totally different story though with the Chavacano de Ternate. In this video, I only understood what they were talking about because of the Spanish. I think the Spanish guy only understood because of context clues. The videos are titled Platica na Bahra which most probably means speak in Bahra. Bahra is what these people call their language. Here is the first video. What I found weird with this first video is one of the Chavacano guys saying señol . I’m not sure but I think I heard something like de donde ka señol . I’m not sure about the ka but it sounded like that. I know it should’ve been vos (bo). It’s funny because I know one country in Latin America which pronounces the...
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Origins of the Chabacano Pono

The word for 'tree' in Chabacano is pono . This word possibly comes from the Tagalog puno which means the same thing. In the comments section below though, someone mentioned that it may come from Hilgaynon which also uses the word puno . I recently have found out, that this word also exists in the Chavacano de Ternate. Now, because the Chavacano de Ternate is known to have existed before the Chabacano de Zamboanga, I believe that this word may come from the Chavacano de Ternate. Although the Spanish word arbol also exists in the Chabacano de Zamboanga, it is not used anymore by today’s youth. Most young people wouldn’t probably even know the meaning of the word arbol . Both the words arbol and pono exist in the Chavacano de Ternate. Here are some examples of how the word pono is used in Chabacano. Chabacano: Cosa clase de pono ese? English: What kind of a tree is that? Chabacano: Pono de mangga ba ese? English: Is that a mango tree? Chabacano: Necesita kit...
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Pasacalle- A Chavacano de Ermita Song

I recently found a video on YouTube featuring the song Pasacalle. According to the uploader, the song is in Ermitaño Chavacano. I tried listening to the song but I can’t make out any of the words. Since the user disabled embedding for his video, here is the youtube link: www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUk9G-Mq5Rg I previously asked if anyone out there knew the lyrics to this song. As can be seen from the comments section of this post, somebody (by the name of Mr. Cesar Mamongan Jr) replied to my plea and posted the lyrics to this song. Below is the lyrics in its original Chavacano de Ermita. Pasacalle de Aray by Jesus Balmori En la dulzura de mi afán Junto contigo na un peñón Mientras ta despierta el buwan Y en las playas del Pasay Se iba bajando el sol. Yo te decía "Gusto ko!" Tú me decías "Justo na!" Y de repente "Ay naku!" ya sentí yo como si un aswang se acercá. Que un cangrejo ya corré (ya corré, corré, corré) Poco a poco na tu la(d)o...
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Origins of the Chabacano Calavera

In the Spanish language, the word calavera  means skull. In my language, however, it means skeleton. You may be wondering how the meaning of this word got changed in the Chabacano de Zamboanga language. Most historians say that Chabacano is a parroted language. As time goes by, words in a parroted language will have a high tendency to be misinterpreted. The word for clouds may be misinterpreted for wind or rain and the word for plate may be misinterpreted for food or abundance. Here are some examples of how we use the word calavera in the Chabacano de Zamboanga language. Chabacano: Bien flaco ya gayod tu. Caray calavera ya tu. English: You’re so thin. You look like a skeleton already. Situation: Group of people eating. Someone arrives and there is no chicken left anymore. Chabacano:  Calavera ya man el manok? No hay kamo conmigo deja manok? English: Is chicken bone all that is left? You didn’t leave me any chicken (meat)? The same word also exists in the Chavacan...
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How to say Where Are You in Chabacano

Saying 'where are you' in Chabacano is very easy. You just say donde tu or donde ya tu ? How do these two differ from each other? Well, there really is no difference, they both mean the same thing. Donde ya tu however sounds more impatient and there is a stronger demand on the speaker’s part to know where someone is. Let us dissect these two sentences. Donde= where Ya= already Tu= you So as you can see, donde ya tu roughly translates to 'where are you already'. The 'already' here makes the question sound more impatient and urgent. Donde= where Tu= you Meanwhile asking donde tu doesn’t imply any urgency in it. It is simply asking where you are. If you wish to add an inquisitive tone to your question without sounding demanding or impatient, simply add the word ba after donde. Donde tu  will now become donde ba tu ? Here is a phone conversation using these two sentences. Pilar: Hello? Maria: Donde ya tu? Enantes pa yo ta espera aqui na mall. ...
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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...
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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...
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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 ...
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