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Showing posts from July, 2013

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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Modern Chabacano Songs

In the past, people have always complained that Chabacano songs are so baduy . This is specially true among the younger people. This attitude towards Chabacano songs is probably because Chabacano songs are usually folk songs. If it's not about the city, it's about the Our Lady of the Pillar. But gone are the days when the only Chabacano songs we know are the ones popularized by Major Chords (a local band that sings in Chabacano). Today, we have so many fresh Zamboangueño composers and singers that YouTube is filled with these modern Chabacano songs. There is even talk in Facebook of putting up a radio station that only plays Chabacano songs. And why not? We now have more Chabacano songs than ever.  Recently, I was at the Goldilocks in Robinson's and I was so shocked to hear a Chabacano song playing over a radio station in Manila. I later found out that a local band called Maldita had made it in the national music scene with it's hit song Porque. In this post, I will...
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How to say to feed and to bathe in Chabacano

In this blog post, I will be teaching two expressions using the word dale that you probably will not find in any Chabacano dictionary. These are dale come and dale baña. These mean to feed someone and to bathe someone respectively. Note that these are normally used when referring to feeding/ bathing babies, and pets. Literally, dale come means give eat and dale baña give bathe. Here are some sentences using these two expressions: Chabacano: Que hora tu dale come con el perro? English: What time will you be feeding the dog? Chabacano: No hay pa yo dale come con el mga manok. English: I haven’t fed the chickens yet. Chabacano: Quien contigo ya dale baña? English: Who bathed you? Chabacano: Sabe ba tu que modo dale baña bata? English: Do you know how to bathe a child? So there you go. Two expressions using the Chabacano word dale which you’ll never learn from grammar books and dictionaries.
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Origins of the Chabacano Debe

The word for debt in Chabacano is debe. This word can be used both as a noun and as a verb. When used as a verb, add the prefix man (for future tense, tan (for present tense), and yan (for past tense) before the word debe to turn it into a verb. This word is pronounced without any stresses. Here are some examples using the Chabacano debe (noun and verb). Chabacano: Tiene ba tu debe na mi hermana? English: Do you owe my sister anything? (word for word translation is do you have any debts from my sister?) Chabacano: Porque tu firme ta'n debe? English: Why do you always (have to) take out loans? Chabacano: Cuando tu paga el debe tuyo conmigo? English: When will you pay your debts to me? Note that the debe being discussed in this post is different from the debe meaning one ought to. In Spanish, the word debe means debit (which means an entry recording an amount owed, listed on the left-hand side or column of an account). The more common word (I think) for debt is deuda...
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How To Say Clothing Related Words In Chabacano

I’ll begin this post by differentiating the words camisa and ropa . Camisa can mean a shirt no matter what its style is. Meanwhile, ropa can mean clothes in general (pants, shirt, etc). A term that is very memorable to me is the word ropa sucio . I remember that every Saturday morning, my mom would always tell me to put my ropa sucio on the basket where all our dirty clothes (those that needs to be washed) go. The next word on our list is the word sombrero . I believe that in other countries and in the Tagalog language, the word sombrero would signify an old-fashioned top hat. In the Chabacano language though, we would use the word sombrero even when referring to the modern baseball hats sold in department stores. All kinds of hats are called sombrero in the Chabacano language. Now we go to the different kinds of shirt. A shirt with button/sleeves can be called un camisa con boton/mangas . A shirt meanwhile without button/sleeves can be called un camisa sin boton/mangas . ...
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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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