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Showing posts from May, 2014

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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Another Public Announcement in Chabacano

I was browsing an online when I saw this billboard announcing Zamboecozone's application for conversion of land use from Agricultural to Industrial. I decided to post it here since we don't see a lot of written Chabacano. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to contact the person who originally posted the photo so I wasn't able to get a clearer photo. Below is a transcription of the text in the billboard in English and Chabacano. If you see any errors in the transcription, please feel free to let me know about them. ENGLISH Notice of Land Conversion Application Notice is hereby given that Zamboanga City Special Economic Zone Authority And Freeport or Zamboecozone has filed an application for land use conversion of the land situated at Sitio San Ramon, Barangay Talisayan, Zamboanga city, specifically identified as follows: Registered Owner: Zamboecozone Area applied for conversion: 33.7 hectares The above parcel is sought to be converted from Agricultural ...
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A Public Announcement in Chabacano

The following is a photo of an announcement explaining to the public how they can help prevent terrorist acts specifically, bomb explosions. Here is a transcription of the message in the announcement. Unfortunately, the photo isn't very clear and I am not sure if my transcription is correct. Cosa Tu Puede Ase Para Ayuda Preveni El Maga Plantada De Bomba y “Improvised Explosive Devices” (IEDs) El maga amenaso y incidentes de bomba trabajo de maga terorista. Esta alerto y vihilante con maga bagahe y carga suspechoso y maga hente suspechoso el porma. Tiene cosas suspechoso puede ancina el porma. Reporta Cun El Amenaso: Situacion: Locacion/ Lugar Hora del dia El descripcion del suspechao Clase de vehiculo ya usa Clase de armas ya usa El crimen o acto de terorismo Cosa ya ase Descripcion: Color del pelo Edad Hombre/Mujer Grandor Maga Pali o Tatu Maga defecto fisical Clase del ropa El ensiguidas y exacto detalye amo el dos importante elemento na reportada....
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How To 'Say I Told You So' And 'So What' In Chabacano

It is often hard to translate expressions from one language to another. In this post, we shall learn how to say the English expressions 'I told you' so and 'so what' in Chabacano. Let us first see how these expressions would look like in other languages. In Tagalog, 'I told you so' would be sabi ko na nga ba and 'so what' would be ano ngayon or ano naman ngayon . In Spanish, I think these could be translated to ya decia yo and y eso que  respectively, based on my chat conversations with a Mexican friend. In Chabacano, 'I told you' so can be translated as habla ya gayod yo while 'so what' could be said as cosa man ahora , y despues , or simply acabar . The Chabacano habla ya gayod yo can also mean I knew it. Here are some dialogues using these expressions: Mario:  Pilar, ta habla yo contigo, pensa pensa anay tu antes de compra un coche. Si queda malo el coche, caro con ese manda compone. Y hinde broma el paga cinco mil cada mes...
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Origins of the Chabacano Amargoso and Cucuracha

I write about amargoso and cucuracha together in one post because these two have something in common with each, they both exist in the Chavacano de Ternate language. Amargoso though is margozo  and cucuracha is spelled as kukuracha  in Ternateño according to the book of Esteban A. De Ocampo (The Ternateños: their history, languages, customs, and traditions). But there is one more thing that these two have in common. I hate them both. The Chabacano amargoso is a gourd that is very bitter and is called ampalaya in most areas in the Philippines. I think it got its name from its taste. The Spanish amargo means bitter. Cucuracha meanwhile means cockroach in Chabacano. This most probably comes from the Spanish cucaracha . Here are some sentences using these two words. Chabacano: Ta come ba tu amargoso? English: Do you eat amargoso? Chabacano: Por que bien mucho cucuracha aqui na tuyo casa? English: Why are there a lot of cockroaches in your house? According to...
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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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