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Showing posts from August, 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 ...

A Tree Saving Sign in Chabacano

Source: www.chancepassenger.com The sign above is found in one of the sprawling century-old Acacia trees near Fort Pilar. I remember my history teacher in college telling me that these trees came from Jose Rizal's plantation in Dapitan. According to her, Jose Rizal won a lottery and used the money to buy land wherein he had a plantation of Acacia trees. If you visit Zamboanga city and you make your way to the Fort Pilar, you will surely not miss these trees. But the real purpose of this post is to bring to your attention the very beautiful Chabacano message found in the sign. it says el govierno del ciudad de Zamboanga ya declara coneste pono como un "centenario y pono de herencia" y ta apela con todo vivientes que proteje y preserva con este pono como parte del d'aton riquesas . Let me translate that for you: the city government of Zamboanga declared this tree as a century and heritage tree and appeals to everyone to protect and preserve this tree as part of ...

The Chabacano Conta

Did you know that aside from 'to count', the word conta has another meaning? In Spanish , aside from 'to count', this word can also mean 'to tell'. I didn't know that this meaning also existed in the Chabacano conta until I heard my mom use this word to mean 'to tell'. If you speak Chabacano, you would know this word as  cunta  and that its only definition is 'to count'. Here are some sentences using the Chabacano word conta , with the definition 'to tell'. Chabacano: Ya conta le conmigo suyo mga problema. English: He told me his problems. Chabacano: Ya conta le conmigo todo que ya pasa con ele durante el tiempo que talla 'le na Filipinas. Chabacano: He told me everything that happened to him during the time that he was in the Philippines. The average Chabacano speaker will probably use the word habla  and ya man cuento instead of conta in the sentences above. I think that there are a very few people who know thi...

25 Signs That You Are In Zamboanga City

Chabacano signs are one way of keeping Chabacano alive, so I have decided to make a mini compilation of Chabacano signs found all over Zamboanga city. Enjoy the photos! 1. First, we have a photo of the City Health Office and its slogan.  Nuestro deseo un ciudad sin enfermedad (our desire is a city free of illnesses). I really love how the written Chabacano in that slogan can sound contemporary and traditional at the same time. This is actually my favorite Chabacano sign.   2. Then we have the city tourism office or the  oficina de turismo local . If you're ever planning to visit the pinks sands of  Sta Cruz island , this is where you can get help from. It is located adjacent to the Paseo del Mar. 3. The next one is a sign found at the National Museum branch in Zamboanga city which I think is photographed very often by tourists coming to Zamboanga city.  Pabor deja el sapatos, sandals, y chinelas abajo.  It asks visitors to leave the...

Chabacano at the Fort Pilar

The first sign on our list is one that is actually written in Spanish. I was surprised to see this sign written in Spanish since it was most probably created after 1960. This sign was in an obscure part of the Fort Pilar and was already faded when I found it. The canonical coronation talked about in the sign happened on October 12, 1960 and the crown, in fact, has been lost for 50 years. It was only in 2012 that the crown was found in a bank's vault. Here is an article that Yahoo wrote about it. The next two are information on a museum exhibit. To those of you who don't know, the Fort Pilar is also a museum and not just a religious shrine. The Chabacano translation was done by Dr. Roberto B Torres, author of the 'El Primer Alfabeto Chabacano' textbook. I like how the translation below used modern Chabacano but still managed to sound formal (at least as formal as it can be). There are albeit, glaring mistakes that one would suppose shouldn't be pr...

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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...

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...

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 ...