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Showing posts from September, 2014

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

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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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5 Signs That Prove Chabacano Is In The Brink Of Extinction

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1. The language of commerce in downtown Zamboanga is now mostly Tagalog Recently, my mom who is currently based in Pagadian, visited Zamboanga city. Much to her surprise, the language of commerce in downtown Zamboanga is now mostly Tagalog. But she said that it is worse if you try to visit the KCC Mall de Zamboanga , where practically none of the mall employees speak Chabacano. She even said that it is now only in churches that one will hear Chabacano being spoken. Although I think she might have been exaggerating that last part. I made the same observation when I visited a local fast food restaurant. The restaurant employee spoke to me in Tagalog and looked very surprised when I responded in Chabacano. It was as if she couldn't comprehend that someone would want to converse in Chabacano! 2. The emergence of Chagalog While riding a Jeepney once, I heard a student use the word kapitbahay in a Chabacano sentence which really surprised me because judging from her fluency in
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Chabacano Alphabet

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I was browsing the net one day and I found this. This is actually a shirt, a Guachinanggo shirt to be more exact. Guachinanggo in Chabacano means 'a comedienne'. Some people would know this word as ' huachinanggo ' in Chabacano. This shirt actually belongs to  Ronan Paul Dayot y Bulahan . Below is a graphic made by the same person on the Chabacano alphabet. "Today, the abecedario letters CH, LL, and RR are still used in the alphabet of the Chavacano language, a heavily Spanish-based creole (mixed Spanish/Native) language commonly spoken in Zamboanga City in Mindanao and some parts of Cavite City in Luzon."  Source: http://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/iq/66819-evolution-filipino-alphabet
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The Chabacano Pasea

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In Spanish, the word pasear means to take a walk or a stroll. According to Santos' and Camins' Chabacano dictionary, this word has the same definition in Chabacano. In modern Chabacano, this word means to go somewhere for leisure purposes and not simply to take a walk. The Tagalog counterpart of this word is pasyal which also means to go somewhere for leisure purposes. Today, when we say pasea in Chabacano, the thing that comes to our minds are parks, malls, department stores, or a trip out of town. In the past, they may have thought of water front boardwalks, and esplanades when they used this word. This word is most often spelled as pasia or pasya by young Chabacano speakers. It is pronounced often as pasha. Here are some sentences using the Chabacano pasea. Chabacano: Ta pasea todo'l sabado, el entero familia. English: The whole family goes out every Saturdays. Chabacano: Quiere yo anda pasea na Manila. English: I want to go on a leisure trip to Manila.
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Health Reminders in Chabacano

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The above signs are found at the city health office in Zamboanga city. It is written in informal Chabacano as its target audience is the masses. The signs talk about what one should do to avoid rabies and tips on how to combat Dengue. Here is a transcription of the messages on the sign. Sign 1 Oficina de Salud Health Advisory Cosa debe hace para ibita con el rabies: Queda responsable dueno del animal: -Cuida enbuenamente de ustedes perro y otro maga animal -Manda man bakuna con el de ustedes perro cada ano -No mas deja largao con el perro na camino Si entralcaso ya pwede morde perro o otro animal: -Limpia enseguida el irida con agua y jabon -Anda derecho consulta na doctor o na serca Health Center -No mas consulta na "tandok" y albolario Preveni el rabies kay este nuay cura! Nuestro deseo un ciudad sin enfermedad English translation: Health Office Health Advisory What one should do to avoid rabies: Become a responsible animal owner: -Take go
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Porque by Maldita Lyrics (Original Chabacano and Translated Spanish version)

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

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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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How to say I Miss You in Chabacano

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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
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