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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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4 Different Ways to Say 'Because' in Chabacano

There are four distinct ways to say the word 'because' in Chabacano.

1. Porque

Origin: Spanish

This is the Bien Chabacano ("Deep Chabacano") way of saying 'because'. I'm not sure how widely used porque was in the past but today, it is very rarely heard. I don't think they even use it in news programs or formal situations. This word comes from Spanish but in that language, they make a distinction between porque (because) and por qué (why).

When you hear someone use this word in Chabacano today, it often means 'why' and not 'because'. Most Chabacano speakers probably are only aware of the first meaning (as in porque contigo yo ya escoge from the famous Maldita song 😀).

Example:

Chabacano: No hay ele conmigo dale cen porque rabiao ele conmigo.
English: He didn't give me any money because he was mad at me.

2. Kay

Origin: Cebuano or Hiligaynon

Kay is the contemporary way of saying 'because' in Chabacano.

Example:

Chabacano: Ya dale conmigo cen mio hermano kay ya gana ele na Lotto.
English: My brother gave me money because he won the lottery.

Chabacano: Ya cae yo na exam kay no hay yo estudia.
English: I failed the exam because I didn't study.

3.  Por Causa

Origin: Spanish

Example:

Chabacano: Ya anda kame na iglesia ayer por causa del casamiento de mio hermano.
English: We went to church yesterday because of my brother's wedding.

Chabacano: Ya vene yo aqui por causa con ele.
English: I came here because of her.

Strictly speaking, you should only use por causa when it translates in English as a preposition: because of (someone or something). However, I do hear many people use por causa as a 'conjunction'. So you could probably get away with substituting kay, kasi, and porque with por causa.

4. Kasi

Origin: Tagalog

The fourth one is the most controversial of them all. Recently, a billboard was found in Zamboanga city containing the following sentence: "Nay, el medicina protegido kasi AIRCONDITIONED aqui." Here is my attempt on a translation: mom, the medicines here are well-maintained because of air-conditioning. The billboard belongs to a pharmacy that sells generic drugs.

Source: online forum

As you may have guessed, the usage of kasi is a very recent occurrence and will even be branded as "incorrect Chabacano" by some people. Anyway, I'm just happy that they used protegido and not protektado. 😜

Example:

Chabacano: No quiere ele anda aqui kasi ta tiene ele miedo contigo.
English: He doesn't want to go here because he is scared of you.

Chabacano: No hay kasi yo cen, por eso no hay yo puede segui con ustedes.
English: I didn't have any money. That is why I wasn't able to go with you.

The last sentence is very Tagalog (in terms of word order). I believe this manner of speaking has been adopted by Chabacano speakers very recently (maybe in the 90s?). Speaking Chabacano using Tagalog grammar is very rampant among old and young Chabacano speakers nowadays because of the influence of Tagalog mass media.

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  1. יאן סבייסקי דייוטOctober 1, 2014 at 3:12 AM

    There is a different when written correctly the word Por Qué (why) and Porque (because).
    Porque and Cay are the same in meaning and as well Por causa for BECAUSE. The only difference is that "por causa" is the reason of the cause.

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  2. יאן סבייסקי דייוטOctober 1, 2014 at 4:29 AM

    Porque o Cay: (conjunción)
    ta usá si ta dale tu razon o tuyo defensá con el 'sujeto' na un oración.

    Por Causa: (Conjunción)
    Ta usá kita con ese como razón para disculpa na un cosa o con el tal persona.

    Ejemplo el usada del POR CAUSA
    Ya desgracia kita por causa contigo.
    Por causa contigo por eso kita ya desgraciá.
    We've got an accident because of you.
    Because you that's why we've got accident.

    No hay ahora aquí na mi disposición si jendêh por causa de mis padres.
    I will not be here in my disposition if not because of my parents.

    Ejemplo usada del POR CAUSA
    Necesita kita advocá aton ideología porque tiene kita todo los derechos para el bienestar de aton como un ciudadano de esta país.

    ReplyDelete
  3. יאן סבייסקי דייוטOctober 1, 2014 at 6:06 AM

    Ooops Error tipográfico. . ^_^ sorry.


    Ejemplo usada del PORQUE
    Necesita kita advocá aton ideología porque tiene kita todo los derechos para el bienestar de aton como un ciudadano de esta país.

    Necesita kita promové para legislá el Zamboangueño Chavacano como lengua oficial del Latino Ciudad de Zamboanga y creá el Academia de la Lengua Chavacana, un institución quien encargao y entregao para propagá, mejorá, desarrollá, enriquecé, estandarizá y intelectualizá el lengua materna de aton PORQUE este lengua de aton no es bastante como lenguaje lang. el lenguaje es cultura, identidad, patrimonio que ta definí de aton Etnia como Zamboangueño, entonces Una vez hay desaparecé aton lenguaje hay desaparecé también el de aton etnia (Ethnicity). ^_^

    ReplyDelete
  4. ramones1986October 2, 2014 at 10:22 AM

    Or in Chavacano de Filipinas (ATL version of Chavacano):
    "Ma, la medicina está protegido porque climatizado aquí" (formal)
    "Ma, la medicina e'tá protegi'o po'que climatiza'o aquí" (slang)

    ReplyDelete

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