Skip to main content

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 ...
12 comments

A Chabacano Inspirational Message for Women

I was browsing Facebook when I saw this very inspiring message:


Okay so it is not in Chabacano, it is in Spanish. But what I'll do today is I'll translate the message from Spanish to Chabacano.

Mujer
Tu cuerpo, el ta hace contigo sexy
Tu cara, el ta hace contigo bonita
Tu sonrisa, el ta hace contigo linda
Pero tu pensamiento, amo el cosa ta hace contigo bien hermosa...

The words linda (pretty), hermosa (beautiful), and sonrisa (smile) are actually not found in my Chabacano dictionaries so I guess you can say that I borrowed them from Spanish.

In the last line, I chose not to use the word totalmente because I wanted the Chabacano in my translation to sound more casual. In the comments section below, arondayot Zamboangueño contributes his version of the last line which is pero tu pensamiento el que ta hace contigo totalmente hermosa (which I actually think sounds better than mine) 😜.

There you go, a few words of encouragement for all women out there feeling bad about themselves. For me though, what makes a woman totally beautiful is not just her mind but her heart as well. 😉


Labels:

Comments

  1. coronadoNovember 26, 2014 at 5:13 AM

    I saw this message on Facebook too, and I find it very nice, because it is a big truth (at least for me =P).

    ReplyDelete
  2. יאן סבייסקי דייוטNovember 26, 2014 at 4:09 PM

    Jerome, you may also express it as "Pero tu pensamiento el que ta hace contigo totalmente hermosa."

    As a native Zamboangueño Chavavano speaker who can read and write quite well in my Chavavano language, I've already understood what was the message trying to say.. I don't know, maybe it's because of my exposure to some Castilian Word and Grammatical Structure.

    ReplyDelete
  3. יאן סבייסקי דייוטNovember 26, 2014 at 4:14 PM

    Jerome,
    Pedi yo su permiso para descargá yo este foto aquí.

    Hay publicá yo este na Habla Zamboangueño con tu versión and mi versión.
    ¿Puede? ^_^

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jerome HerreraMay 4, 2017 at 5:36 PM

      Na Facebook lang yo con ese ya encontra. Hehehe. :P

      Delete
  4. Jerome HerreraNovember 28, 2014 at 8:43 AM

    Hinde mio ese retrato. Ya envia yo contigo email.

    ReplyDelete
  5. יאן סבייסקי דייוטMay 4, 2017 at 8:41 PM

    Here's my version, Jerome.

    https://scontent-ams3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/17156336_1274096899371795_8437467931865679873_n.jpg?oh=6ba96d063564c4b675ec5567398cef59&oe=598D7093

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

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...
17 comments
Read more

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...
98 comments
Read more

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 ...
9 comments
Read more