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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 ...

How to say I Miss You in Chabacano

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 you think about it is similar to Tagalog's miss na kita and Chabacano's tan miss ya yo contigo.

A few weeks ago, my mom was in Manila for a vacation and she told me tiene vez, tan triste yo coninio de Kuya. This translates to 'sometimes, I miss you and Kuya'. So I don't know if a lot of people say it like this but I just thought about sharing it here because it does effectively translate the word 'miss' and it won't make you cringe when saying it. However, this probably will only work when saying that you miss someone. It won't work for example when saying that you miss eating at McDonald's. Anyway, there is always tan miss for that as in tan miss ya yo come na McDonald's. 😀

Comments

  1. Na Zamboanga De Antes, muchos veces ya esdemás Naescutí y actualmente si ya visitá na uno del maná notas del grupo, tallá todo si que manera habla 'I miss you' na Zamboangueño Chavacano.


    Uno de mi maná opinión que yo ya postéa allá, estos siguientes:

    Ta man exttaño yo contigo.
    Ta añorá yo contigo.
    Tarda ya gat yo no hay mira contigo

    Los demás allá como indirectamente el hablada pero amo siempre ta significá.

    ReplyDelete
  2. If you are missing some foods from mcdo, et.al.

    Jendêh ba ta habla kita:
    "Ya tarda ya gat yo no hay comé na McDo."
    Si de entojo pa ess, ta habla kita "Haaay bien quiere gat yo comé na McDo."

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi, Jerome:

    I am a native Cebuano from Cebú, and yes, we still use "Gimingaw ko nimo" when we want to say we miss someone. Of course, the anglicized "MISS na tika" is more frequently heard among the younger generation because perhaps they don't speak straight Cebuano, or maybe they just prefer the English word because it is shorter than its Cebuano counterpart "gimingaw". Nevertheless, I can say that "gimingaw ko" is still very much more widely used among Cebuano speakers than the Tagalog equivalent "nangungulila" in day-to-day conversation.

    César Jr.

    ReplyDelete
  4. how to say I miss you in cotabato?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Though all VARIANTS of Chavacano Language are Mutually-Intelligible but there are still some difference to expressions, et.al.

      Since I'm a Zamboangueño, there are many ways to say it:

      Ta añorá yo contigo
      Tarda ya yo contigo no hay mirá
      Ta extraño yo contigo
      Tan miss ya yo contigo
      Miss yo contigo

      Delete
  5. How to say, bakit?in chavacano. Bibili ako.saan ka pupunta? Huwag ka mag sinungaling.thank you po paki chavacano po.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Por qué – bakit / why
      Porque – because


      Comprá yo / andá (yo) comprá.

      ¿Dónde usted/tú/(e)vo(s) (hay) andá?

      No usted/tú/(e)vo(s) man embusterías conmigo.
      No usted/tú/(e)vo(s) pegá embusterías conmigo.
      No usted/tú/(e)vo(s) hacé embusterías conmigo.

      Short:
      No man embusterías (conmigo).
      No pegá embusterías (conmigo).
      No hacé embusterías (conmigo).


      Delete
  6. How to say "Sinusundo kita"

    ReplyDelete
  7. Iyo Falta Contigo😁

    ReplyDelete
  8. Ang ganda mo in chavacano

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. “Ang Ganda Mo”

      Zamboangueño Interpretations:
      - Qué Bonita Tú
      - Qué tú bonita
      - Qué bonita gat tú
      - Qué tú bonita gat
      - Qué bien bonita gat tú
      - Qué tú bien bonita gat
      - Tú bien bonita
      - Bonita gat tú
      - Bien bonita tú
      - Tú bien bonita
      - Tú bien bonita gat

      “De guachinangadas”
      - ¡nah! ¿Cara pa se? 😆


      - Ronan Dayot -

      Delete
    2. quien contigo ya habla?

      Delete

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