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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 ...

3 Different Ways to Say 'Again' in Chabacano

There are three distinct ways to say the word 'again' in Chabacano.

1. Otra Vez

 This one, of course, comes from the Spanish otra vez which also means 'again'. If you speak Chabacano, you may be spelling this word as otra bes or even otrabes.

2. Ole

The second word for 'again' in Chabacano is ole (I think some people also say olet). The pronunciation of ole may be difficult for foreigners. It is pronounced with a glottal stop on the 'e'. The word ole may come from the Tagalog word for 'again': ulit. The Camins and Arquiza-Santos Chabacano dictionary spell the word ole as oleh and oléh respectively.

Here is a Chabacano version of an English song where you'll see the word ole being used.


3. Ya Tambien

Another way to say 'again' in Chabacano is ya tambien or ya tamen (the latter spelling might look more familiar to you). Ya tambien, I believe, is a direct translation of the Tagalog na naman. Na naman more or less also means 'again'. In the past, I have actually heard an old guy who may have been speaking what is called Philippine Spanish use the word ya tambien the way we do in Chabacano.

Here are some examples:

Tagalog: Umuulan nanaman.
Chabacano: Ta cae ulan ya tambien.
English: It is raining again.

Tagalog: Natutulog ka nanaman?
Chabacano: Ta dormi ya tambien tu?
English: Are you sleeping again?

While they all mean 'again' in English, not all these words can be used interchangeably. It is very difficult to explain when to use which. But I find that whenever you would use the word ulit in Tagalog, you will be using otra vez or ole in Chabacano (otra vez and ole can be used interchangeably). And when you use na naman in Tagalog, you will use ya tambien in Chabacano. .

Here are more examples:

Tagalog: Linisin mo ulit ang bahay.
Chabacano: Limpia tu otra vez con el casa.
English: (You) clean the house again.

Tagalog: Gusto mo bang manood ulit ng sine?
Chabacano: Quiere tu mira ole cine?
English: Do you want to watch a movie again?

Comments

  1. I can not express how much I appreciate your blog. This blog is simply extraordinary. I admire your passion, just amazing. It almost made me cry when I discovered stacks of audio recordings of spoken chabacano dialogues under ^in action^. Your love and passion touched my corazon haha. Keep up the good work!! -your fan from korea

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    Replies
    1. I'm glad to hear that you found the recordings helpful. Thank you for all the kind words. :D

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