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 ...
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 age have forgotten the art of making friends and are too concerned about worldly matters like making money’ and being able to convey this message from the book in Chabacano was just simply too good a project to pass and thus was born El Diutay Principe.
Chabacano is one of only two Spanish-based creole languages in the world and is considered as one of the world’s oldest creole languages. While it has a special place in the field of linguistics, Chabacano speakers themselves fail to recognize the beauty and uniqueness of their language.
It is lamentable that most Chabacano speakers think lowly of their language. I invested heavily in the book because I did not just want to produce a Chabacano translation, I wanted a product that will change the perception that people have of the Chabacano language. Chabacano speakers generally feel that their language is inferior to Filipino or to English and this perception is brought about by the fact that most creative works are in those languages and whatever creative works that are available in Chabacano are normally of poor quality. I wanted a product that will make Chabacano speaking people proud of their language. I wanted a product that would make them feel like Chabacano is important enough for somebody to invest in an endeavor such as this. Because when we look at, for example, TV programs produced locally in Chabacano, most of them look tired and old, like nobody wants to bother to invest in new equipment to produce better quality Chabacano TV programs. So what message does that subconsciously transmit to the people who speak Chabacano? That it is a third-class language? That it does not deserve any attention whatsoever? My goal with this book is to give dignity and elevate the prestige of the Chabacano language among those who speak it as well as introduce it to the world. This is why no expense was spared in producing the book. We commissioned the premier print company in the country to take on the job. It is the same company behind the advertising campaign of big brands in the country. We also made sure that we used the best materials available for the book because we wanted a book that will make every Chabacano speaker proud of their language.
One special feature of the book is that it follows the recommended orthography by the Department of Education in Zamboanga city as well as the city government of Zamboanga. The book also contains a link to a comprehensive translator's notes which provides a thorough explanation spelling system used in the book. Hopefully, the book will aid greatly in Chabacano becoming a standardized written language in the future and will be the start of a long list of published Chabacano books.
El Diutay Principe, a self-published book, contains a glossary for better comprehension and to widen the reader’s Chabacano vocabulary.
Alegre yo kay puede ya gayod lee el maga bata (y siempre el maga viejo) quien ta conversa Chabacano con el bien famoso libro The Little Prince na de ila lenguaje.
El Diutay Principe hende lang un libro para na maga niño, un guia tambien este para na maga viejo quien ya olvida ya que modo pensa igual na maga bata.
Why was The Little Prince translated into Chabacano?
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 age have forgotten the art of making friends and are too concerned about worldly matters like making money’ and being able to convey this message from the book in Chabacano was just simply too good a project to pass and thus was born El Diutay Principe.
Chabacano is one of only two Spanish-based creole languages in the world and is considered as one of the world’s oldest creole languages. While it has a special place in the field of linguistics, Chabacano speakers themselves fail to recognize the beauty and uniqueness of their language.
It is lamentable that most Chabacano speakers think lowly of their language. I invested heavily in the book because I did not just want to produce a Chabacano translation, I wanted a product that will change the perception that people have of the Chabacano language. Chabacano speakers generally feel that their language is inferior to Filipino or to English and this perception is brought about by the fact that most creative works are in those languages and whatever creative works that are available in Chabacano are normally of poor quality. I wanted a product that will make Chabacano speaking people proud of their language. I wanted a product that would make them feel like Chabacano is important enough for somebody to invest in an endeavor such as this. Because when we look at, for example, TV programs produced locally in Chabacano, most of them look tired and old, like nobody wants to bother to invest in new equipment to produce better quality Chabacano TV programs. So what message does that subconsciously transmit to the people who speak Chabacano? That it is a third-class language? That it does not deserve any attention whatsoever? My goal with this book is to give dignity and elevate the prestige of the Chabacano language among those who speak it as well as introduce it to the world. This is why no expense was spared in producing the book. We commissioned the premier print company in the country to take on the job. It is the same company behind the advertising campaign of big brands in the country. We also made sure that we used the best materials available for the book because we wanted a book that will make every Chabacano speaker proud of their language.
One special feature of the book is that it follows the recommended orthography by the Department of Education in Zamboanga city as well as the city government of Zamboanga. The book also contains a link to a comprehensive translator's notes which provides a thorough explanation spelling system used in the book. Hopefully, the book will aid greatly in Chabacano becoming a standardized written language in the future and will be the start of a long list of published Chabacano books.
El Diutay Principe, a self-published book, contains a glossary for better comprehension and to widen the reader’s Chabacano vocabulary.
Alegre yo kay puede ya gayod lee el maga bata (y siempre el maga viejo) quien ta conversa Chabacano con el bien famoso libro The Little Prince na de ila lenguaje.
El Diutay Principe hende lang un libro para na maga niño, un guia tambien este para na maga viejo quien ya olvida ya que modo pensa igual na maga bata.
Why was The Little Prince translated into Chabacano?
The project began as my past time. The idea to publish the translation only came later when I felt that doing so could do a lot of good for the Chabacano language.
It is my fervent hope that El Diutay Principe would become the preeminent piece of Chabacano literature and that it would greatly aid in Chabacano becoming a standardized written language in the future. I also hope that this book will create awareness about the Chabacano language in the Philippines and around the world to legitimize as well as elevate its prestige.
Inshallah, it will be the start of a long list of books published in Chabacano.
El Diutay Principe was first published in September 2018. In 2020, the first print run of 500 copies was sold out. The second print run was released two years after, in October 2022.
Here are other blog articles I wrote about translating The Little Prince into Chabacano:
Videos
To read the complete FAQ about the translation, please visit https://rebrand.ly/edpfaq
This
video is a reading that I did from El Diutay Principe:
https://rebrand.ly/translatorreading- Translating The Little Prince: Chabacano or Chavacano
- Translating The Little Prince: Anatomy of the Title
- Translating The Little Prince: The Famous Quote Of Them All
- Translating The Little Prince: Sunsets
- Translating The Little Prince: Looking Out For Legitimate New Chabacano Words
Videos
To read the complete FAQ about the translation, please visit https://rebrand.ly/edpfaq
Here is an excerpt from the book in PDF: https://rebrand.ly/edppdf
Here is the media kit of El Diutay Principe which contains some frequently asked questions about the book as well as a translator’s bio: https://rebrand.ly/edpmediakit
To find out how you can get a copy of El Diutay Principe, please send us a message at http://www.facebook.com/eldiutayprincipe.
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ReplyDeletePeople always want freebies... ;) Translation isn't an easy task. My two cents: why don't you gather some people interested in having the book translated into Chavacano and ask the author of the blog nicely if he wouldn't be interested in translating the book in exchange of some money?
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ReplyDeleteMuy bien!!!
ReplyDeleteMauro
Que trabajo excelente, amigo. Mis felicitaciones a vos!
ReplyDeleteBonito 'se de tuyo translation! Era hende tu tambien queda gente grande...
ReplyDeleteGracias Yuji! :)
DeleteHow would I be able to order this if I lived in the US?
ReplyDeleteHello. We are currently no longer fulfilling international orders due to limited availability. You may send me your email address through our contact form if you wish to receive an update if we decide to reprint the book. Thanks.
DeletePaborigo te de mio maga bata. Ta keda yo tambien na US. Pavor abla con migo pakilaya yo compra aqui. Gracias!
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