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 ...

Origins of the Chabacano Tiangue

Here's something to consider. Did you know that the word tiangue may not necessarily mean the same thing in Cebuano and Chabacano?


When my mom wanted to buy some fish, she asked the tricycle driver in Pagadian to take her to the tiangue but she was so surprised when the driver took her to a shopping center with bargain stalls. She later found out that in Cebuano (at least maybe the one spoken in Pagadian), the word for a wet market was mercado and not tiangue.

In Tagalog, the word tiangge normally brings to mind places like Divisoria and Greenhills where one can buy clothes, accessories, shoes, electronics... practically anything at very low prices.

In Chabacano, the word tiangue means 'wet market' or a market which sells vegetables and maybe some fruits. In fact, we even have a verb formed out of this noun and that is man tiangue. Normally, when someone says he would go man tiangue, it means that he would be buying meat, vegetables, and maybe some fruit. In Camins' Chabacano dictionary, he defines this word as a market or a marketplace. He also gives changue as an alternative spelling for this word. In Santos' Chabacano dictionary, he defines this word as a native open market and spells it as tianggue.

I think the standard word for a market in Spanish is mercado but I don't think I've ever heard anyone use this word in Chabacano. Camins' dictionary doesn't have it either. Santos' dictionary does have it and he spells it as mercao. Leave me a comment below if you know this word. In Tagalog, they use the word mercado in news programs often to refer to 'market' in economics.

But here's the good news for all you hispanophiles out there. I never thought that a word as native-sounding as tiangue could be Spanish but it looks like it is! Collins dictionary has this word and labels it as a term used in Central America for small markets, booths, and stalls. In Mexico, they know this word as tianguis and it is an open air market or bazaar.

Comments

  1. Cuando na secundaria ("high school" ba este na Zamboangueño?) pa yo, ya preguntá yo con un condiscipulo que ya nacé y ya engrandá na Mexico si sabé le el palabra "tianguis," y ya hablá le comigo que sí sabé le. Gracias que ya hacé tu este articulo! No hay yo sabé que diferente el significacion de tiangue/tiangge na maga diferente lenguaje Filipino

    (Dispensá comigo si jendeh tupao el de mio Chabacano de Zamboanga jaja)

    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...

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...

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 ...