Translating The Little Prince: Chabacano or Chavacano

In this blog, I spell the name of the language with a B but for El Diutay Principe, I opted to spell it with a V because I made this translation for the people of Zamboanga and I know that this is the socially accepted spelling.

Here is the explanation from this blog's About page where I explain why I spell the language with a B:

While Chavacano and Chabacano are used by people from Zamboanga, more people spell the name of the language with a 'v' and will even go as far as saying that spelling it with a 'b' is incorrect. Some people say that the reason why Chavacano (with a 'v') is the more used spelling is because people want to differentiate the language from the Castilian Spanish word meaning of bad taste or rude. However, I chose to spell the name of the language with a 'b' because it is the spelling recognized in the Diccionario De La Real Academia Espanola (dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy. If one consults the said dictionary, Chabacano is not only defined as being rude or of bad taste, but also as a language spoken in Zamboanga, Basilan, and Cavite wherein a large part of the vocabulary is Spanish. In this blog, I normally spell the name of the language with a 'v' when referring to the variants in Cavite, and Ermita (as well as other special instances).

The way I see it, Chavacano is an endonym for the language in Zamboanga city. Using 'v' makes some people who are familiar with Spanish feel like it is spelled incorrectly but using 'b' makes it sound foreign for Zamboangueños. Anyway, it is essentially the same language and whether you spell it with a 'b' or a 'v' depends on your politics.

In my experience, advocates of spelling the name of the language with a V are more passionate compared to those who like to spell it with a B. Believe me, I get more flak from spelling it with a B in this blog compared to spelling it with a V in the translation. Of course, I also got some flak for spelling it with a V in the translation but you never can please everybody.

I'm not sure when people started spelling the name of the language with a V. Some proponents of this spelling say that they prefer it because of the negative connotation that the word Chabacano has in Spanish. Fast forward to today, I'm not sure if people still know this because today there are only very few Chabacano speakers who has had exposure to Spanish so I think that young Chabacano speakers today who say that it should be spelled with a V do so because it is the spelling that they have grown up with.

There is currently a move in the city council to make it official that the name of the language should be spelled with a V.

Other articles in this series:

• 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
• Translating The Little Prince: The Role of Other Languages in Chabacano

Relevant Links:

A Reading by the Translator from El Diutay Principe: https://rebrand.ly/translatorreading

El Diutay Principe Book Excerpt: https://rebrand.ly/edppdf

Frequently Asked Questions About The Translation: https://rebrand.ly/edpfaq

Launch video: https://rebrand.ly/launchvid

More photos of the book: https://rebrand.ly/edpphotogallery

Media Kit: https://rebrand.ly/edpmediakit

Visit El Diutay Principe on Facebook at www.facebook.com/eldiutayprincipe