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
When I was in college, I had a very
funny and embarrassing linguistic experience. My friends and I were
taking leave of my friend's parents one by one (after having lunch at
their house) when I said the weirdest thing. Anda ya po kame.
I was glad everyone else had left when I said it because I probably
would not have been able to explain myself. In 2005, it was just
plain weird for people to use po
in Chabacano.
Today,
I am reading a lot of Facebook posts where people are using po
when speaking Chabacano. At the mall where you can hear conversations
between store clerks and customers, the usage of po
in Chabacano is very pronounced. At a Jollibee restaurant along the
west coast of the city, customers are greeted with buenas
dias po. Suddenly, after more
than ten years, what I said in 2005 does not sound so weird anymore.
Of
course, not everybody does it. I suppose people whose first language
isn't Chabacano would be more prone to using po when
speaking Chabacano and inevitably influence people whose first
language is Chabacano. In my experience, those who do it would
insert a po in their
Chabacano when asking very short questions that require very short
answers such as cosa color po (which
color do you prefer).
I am
uncertain about it, but I have not yet encountered anybody using po
in every single sentence (in the same manner that it is used in the
Tagalog spoken in Manila).
Here is a text message conversation I recently had wherein the person I was texting with constantly used po in her Chabacano.
When I
asked a high school teacher of mine (who comes from a rural part of
Zamboanga city) what the equivalent of po
is in our culture, she said that there are no words to express this
word in Chabacano. Rather, we use intonation to show a degree of
respect towards the person to whom we are speaking to.
Aside
from words that show courteousness such as favor
and uste, much like in
other languages, we use a unique intonation in Chabacano to color our
speech with respect.
Po is a particle used mainly in the Tagalog spoken in areas where it is the dominant language as a form of respect.
Po is a particle used mainly in the Tagalog spoken in areas where it is the dominant language as a form of respect.
Note: As can be seen from the url of this article, this was written in 2019. However, the photo above was taken in 2023 at the airport of Zamboanga by my best friend. I'm unsure when the sign was put up, though.
It’s awful when this particle creeps into other languages.
ReplyDeleteI know right! :/
DeleteFor us Zamboangueño, we speak with respect base on hierarchy and which is also base on the pronoun-word usage.
ReplyDeleteExample:
Donde usted anda?
Donde tu anda?
Zamboangueños are very respectful Ethnic Group, because we were train to always says "Favor" (Please) and "Gracias" (Thank you).
Gracias Ronan. Ahora lang yo ya puede man approve el maga comentario aqui hahaha.
DeleteIn chilian spanish as well exists the word «Po».
ReplyDelete« Para afirmar y negar, los chilenos no decimos solamente «si» o «no». A estas palabritas siempre les agregamos un “po” al final, que da cuenta de una cierta obviedad de la respuesta. Decir “si” es como más formal y normal, si dices “sipo” es como “obvio que si”. El “po” también se le agrega a otras palabras, tales como “ya”, “bueno”, “ahi vemos”, entre muchas otras. El punto es que el “po” hace que todo se vea como más evidente, más obvio.
A: Bueno po, ¿y nos vamos a juntar o no?
B: Sipo, nos vemos en tu casa a las 5.»
Thank you for your comment. I have read in the comments section of a video in Youtube that po is used as a sign of respect in Chile so I also wondered if that is where the Tagalog 'po' comes from. My friend also told me that the Tagalog 'ho' (also a sign of respect) may have come from Old Spanish. :)
DeleteIn chilian spanish exists the word «po». « Para afirmar y negar, los chilenos no decimos solamente «si» o «no». A estas palabritas siempre les agregamos un “po” al final, que da cuenta de una cierta obviedad de la respuesta. Decir “si” es como más formal y normal, si dices “sipo” es como “obvio que si”. El “po” también se le agrega a otras palabras, tales como “ya”, “bueno”, “ahi vemos”, entre muchas otras. El punto es que el “po” hace que todo se vea como más evidente, más obvio.
ReplyDeleteA: Bueno po, ¿y nos vamos a juntar o no?
B: Sipo, nos vemos en tu casa a las 5.»