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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 ...
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Hace Caso Versus Asikaso (Chabacano Versus Tagalog)

The Spanish phrase hacer caso becomes asikaso in Tagalog. Usually, this means to attend to something or to take care of something. This phrase also exists in Chabacano and as you may have guessed, becomes hace caso in that language. In Chabacano, this phrase means to be responsive or the opposite of ignoring something or someone. For example, when I was in high school, people would constantly tell me: bien soplado, hace tambien caso . It was only much later that I realized that when people said hi to you, you should respond to them. As far as I know, the Tagalog meaning of this phrase does not occur in Chabacano. For example, I don't believe you can say in Chabacano: ya hace ya yo caso con el de mio papeles ayer whereas you would say: inasikaso ko na ang papeles ko kahapon in Tagalog. If it would ever enter into the Chabacano language, it would probably be incorporated as man asikaso as in ya man asikaso ya yo con el de mio papeles ayer . Meanwhile, the way we ...
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Are we Zamboangueňos or Chabacanos? And is Chabacano a language?

According to the book Riquezas (published by the city government of Zamboanga): "Zamboangueños often refer to their language as well as themselves as Chavacanos." While in Zamboanga city, I met an old Trycicle driver who came to Zamboanga city in the 1970s. He was originally from Cebu. This person agrees that the term Chabacano does refer to the people living in Zamboanga city but he believes that Chabacano isn't really a language, it is a dialect. For most of my life, I have never heard people in Zamboanga city calling themselves Chabacanos. My mom who is based in Pagadian city in Zamboanga del Sur, does tell me that for people who live in the different provinces of Zamboanga peninsula, we (people in Zamboanga city) are called Chabacanos. However, this was the first time that I have even heard of that! Personally, I always say that I am a Zamboangueño. I'm not sure when it all started but it looks to me like during the second half of the 20th century, people in...
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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...
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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...
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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 ...
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