The Chabacano Atorga

When I first heard my best friend use this word, I was very curious what it meant. I got the impression that it meant something like to let someone get away with something or to allow someone to do something that is not generally allowed. The reason why this word piqued my curiosity is because the word atorgar, as far as I know does not exist in Spanish. On the off chance that 'a' might be simply a prefix that is not found in the Spanish original, I also tried to do some research if the word torgar existed in Spanish but it does not. The closest Spanish word I could think of is the word otorgar whose meaning does not have any similarity to the meaning of the Chabacano word atorga (or does it?)

My bestfriend uses this word whenever he talks about his niece who he claims is a spoiled brat. He would lay the blame on the parent who lets her get away with things. Here is a comment written in Chabacano on a Facebook post using this word.

This is a complaint by a resident of Zamboanga city who probably has a relative that is a PDL (person deprived of liberty) and temporarily given freedom due to the pandemic or perhaps being housed at an isolation facility. The person who posted the comment is saying that they have acquiesced to paying 5,500 pesos to a private clinic for a swab test but have not yet been tested until now and she is asking that PDLs be allowed to go home already.

Both Camins' and Santos' Chabacano dictionary do not have the word atorga. However, both Chabacano dictionaries contain the word otorga. Camins' definition of otorga (to consent and to accept responsibility) will make you think that it is completely unrelated to the word atorga however Santos' definition of the same word (to tolerate, to bear, to consent, to allow, and to volunteer to willingly do a task or take over a responsibility) will make you think otherwise.

So is atorga simply a variation of otorga? Santos' definition does suggest so. But how did the Spanish word otorgar acquire this meaning in Chabacano? Well, upon closer look, the meaning of the Spanish word otorgar (to give) is similar to the Chabacano definition so this may very well be where the Chabacano definition (to give in) came from.

Here is something interesting. Atorgar does appear in the DRAE and it looks like it is an archaic form of otorgar. Atorgar is also present in Catalan and Valencian.

This article was also published in the International Year of Indigenous Languages Philippines website.