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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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Claro Versus Klaro (Chabacano Versus Tagalog)

The Chabacano word claro and the Tagalog word klaro, while both meaning the same thing are not used in the same manner in these languages.

In my experience, the word klaro in Tagalog is rarely used in conversations (at least in Central Luzon) and is most often only heard in the news. Depending on the context, Tagalog speakers tend to use the word malinaw more.than klaro.

The unsuspecting Chabacano speaker might think that the Tagalog word klaro can be used any time (just like in Chabacano) but that is not the case.

When taking a group photo, Chabacano speakers may ask (in Tagalog): klaro ba ako? However, native speakers of Tagalog may find that weird because they would not use the word klaro but instead use the word 'kita (as in 'kita ba ako?).

When talking on the phone, Chabacano speakers may ask (in Tagalog): klaro ba ako? However, native speakers of Tagalog may find that weird because they would not use the word klaro but instead use the word malinaw (as in malinaw ba ako?).

I believe the word klaro in Cebuano is used in the same way it is in Chabacano. In fact, we even have the expression no hay claro in Chabacano that sounds like a direct translation of the Cebuano expression walay klaro.

Here are some unedited posts from Facebook using the Chabacano expression no hay claro:

Hoy! Kosa man? Nuay kamo klaro.

Maga hente numa ya anda town kay nuay claro kuhikuhi para chene na bolsa

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