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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

A Contemporary Essay in Chabacano Caviteño

 

Why is the 'H' in some Chabacano words of Spanish origin pronounced like in English?

Do we Pronounce the 'H' in Spanish words like in English? A long time ago, a linguist asked me this question. While we do pronounce the 'H' in words that aren't from Spanish similar to English, I told him that in words of Spanish origin, we pronounce the 'H' just like in Spanish. In fact, I was baffled why he would ask that question. But later, I realized that we DO pronounce the 'H' like in English even in certain words that are from Spanish. Here are some examples: moho , almohada , harta , hinca , hermosa , haragan , and harina . In last names beginning with a 'H' like mine, the 'H' is pronounced like in English by Filipinos, in general. In fact, when I heard a teacher in high school pronounce my last name with a silent 'H', I remember being perplexed by it. At that time though, there were still many people who were acquainted with Spanish pronunciation so I have heard other family names beginning with a 'H' sometim

Are Zamboangueños Influencing the Chabacano in Ternate?

Lately, I have been noticing that more and more Chabacano (Zamboanga) speakers in Facebook use the Tagalog kung instead of si  when saying 'if'. What's interesting about it is that some of them are spelling it as con . But what's even more interesting is that today, I saw in a Facebook post  by Debahraknows that this also occurs in the Chabacano spoken in Ternate! As far I understood it, the text on the photo says that politicians, once elected tend to forget about the people but will be the ones to go to you if elections are already near. In the past, I have commented that more and more, the Chabacano in Zamboanga city is sounding similar to that of its Luzon counterparts because of the shift in preference for Tagalog conjunctions and particles instead of the usual Hiligaynon/Cebuano as well as Spanish. But seeing this particular phenomenon happen in both languages is quite an awesome coincidence. Of course, we can't conclude right away that this took place on i

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Porque by Maldita Lyrics (Original Chabacano and Translated Spanish version)

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 Nunca acepta Si tu ay vira por el dolor ya senti Por que contigo yo ya escoge? Ahora mi corazon ta suf

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

The Chabacano Expression 'Todo Bagon'

That’s a load of Crap! B*ullsh*t! These are expressions in the English language that are used to mean nonsense, foolishness or hogwash (which is another expression). In the Chabacano de Zamboanga, we say lasang or lasangan . Lasang or lasangan came out during the early 2000s (I think) and was in use for about a decade. Previously though, the favored word was tonterias, pendejadas or locuras . All these words are actually falling into disuse. Today, the favored word is todo bagon.   Todo means 'all' and bagon means shrimp paste (from  bagoong ). So literally, it means all shrimp paste. When you say that a person is todo bagon , it means that that person is not making any sense. One may also say todo vos bagon or you are all shrimp paste. A word of caution though, this sounds very offensive. I heard that this expression is very popular among the people who live in the rural areas or on the outskirts of Zamboanga city. It is quickly gaining popularity though in main