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 ...
It was an afternoon that I would never forget. I don't recall how old I was at that time but young enough to get the names of my relatives wrong. I was at my grandmother's house and a man showed up at the door. I told my grandmother that it was my uncle, her son who lived in Manila. But it turned out to be my grandfather who at that time was no longer with my grandmother.
Unlike that afternoon's timeline, the words they exchanged in what looked like a heated argument will not be etched in my memory. Except for one word.
Querida. That's what my grandfather called her. It was a strange word for me. I have never heard it in any other time in my life before that event and after. Until I reached high school.
In high school, we were asked to memorize a poem (I think) in Tagalog which had the word 'querida' in it. A non Chabacano speaking classmate made a fuss about that word. Our teacher placated him saying that it didn't mean what he thought it meant. This was a time when mentioning words like 'sex' aloud and in public was scandalous.
Much later in my life, I would find out that the word 'querida' meant 'a concubine' in Tagalog. However, in that poem (the author) was using the Spanish meaning of this word which is probably another meaning of 'querida' in Tagalog.
The fate of the word 'querida' is quite similar to that of the word 'muchacha'. A word we use to refer to maids. While watching The Maid in Netflix, I noticed how the the maid agency's boss kept referring to the maids as her girls. My aunt's Spanish speaking friend in Florida also refers to her dad's caregivers as 'girls'. Is this how the word 'muchacha' came to be used to refer to maids in the Philippines?
This word probably exists in most Philippine languages. In Tagalog, they use it mostly in TV programs while in Chabacano, we use it in everyday conversations. Today, it is no longer politically correct to use this term as it is considered derogatory.
Link to full article: https://www.pressreader.com/philippines/philippine-daily-inquirer-1109/20101014/282359741067675
This is a very interesting article wherein we have a government official who knows Spanish attempt to speak in Chabacano. He constructed the sentence correctly but used Spanish words which while present in Chabacano mean totally different things. We also have a Spanish priest who thinks that the government official should have spoken in Spanish. Very interesting.
I checked Santos' dictionary and it looks like only the bad meanings of these words exist (concubine and maid) in Chabacano.
According to DRAE, the word 'querida' can also mean 'a kept man or woman'. It also suggests that this word can also mean 'a lover' but this is vague since it is not clear whether this is a relationship outside of a marriage. As for the word muchacho/a, it looks like it can also mean 'a maid' in Spanish.
Well, do let me know what you think. My Spanish isn't very good so I tend to misunderstand some things.
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