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Showing posts from August, 2022

The Little Prince By Antoine De Saint-Exupéry Is Now Available In Chabacano!

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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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Chabacano Jokes and Memes

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Chabacano Green Jokes                            "Este ulan, ulan este de viejo, kay hende ya ta para!" "Basta ulan-ulan, mojao gayod el leña." "Favorito daw de suyo el Adobo, pero conmigo 'le quere-quere come." "Habla sila, chupa daw gayod para hende busca otro. Por que yo ya lambe ya hasta el bola-bola, pero ya busca lang siempre otro?" "Nariz ya lang gane el virgin contigo, yan finger pa tu." "El cen, igual na pututuy lang ese. Sabroso agarra si grande." Chabacano Jokes on Love and Relationship                            "Basta frio ya 'le contigo, ta callenta ya 'se na otro." "Por que na Math puro X and Y puede man era U and I ya lang." "Ahora yan blackout manada reclamo, pero cuando ya lleva con ele hui na buuk no hay reclama!" "Lord, masquin cen ya lang, no mas ya love life, dolor de cabeza lang 'se." "Bien caro ahora el arroz pati diaper, bueno ya lang college
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Cooking in Caviteño Chabacano

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Well, this is interesting! A cooking video in Caviteño Chabacano (Cavite city)... Apparently, they also have the word 'saborea' in Caviteño although I don't think we use it in the same way as they do. In the Chabacano in Zamboanga city, we usually use 'saborea' to mean 'tasting (or feeling *figurative) something strongly'. For example you can say 'no hay yo saborea el cheese na pizza' which means I didn't taste the cheese in the pizza. It also looks like they have a different way of saying 'half' when mentioning measurements in recipes. I think the girl said 'mita' (which probably comes from the Spanish 'mitad' while in the Chabacano in Zamboanga city, we say 'media' (e.g. uno y media cuchara). While they also say 'ajos' for 'garlic', it seems that their word for 'onion' is different. In Caviteño Chabacano, onion is cebollas (sebulyas) *based on the video while in Zamboanga Chabacano, it is
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Zamboanga Hermosa

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My friend who used to work in Guatemala (and learned his Spanish there) was quite amused when he saw deliciosa ciudad in the lyrics of the song Zamboanga Hermosa. I also felt that it was weird since we often only use the word delicious for food in English. Upon researching the word deliciosa however, it seems that this word can also mean pleasant, charming, or lovely in Spanish . This is the same in the French language wherein the French word for delicious ( délicieux ) can also apply for people (and yes, in this case, a city). Who can forget the time the French president called Australian Prime Minister Thornbull's wife delicious ? Another peculiar word in this Spanish song is the word dalaga but a quick search in the DRAE  will tell us that this also is a Spanish word!  dalaga 1. f. Filip. Mujer soltera, doncella y joven. I'm not sure if it's true but I've read that they used this song as the national hymn during the short-lived Republic of Zamboanga
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Porque by Maldita Lyrics (Original Chabacano and Translated Spanish version)

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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
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How To Say 'I Love You' And 'I Hate You' In Chabacano

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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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How to say I Miss You in Chabacano

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In Facebook groups, a lot of people, even Chabacano speakers themselves, seem to be wondering how to say 'I miss you' in Chabacano. Most Chabacano speakers get away with just saying tan miss ya yo contigo . However, the verb miss is still untranslated. The English verb to miss (someone or something) may very well be untranslatable. I googled I miss you in Tagalog  and I nearly fell off my chair when I saw what Google Translate had to say: In very formal Tagalog, one can say nangungulila ako sa iyo although it will probably make you cringe saying it. Most formal Chabacano translations of I miss you  are similar; they will make you cringe saying them. Besides, most people wouldn't understand you anyway, if you use them. In Cebuano, they actually have a translation for I miss you  and that is gimingaw kaayo ko nimo. I'm not sure though if Cebuano speakers actually say this. My friend tells me that it's more common to hear people say namiss na ta ka which if yo
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