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Showing posts from April, 2025

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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3 Usages of the Word 'Cerca' in Chabacano

The word cerca in Chabacano obviously came from the Spanish word 'cerca' but did you know that it can be used in three different ways in Chabacano? 1. Close physical distance of an object or location This usage is similar to the Spanish cerca . Here is an example: Chabacano: Cerca lang el de mio casa na oficina. English: My house is near the office. Chabacano: Cerca lang ba tu ta queda na de tuyo hermano? English: Do you live near your brother? 2. Close proximity of a date or an event English: I am going to give birth soon. Tagalog: Malapit na akong manganak. Chabacano: Cerca ya yo pari 3. To express that something almost happened (but did not) The third usage of cerca came from Tagalog (I am not sure if it can also occur in Cebuano/Hiligaynon). It is a direct translation of the word muntik/ malapit . In Tagalog, whenever you say that something almost happened (but did not), you use the word muntik or malapit . Here are some examples: English: I almost tri...
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Chabacano's Resurgence in 2025

A pretentious Chabacano (?) sign at the airport Perhaps it was because of the pandemic that saw a lot of people from the big cities go back to their hometowns but last year, I was very surprised to hear Chabacano making a comeback in Zamboanga city's downtown.  March 2024 was the first time I was able to return to Zamboanga city because of a medical requirement forced upon the population that I refused to take, and during my trip, it was very noticeable that even in places like hotels and malls, there were a lot more people speaking Chabacano. I thought that maybe I was just imagining it so I waited until going back to Zamboanga city in 2025 before making any conclusions. Folks, the revival is real! A lot of the employees you encounter in the malls seem to understand Chabacano now but will result to code-switching and borrowing from other languages when speaking it. Just a typical sign (in Chabacano) found all over the Philippines At a restaurant, I spoke in Chabacano and was surpr...
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Porque by Maldita Lyrics (Original Chabacano and Translated Spanish version)

Here are the original lyrics of the song Porque by Maldita as well as a rough Spanish translation below. 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 Nunc...
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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...
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How to say I Miss You in Chabacano

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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