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 ...
During last year's Día del Libro, I was placed in a booth along with a foundation. A guy from the foundation walked up to me and asked what “hello” was in Chabacano. My mind went into a spiral because one of my pet peeves is when I see people online say that “hello” is hola in Chabacano. I mean, you have the same issue in Tagalog or Filipino. I notice that when foreigners ask what “hello” is in Tagalog, they usually say magandang araw or kumusta, which are all indirect translations.
When he saw that I was having a hard time answering the question, he said, “Oh come on, you translated Le Petit Prince but you can’t translate one simple word?”
But isn’t it possible that the concept of a verbal greeting is a Western import? I mean, what if the original native greeting was just a nod or raising of the eyebrows, or even a grunt?
For me, the best answer to the question “what is hello in Tagalog, Filipino, or even Chabacano?” is simply that it is also “hello.”
I also wrote about the word hola in Chabacano back in 2021, where I described seeing more influencers start their videos or programs with a “hola.”
Five years later, the trend is still strong, but will it eventually spread to everyday conversation? We shall see.
For now, hola is a very prescriptivist answer to what “hello” is in Chabacano. In real life, just like in Tagalog or in any other place in the Philippines, we all use the word “hello.”
During this year’s Día del Libro, someone walked up to the booth and asked me again what “hello” was in Chabacano. And just like last year, my mind went into overthinking mode.
I mean, can you imagine their reaction if someone asked you what “hello” was in your language and you asked them if they wanted a descriptivist or a prescriptivist answer?
Anyway, note to self. Next time someone asks, just say it’s hola and save yourself the trouble. They probably just want to start a conversation and not listen to an entire lecture.
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