Which Chabacano Pronoun is Better?
So here is a Chabacano language test item for you.
In the following passage, which pronoun sounds better?
Cuando si Siagon tiene ya como ocho años, el de suyo maga mayores ya principia busca un dalaga que puede queda buen esposa para ___________.
A. De Suyo
B. Con Ele
C. Others (please specify)
A few people volunteered for a Chabacano translation project of mine and as part of the editing process, I send them passages from random completed translations for peer review (not in the academic sense).
One person told me that the pronoun in the passage should be "de suyo" and not "con ele". However, the other people I asked (including myself) think that it should be "con ele".
I mean part of me thought that "de suyo" can also make sense but "con ele" just sounded better.
I remember when I was translating Le Petit Prince (The Little Prince) into Chabacano, I translated the phrase in the dedication "To Leon Werth" to "Para con Leon Werth". I remember someone telling me that it should be "Para de Leon Werth". I guess this is a similar case.
Anyway, can you believe this? For a language that purportedly crystallized in the mid 19th century, there are still a lot of question marks when it comes to Chabacano grammar.
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