tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55727464842575299302024-03-17T02:51:53.906+08:00Bien ChabacanoBienvenidos na Bien Chabacano!
It's all about the Chabacano de Zamboanga. Bien Chabacano is the first and only blog designed for Chabacano language enthusiasts which discusses and analyzes Chabacano word origins, Chabacano grammar, Chabacano vocabulary, and so much more! Chabacano or Chavacano is one of only two Spanish-based creole languages in the world and is considered as one of the world’s oldest creole languages.Jerome Herrerahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11743838510465910572noreply@blogger.comBlogger276125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5572746484257529930.post-78595713163743391862023-10-07T15:26:00.003+08:002023-10-07T15:26:33.710+08:00The Chabacano PicadilloA few days ago, someone from Spain who purchased a copy of El Diutay Principe sent this article about a Filipino dish called Picadillo. I never knew that this dish was called Picadillo (although a quick search online will confirm this). Since coming to Manila, I have only heard this dish being called Giniling in carenderias which means something that Jerome Herrerahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11743838510465910572noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5572746484257529930.post-81119652010855886272023-09-29T19:22:00.003+08:002023-09-30T10:30:30.325+08:00The Chabacano 'Firme'Prior to finding out that the same word existed in Cebuano and Hiligaynon, I have always thought that the Chabacano word 'firme' came from the Spanish language. However, upon learning that the same word (with the same definition) existed in Cebuano and Hiligaynon, I concluded that this word most probably came from either one of these two languages. I mean the Cebuano and Hiligaynon languages mostJerome Herrerahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11743838510465910572noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5572746484257529930.post-3450737461494353602023-08-11T14:27:00.004+08:002023-08-14T17:55:28.388+08:00El Nuevo Santo RosarioI just got my hands on a rosary guide book in Chabacano. I have had my eye on this book since forever but the shipping costs always discouraged me from buying it. I was finally able to buy a few copies online when I received a voucher which covered the entire shipping costs. Surprisingly, the online shops in Manila do not have this in stock.I was talking about this book with an online friend a Jerome Herrerahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11743838510465910572noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5572746484257529930.post-48704066871113400942023-05-01T22:06:00.004+08:002023-05-07T13:16:24.318+08:00A Mañanita in Chabacano (Chabacano Mañanita Lyrics)Several years ago, my Mexican friend asked me on my birthday: te cantaron las mañanitas? I had very little knowledge about what a Mañanita was back then but now I know that we actually also have this tradition in the Philippines. In fact, there are recent videos in Youtube where they are serenading someone celebrating their birthday in different parts of the country. A few hours ago, I Jerome Herrerahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11743838510465910572noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5572746484257529930.post-8892169494288749512023-02-11T16:32:00.004+08:002023-05-07T13:25:03.309+08:00The Chabacano 'Crece'A week ago, I met someone who was originally from Zamboanga city but has lived in Manila for most of her life. When I spoke to her daughter in Chabacano, she told me: no sabe ese man Chabacano kay aqui ese sila ya crece.Even though I understood her perfectly, I immediately noted how she used the word crece incorrectly (at least for me) in Chabacano.This word comes from the Spanish crecer and is Jerome Herrerahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11743838510465910572noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5572746484257529930.post-50078964626255705172023-01-20T12:31:00.002+08:002023-05-07T13:25:29.382+08:00The Chabacano PlanchadorMy mom is visiting me again in the city and during one of our phone calls, she asked me if the Airbnb we are going to stay at had a planchador. Even if it had been years that I have not heard and/or used this word, this piece of vocabulary had always been in my subconscious.I googled up the word and found out that it means a different thing altogether in Spanish. In Spanish, the word planchador Jerome Herrerahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11743838510465910572noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5572746484257529930.post-35402504778300446962022-09-04T16:05:00.004+08:002023-05-07T13:35:16.397+08:00Using 'te' instead of 'tu' in Chabacano In Spanish, 'te' is a reflexive pronoun that is used when conjugating reflexive verbs like 'acostarse'.While this pronoun does not behave similarly in Chabacano grammar, it is possible that it is being used as a synonym of 'tu'.The first time I heard this was at the annual family reunions we had on my mother's side of the family every Christmas. It has been almost fifteen years since I Jerome Herrerahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11743838510465910572noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5572746484257529930.post-77006731489339048492022-08-24T21:52:00.007+08:002023-05-07T13:37:57.085+08:00Chabacano Jokes and MemesChabacano 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 Jerome Herrerahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11743838510465910572noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5572746484257529930.post-91266128052881664622022-08-20T22:35:00.024+08:002023-05-07T13:36:09.923+08:00Cooking in Caviteño ChabacanoWell, 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 Jerome Herrerahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11743838510465910572noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5572746484257529930.post-19971232248819275832022-08-15T14:21:00.001+08:002023-05-07T13:42:36.674+08:00Zamboanga Hermosa
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 Jerome Herrerahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11743838510465910572noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5572746484257529930.post-38675792464683511352022-07-21T10:18:00.001+08:002023-05-07T13:44:33.054+08:00The Chabacano 'Besa Mano'Depending on where you live in the Philippines or the family that you were born into, this practice may have different applications or perhaps it isn't practiced at all.When I stayed over a friend's house in Bataan for Christmas twelve years ago, we attended a midnight mass and I was very surprised when I saw people falling in line to take the priest's hand. They also practiced this at home with Jerome Herrerahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11743838510465910572noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5572746484257529930.post-50365434904887924832022-05-19T12:39:00.004+08:002023-05-07T13:48:17.875+08:00What Makes a Good Chabacano Speaker?My late aunt never failed to let me know that I did not speak Chabacano well. But what defines a good Chabacano speaker? In my case, I'm not very good at articulating my thoughts in whatever language especially when speaking, so I actually consider myself as unable to speak well in any language.Does using Tagalog pronouns mean you don't speak Chabacano well?I have Chabacano-speaking friends who Jerome Herrerahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11743838510465910572noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5572746484257529930.post-38562715490406417362022-05-19T12:10:00.002+08:002023-05-07T13:48:36.996+08:00 The Chabacano Expression 'Tampa Caro'This Chabacano expression is actually made up of four words: ta, man, pa, caro (tampa being a contraction of three words: ta, man, pa). Very interesting right?This is an expression which means to feel self important or to play hard to get. If you ask me, I think it originally meant to play hard to get and then later on evolved to include the other meaning.Tampa in Chabacano means to pretend or toJerome Herrerahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11743838510465910572noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5572746484257529930.post-32924669458558784332021-12-28T13:17:00.005+08:002023-05-07T13:49:38.581+08:00Origins of the Chabacano Word "Karahay"Is "karahay" a Spanish word?Today, we are going to investigate whether the Chabacano word "karahay" came from Spanish."Karahay" is a word we use for "wok", "pan", or "skillet" in Chabacano. No distinctions are made in Chabacano between these things, they are all called "karahay".I was doing research for an article when I accidentally found out that the word "karahay" also existed in the Caviteño Jerome Herrerahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11743838510465910572noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5572746484257529930.post-51350222682958842892021-11-03T18:16:00.001+08:002023-05-07T13:50:18.396+08:00Queridas and MuchachasIt 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 Jerome Herrerahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11743838510465910572noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5572746484257529930.post-85030824536103495622021-10-31T23:18:00.004+08:002023-05-07T13:51:18.348+08:00A Contemporary Essay in Chabacano Caviteño Jerome Herrerahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11743838510465910572noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5572746484257529930.post-84301975940057490342021-10-12T20:08:00.002+08:002023-05-07T13:51:59.336+08:00Why is the 'H' in some Chabacano words of Spanish origin pronounced like in English?Do we Pronounce the 'H' in Spanish words like in English?A long time ago, a linguist asked me this question. While we do pronounce the 'H' in words that aren't from Spanish similar to English, I told him that in words of Spanish origin, we pronounce the 'H' just like in Spanish. In fact, I was baffled why he would ask that question.But later, I realized that we DO pronounce the 'H' like in Jerome Herrerahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11743838510465910572noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5572746484257529930.post-16489717088018742232021-10-10T20:08:00.002+08:002023-05-07T13:52:41.314+08:00Are Zamboangueños Influencing the Chabacano in Ternate?Lately, I have been noticing that more and more Chabacano (Zamboanga) speakers in Facebook use the Tagalog kung instead of si when saying 'if'.What's interesting about it is that some of them are spelling it as con. But what's even more interesting is that today, I saw in a Facebook post by Debahraknows that this also occurs in the Chabacano spoken in Ternate!As far I understood it, theJerome Herrerahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11743838510465910572noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5572746484257529930.post-39705119236571549102021-09-19T10:50:00.002+08:002021-10-10T17:00:30.133+08:00The Chabacano 'Recoge'This is a video in Chabacano on the different usages of the Chabacano word 'recoge'. I also previously uploaded three articles in Chabacano in my personal blog (because the topics discussed weren't related to Chabacano). Here are the links to those articles:2 Manera Para Sabe si Deverasan Oro el Alhajas10 Secreto si Paquilaya kita Puede Esconde CenPara na un Sociedad CashlessJerome Herrerahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11743838510465910572noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5572746484257529930.post-25945259756829083292021-08-04T11:25:00.004+08:002021-08-04T18:30:56.707+08:00Do Zamboangueños Say 'Hola'?I watched a couple of vlogs wherein a foreigner asked someone who spoke Chabacano what 'hello' was in their language. Without missing a beat, they replied hola.When I was growing up, I remember hearing hola, Zamboanga being popularized during the annual Zamboanga Hermosa festivals. The street dance performers during these festivals would shout hola, Zamboanga repeatedly while dancing. I'm Jerome Herrerahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11743838510465910572noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5572746484257529930.post-8414335966575049732021-07-12T21:09:00.002+08:002021-07-27T15:34:40.287+08:00Is This The Chabacano Prototype?A few weeks ago, I discovered a channel
in YouTube which featured a Filipino from Nueva Ecija working in
Equatorial Guinea. I was very fascinated upon observing how the
vlogger's Spanish sounded very much like Chabacano. Professing himself
that he doesn't speak the language well, he tends to use only
infinitives and I think he also tends to think in Tagalog and
translate that into Spanish.
All Jerome Herrerahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11743838510465910572noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5572746484257529930.post-75236009363029031992021-06-22T21:47:00.012+08:002023-11-04T23:25:35.052+08:00Ermita Chabacano: The Lost Ark of ChabacanoIf Chabacano is the holy grail of
Linguistics, the videoconference I watched calls the Chabacano spoken
in Ermita the lost ark of the covenant.
When the announcement that a conference
on the Chabacano spoken in Ermita popped up in my newsfeed, I was
very excited. The Chabacano in Ermita is probably the least studied
among all the Chabacano varieties so I was happy that someone will
finally be Jerome Herrerahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11743838510465910572noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5572746484257529930.post-61513734954873498612021-06-19T22:20:00.001+08:002023-05-07T19:39:17.134+08:00Why do Zamboangueños think Spanish is Old Chabacano?Today, I found a video on YouTube where
they translate a common announcement heard in airport terminals into
Chabacano. I knew right away that it was in Spanish and was not one
bit of an iota Chabacano. The funny thing was that a commenter said
that it was old Chabacano and was how his grandmother spoke
Chabacano. I also asked a friend to watch it and I was surprised when
he also commented that Jerome Herrerahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11743838510465910572noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5572746484257529930.post-38445345120407984042021-06-12T09:58:00.000+08:002023-06-02T17:56:48.086+08:00The Chabacano Expression 'Caliente Boca'
I was speaking to a friend on the phone
in Chabacano this afternoon when I used the Chabacano expression
caliente boca. At the same time, I realized that I never wrote about
this Chabacano expression before.
Caliente boca translates to 'hot mouth' literally but this Chabacano expression refers to a person who
says that something will happen beforeJerome Herrerahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11743838510465910572noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5572746484257529930.post-50760477757006315992021-06-04T09:03:00.001+08:002021-06-05T15:39:16.721+08:00The Chabacano ZafaIt probably looks weird to you written
that way but this is a word that we use almost everyday in Chabacano.
For most of us, we spell this word as sapa
and for good reason since that is the way that we pronounce it.
Yes,
folks I have reason to believe that the Chabacano word sapa
and the Spanish word zafar
are one and the same. The DRAE defines this word as either:1. Desembarazar, libertar, Jerome Herrerahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11743838510465910572noreply@blogger.com0