Bien Chabacano

Today, I realized that I had been spelling the word tifon in Spanish wrong all my life. I found out that it is spelled with an O and not a U from someone in Spain who asked me if I was doing okay after the recent typhoon. I had always spelled this word as tifun because that’s how I heard it pronounced on TV Patrol Chavacano. In Chabacano, we often use the Tagalog and Visayan word bagyo for “typhoon.” However, the pronunciation in Chabacano has no stress on the last syllable, similar to how Baguio (the place) is pronounced. In fact, the only reason I know the word tifun/tifon is because of TV Patrol Chavacano. Now I’m asking myself: is this word borrowed directly from Spanish, or is it truly used in Chabacano for everyday conversations? It’s no secret that TV Patrol Chavacano borrows a lot of Spanish words. Whenever there’s a change in pronunciation between Spanish and Chabacano, it’s often a telltale sign that the word is used in daily conversations. Examples include bula (from volar, ...

I have always wanted to translate Snoopy into Chabacano so here is my first attempt at it. This was taken from Facebook, the original text erased and replaced with my Chabacano translation. I debated whether I should spell it as firme (which is the correct spelling based on the Chabacano dictionary published by the City hall) but not a lot of people use it and it looks weird or awkward for most Chabacano speakers. Pirmi is the more common spelling and that is also how we pronounce this word. Since landline telephones are no longer in use in most homes, the humor in this comic strip is probably no longer relevant. ### Second Attempt (October 10, 2025) The more natural translation would have been "dueño" because we don't call dog owners as "masters" of their dogs. However, the humor would have been lost if the word "dueño" was used. The original English word in this comic strip was "master". 

In this blog post, we are going to learn how to express some of our physical needs in Chabacano and using the word con or 'with'. You may see this word spelled as kun or cun but the recommended spelling from Chabacano/Chavacano Lexicography is 'con'. There are three physical needs that we can express in Chabacano just by using the word con. 1. Sleep- Con Sueño (Sleepy) This is how it is used in Chabacano: - Con sueño ya yo. (I am already sleepy.) -Anda ya dormi (Go, sleep.) Con sueño in Chabacano means to be sleepy. Literally, it means 'with sleep'. 2. Hunger- Con Hambre (Hungry) This is how it is used in Chabacano: -Con hambre ba tu? (Are you hungry?) -Si, con hambre ya yo. (Yes, I am hungry.) I'm not sure if it's standard Spanish but I remember a friend who was studying Spanish at Instituto Cervantes not knowing this phrase. I think most students at Cervantes are familiar with the phrase 'tengo hambre' (I am hungry) but she made a mistake (when...

  In songs and perhaps poems or formal speeches, we do tend to hear people use a plural form for Chabacano nouns. For example it's not uncommon to hear terms like mujeres , oficiales and actividades . Sometimes the word maga is also added so that it becomes maga mujeres , maga oficiales , and maga actividades . Another instance wherein Chabacano nouns seem to have a plural form is  "muchas gracias" and "las cosas" however, these phrases seem to have been transferred into the Chabacano language as they were in the originating language. There are times when it is confusing whether a noun ends in S or not. An example is the word 'pie' and 'huevo'. I swear I hear both 'pie' and 'pies' as well as 'huevo' and 'huevos'. Sometimes, people could be saying 'huevos' and 'pies' but the S gets ommitted at the end because of their accents. Some Spanish-derived words have been transferred into Chabacano in their...

On a lazy Saturday, I decided to translate a poem written by the famous author of the book "The Prophet", Kahlil Gibran into Chabacano. "El Rio No Puede Vira" de Kahlil Gibran Tiene ta habla que antes anda para na mar,  el rio ta tembla de miedo. Ta mira 'le con el camino donde ele estaba, Desde el pico del maga monte, Hasta na largo camino para na maga gulod y maga barrio. Acabar en frente con ele ta mira 'le con el mar bien grande, Donde si ay zambulli ele, Ay guinda ele para na oscuro eternidad. Pero no hay otro camino. No puede mas vira el rio. No hay quien ta puede vira. Imposible ese. Necesita queda valiente el rio antes guinda na mar. Por medio de este manera lang ay perde el miedo, Alli ay entende el rio Hende ele necesita desaparece para na mar, Sino necesita ele queda el mar. The poem "Fear" is part of the book titled "The Prophet" written by Kahlil Gibran.

Today, we are investigating a mysterious text in Chabacano. El Renacimiento was a Filipino newspaper founded after American colonization and in fact published articles that criticized the American colonial government in the islands. In this croniquilla, an exchange is featured between a playful Spanish-speaking gentleman and a Chabacano-speaking dalaga. At first, the setting is not that clear. Were they talking about Zamboanga in a different place altogether or were they actually in Zamboanga? Was the visitor a would-be visitor to Zamboanga or was he already there. Since, the dalaga uses the word aqui when she described Zamboanga, it obviously means that they were both in Zamboanga. But were they inside the walls? Who knows. Let's divide the croniquilla into three parts and scrutinize each part separately. CRONIQUILLA Desde la tierra Samboangueña -Señorita ¿puede V. decirme si Zamboanga es bonita población? -Ati man... ¡oy Jisús! (con un tono al parecer extraido de lo más hondo de ...