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El Diutay Principe
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Frequently Asked
Questions About The
Translation
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What you’re holding is a very special book. It is no
ordinary book. It came from hours and hours of
walking under the stars and the gargantuan effort
of my arms. It is good for the heart, like a gift.
Jerome Herrera
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Great care was taken in translating The
Little Prince into the Chavacano language.
The translator did his best in conveying
the message of each and every sentence
in the story without any biases. Here now,
are some frequently asked questions about
the translation:
Why is the title El Diutay Principe?
Translating the title was a tricky task. The
thing is, the word little or petit (in French)
have literal and figurative meanings. It
could mean either short, young, or just plain
small. In the story itself, the author doesn’t
really clarify what he meant by the word
little. In fact, we see lines in the story that
allude to the little prince being either short,
young, or small.
This translation, just like the previous
two editions of The Little Prince featuring
a Philippine language also used the word
small.
In the Filipino edition of The Little
Prince, the word that they used for little or
small was munti which used to only mean
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small. But some translators have used this
word to mean young in recent history and
this usage of the word munti caught on and
is now accepted by the public.
Even in English, the title literally means
a small prince but figuratively, it could mean
a young prince.
While there are several words for small
in the Chavacano language, the translator
decided to use the most used and readily
known word (according to research) which
is diutay.
If you think the title sounds weird, don’t
worry. You’re not alone. If you don’t think
the title is weird, please do tell me about
it. I need to be consoled.
Why are there English words?
In some instances such as in names
of plants and animals, the translator
borrowed words from the Spanish and
English language. Some English words
were used to show variety and to make
the dialogues look more realistic. These
two languages have greatly influenced the
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Chavacano language in the distant past
and in recent history.
What kind of Chavacano was used
in this translation?
The Chavacano found in the translation is
the one that is spoken mainly in Zamboanga
city and Basilan province but since there are
different variations of this Chavacano, the
translator decided to incorporate both formal
and more relaxed styles of speech as well
as contemporary and outdated manners of
speaking. Some of you might feel that certain
words in this translation sound obsolete and
are no longer in use, but this was done on
purpose in the hope of reintroducing these
words into mainstream and contemporary
Chavacano. Some of the words or manner of
speaking used here may not be recognizable
to old speakers or may even be deemed as
incorrect by them because they are used only
by younger people.
Several people of various ages were
consulted to make the Chavacano found in
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the translation a true representation of the
language in this day and age and not an
idealized version of it.
Why was The Little Prince translated
into Chavacano?
The project began as the translator’s past
time. The idea to publish the translation only
came later when the translator felt that doing
so could do a lot of good for the Chavacano
language.
The translator hopes that El Diutay Principe
would become the preeminent piece of
Chavacano literature and that it would greatly
aid in Chavacano becoming a standardized
written language in the future.
This book also hopes to create awareness
about the Chavacano language in the
Philippines and around the world to legitimize
as well as elevate its prestige.
Inshallah it will be the start of a long list of
books published in Chavacano.
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Who translated The Little Prince
into Chavacano?
The translation was done by Jerome Herrera,
the blogger behind Bien Chabacano.
Who published El Diutay Principe?
El Diutay Principe was self-published by the
translator in 2018.
Who did the book cover and book
layout?
The book layout and book cover were also
done by the translator. The translator even wrote
this FAQ himself (in third person). Yes, what a
chump!
If you have any more questions, or
comments, feel free to send us a message at
www.facebook.com/eldiutayprincipe or www.
facebook.com/jeromeherrera2016.
If you’d like to read the media kit of
El Diutay Principe which contains some
frequently asked questions about the book as
well as a translator’s bio, please click here.
For more information about the Chavacano
language, please visit www.bienchabacano.
blogspot.com.
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Blogs by Jerome Herrera & Other
Links
https://allicanhandle.blogspot.com
https://bienchabacano.blogspot.com
www.facebook.com/bienchabacano
www.facebook.com/allicanhandle
www.facebook.com/eldiutayprincipe
http://www.chavacano.org
www.facebook.com/jeromeherrera2016