Page 1 of 21
Page 2 of 21
El Diutay Principe
Page 3 of 21
Page 4 of 21
U n p u b l i s h e d
T r a n s l a t o r ’ s
Notes
Page 5 of 21
Page 6 of 21
6
This book is a true labor of love. Not
even all the stars in the sky can
recompense for all the hard work that went
towards making this book a reality.
I believe that each chapter in The Little
Prince has a signature and each one makes the
reader feel a certain way. When I translated
The Little Prince into Chavacano, I wanted
Chavacano readers to get that same distinct
feeling that I got from each and every chapter
of the book.
Each character in the book has its own
personality and this came out very vividly in
the dialogues that they delivered. Hopefully, I
did justice in trying to convey each character’s
personality through their dialogues in
Chavacano.
Much thought, research, and consultations
were poured towards the etymology of certain
words for the noble purpose of spelling
all words correctly in the translation. Rest
assured that everything was done to spell all
words etymologically or using the spelling
Page 7 of 21
7
system of the original language as stated in
the general orthographic rule of Chavacano
in the 2016 edition of Zamboanga Chavacano
Orthography published by the Department
of Education and the Local Government of
Zamboanga City, except for some exceptions
given below.
Etymological spelling is the kind that we
use in English which is why we spell the word
know with a silent <K> or the word acknowledge
with a silent <W>. Basically, it is a spelling
system wherein words are spelled based on the
original language without taking into account
how they are pronounced in another language
that has adopted them. But etymological
spelling does not have to be too rigid. A
certain amount of leeway can definitely be
employed in the name of palatability.
While the city government of Zamboanga
came out with a general rule with regards to
Chavacano orthography, the guide did not
establish specific rules and limitations that
surround the general rule. It wasn’t clear how
Page 8 of 21
8
etymologically pure or how close to the original
language they wanted the spelling system to
be because in the same guide, certain words
were spelled using the spelling system of the
original language but based on how they were
pronounced in Chavacano while other words
were spelled using the spelling system of the
original language without taking into account
any change in pronunciation in Chavacano.
Another important question that arises
from this general orthographic rule is the
basis for spelling Chavacano verbs derived
from Spanish. Do we only look at the Spanish
infinitive or do we also take into consideration
other forms of the verb (in different tenses)?
For example, if we shall consider the other
verb tenses, dormi (from dormir) could also
be spelled as durmi (from durmiendo), and pedi
(from pedir) could also be spelled as pidi (from
pidiendo).
Nevertheless, the recently published
Chavacano dictionary should put a stop to all
doubts concerning the general orthography
Page 9 of 21
9
rule. But for this translation, a unique spelling
system was developed around the general
orthography rule.
For this translation, Chavacano verbs are
assumed to be formed only by removing the
<R> from the Spanish infinitive. (e.g. habla
from hablar) except for a few cases like quiere,
tiene or puede.
When it came to translating Le Petit Prince
(The Little Prince) into Chavacano, it turned
out that spelling words etymologically (without
considering pronunciation changes) would be
more difficult when it came to Chavacano
words originating from Philippine languages
such as Filipino, Cebuano, and Hiligaynon
compared to Chavacano words from the
Spanish language.
The chief problem was that of palatability
and receptiveness of the public. It looked like
people were more accommodating towards
etymologically spelling (without considering
pronunciation changes) words from Spanish
compared to those that are from Philippine