Chavacano de Zamboanga

Language of Zamboanga City – Lenguaje del Ciudad de Zamboanga

Daily examples of an English word and Chavacano word used in sentences:

February 22, 2024

• Ta pidi le overtime na trabajo kay ya gasta le todo de suyo cen para na de suyo novia.
• He is asking for overtime where he works because he spent all his money for his girlfriend.

Search for any  Chavacano/Chabacano or English word ↔ Type the word in the “search window” below.

Chavacano LifeStyles – Estilo de Chavacano

El Chavacano vien vivo aqui na Zamboanga. Man ayudahan kita para engrandese el lenguaje de chavacano, el lenguaje del Zamboangueño.

• Ninguno puede habla que ele el tiene autoridad o poder na lenguaje del chavacano. Todo kita necesita colabora para continua vivi el lenguaje de aton.
• Si ustedes quiere hace diccionario para publica y distribui, puede ustedes usa este mio diccionario. Menciona lang este lugar y mi nombre como un referencia.

Chavacano is the language of the Zamboangueños. Some refer to the language of the Zamboangueños as chabacano, which the Zamboangueños do not mind, as some of them refer to chavacano as chabacano. However, it is commonly accepted that if you are officially referring to the language of the Zamboangueños, then you might as well call it chavacano. Many zamboangueños pronounce the letters “V” as “B” , the “F” as “P” and the “Z” as “S”. However they may say “chabacano” but they will write it as “chavacano”, they’d say “prio” but they will write it down as “frio” or say “crus” but correctly write it down as “cruz“.

• This comes out of the mouth of a Chavacano person: “Yo si Rodolpo Palcatan Crus. De samboanga yo y chabacano mi lenguaje.”
• If he writes it down, it will look like this: “Yo si Rodolfo Falcatan Cruz. De Zamboanga yo y chavacano mi lenguaje.”

Why it is Officially Chavacano and not Chabacano

In Zamboanga City, the old-timers (specially those who write in chavacano) will be offended if you tell them that their language is chabacano instead of chavacano. To the new generation the words chabacano and chavacano are interchangeable. With that said, it’s time to put things into perspective.

In the spanish language, the word chabacano is not referred to as a language. The word chabacano or chabacana is defined as: Coarse, unpolished, ill-finished. And in Mexico, chabacano is a kind of Apricot (fruit). I have this fruit growing in my backyard. The word Chabacana is an insipid kind of plum.

The people of Zambaonga, being a proud bunch of people, who just helped the spaniards build the fort (June 23, 1635) and in the process developed the dialect, wanted to “own” this unique new language and hence baptized (coined) it as CHAVACANO. The word chabacano was derogatory. The people of Zamboanga were proud of their new language, the language of Chavacano. There is no mystery to this. The Zamboangueños simply wanted to own their own language.

The word CHAVACANO is only as old as the chavacano language itself. The word Chavacano is not a spanish word. The people of Zamboanga “coined” the word.

In the Philippines there were a handful of dialects that were developed in the areas where the spaniards had employed several indegenous people from different areas with different dialects. These workers had to communicate using the spanish language as the common denominator. These “new” dialects were referred to by the spaniards as CHABACANO, meaning “un-refined, coarse, or unpolished” form of spanish. Some call it “bastard” Spanish. The communities of Ternate – Ternateños, Ermita – Ermitaños, and Cavite City – Caviteños: did not “coin” their new found dialects. The dialects were called by the spaniards as the “Chabacano” of the spanish language and hence these communities proceeded to call their new dialects as “Chabacano”. No mystery there either.

The people of Zamboanga were unique. They coined the word “Chavacano” and they spread this new language to the new places they settled in later. Places, like Cotabato, Davao, and Basilan. The people in these areas referred to their language as CHAVACANO. The chavacano word identified the speaker as “originating” from Zamboanga.

The government website of zamboanga city(zamboanga.gov.ph) incorrectly refers to chavacano as chabacano. Well, the mayor who authorized the website(2004) was not a zamboangueño.

I Frank Maletsky born, raised and educated in Zamboanga City speaks chavacano fluently. I created this FREE online chavacano wiki dictionary to enable any chavacano zamboangueño to contribute their knowledge of the chavacano language. Nobody can claim that they are the authority in the Chavacano language. We all need to collaborate to allow the language to survive, grow and evolve.

In this site you will find Chavacano words with translations and how they are used in sentences. The chavacano words are translated into english and spanish. Simple chavacano sentences are used as examples.

This site is open to all. We invite the Chavacano people around the world to participate in this open interactive Chavacano site. If you remember any chavacano words that are not in this on-line interactive chavacano dictionary, go ahead and enter those chavacano words here.

Man ayudahan kita para el lenguaje chavacano di aton ay hinde mori.

Last Updated on February 24, 2024