Arcadio Buenaluna

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Vocabulary

Forms and style

Chavacano (especially Zamboangueño) has two levels of usage for words: The common or familiar form and the formal form.

In the common or familiar form, words of local origin or a mixture of local and Spanish words predominate. The common or familiar form is used ordinarily when conversing with people of equal or lower status in society. It is also used more commonly in the family, with friends and acquaintances. Its use is of general acceptance and usage.

In the formal form, words of Spanish origin or Spanish words predominate. The formal form is used especially when conversing with people of higher status in society. It is also used when conversing with elders (especially in the family and with older relatives) and those in authority. It is more commonly used by older generations, by Zamboangueño mestizos, and in the barrios. It is the form used in speeches, education, media, and writing.

The following examples show a contrast between the usage of formal words and common or familiar words in Chavacano:

English	Chavacano (Formal)	Chavacano (Common/Familiar)	Spanish
slippery	resbalozo/resbaladizo	malandug	resbaladizo
rice	morisqueta	canon	arroz
rain	lluvia/aguacero	aguacero	aguacero/lluvia
dish	vianda/comida	comida	vianda/comida
braggart/boastful	orgulloso(a)	hambuguero(a)/bugalon(a)	orgulloso(a)
car	coche	auto	coche/auto
housemaid	muchacho (m)/muchacha (f)	ayudante/ayudanta	muchacha(o)
father	papá	tata	papá
mother	mamá	nana	mamá
grandfather	abuelo	abuelo/lolo	abuelo/lolo
grandmother	abuela	abuela/lola	abuela/lela
small	chico(a)/pequeño(a)	pequeño(a)/diutay	pequeño/chico
nuisance	fastidio	malihug	fastidio
hard-headed	testarudo	duro cabeza/duro pulso	testarudo
slippers	chancla	chinelas	chancla/chinelas
married	de estado/de estao	casado/casao	casado
(my) parents	(mis) padres	(mi) tata y nana	(mis) padres
naughty	travieso(a)	salawayun	desagradable
slide	rezbalasa/deslizar	landug	resbalar/deslizar
ugly	feo (masculine)/fea (feminine)	mala cara	feo(a)
rainshower	lluve	tali-ti	lluvia
lightning	rayo	quirlat	rayo
thunder/thunderstorm	trueno	trueno	trueno
tornado	tornado/remolino	ipo-ipo	tornado/remolino
thin (person)	delgado(a)/flaco(a)/chiquito(a)	flaco(a)	delgado/flaco

Examples

Months, days, numbers, and phrases

Names of months, days, and numbers in Chavacano are the same as in Spanish:

English	Spanish	Chavacano
January	enero	Enero
February	febrero	Febrero
March	marzo	Marzo
April	abril	Abril
May	mayo	Mayo
June	junio	Junio
July	julio	Julio
August	agosto	Agosto
September	septiembre	Septiembre
October	octubre	Octubre
November	noviembre	Noviembre
December	diciembre	Diciembre
Monday	lunes	Lunes
Tuesday	martes	Martes
Wednesday	miércoles	Miercoles
Thursday	jueves	Jueves
Friday	viernes	Viernes
Saturday	sábado	Sabado
Sunday	domingo	Domingo
one	uno	uno
ten	diez	diez
hundred	cien	ciento
five hundred	quinientos	quinientos
one o'clock	Es la una	a la una
five o'clock	Son las cinco	a las cinco
now	ahora	ahora
today	hoy (or este día)	este dia
tomorrow	mañana	mañana
this afternoon	esta tarde	este tarde
on the street	en la calle	na calle/na camino
on the table	sobre la mesa	encima mesa/na la mesa
in the room	en el cuarto	adentro cuarto
the door	la puerta	el puerta
one peso	un peso	un peso
twenty centavos	una peseta	un peseta
good	bueno	bueno
better	mejor	mejor
best	el mejor (de)	el de todo mejor/el mejor de todo

Persons and relations

English	Formal	Familiar	Common
Mr./Mrs.	Señor/Señora	Ñor/Ñora
Father	Padre	Papa	Táta
Mother	Madre	Mama	Nána
Grandfather	Abuelo	Lolô
Grandmother	Abuela	Lolâ
Grandfather-in-law	Aguelo	Aguelo
Grandmother-in-law	Aguela	Aguela
Granduncle	Tio-Abuelo	Tio-Abuelo
Grandaunt	Tia-abuela	Tia-abuela
Uncle/Aunt	Tío/Tía	Tío/Tía
Godfather	Padrino	Paninoy	Ninong
Godmother	Madrina	Maninay	Ninang
Son/Daughter	Hijo/Hija	Hijo/Hija	Anac
Elder Brother	Hermano mayor	Manó	Manong
Elder Sister	Hermana mayor	Maná	Manang
Brother/Sister	Hermano/Hermana
Cousin(s)	Primo(s)/Prima(s)
Nephew(s)	Sobrino(s)/Sobrina(s)
Child(ren)	Niño/Niña o Niños	Batâ (maga)
Grandchildren	Nieto/Nieta
Godson/Goddaughter	Ahijado/Ahijada	Hijao/Hijada
Brother-in-law/Sister-in-law	Cuñado/Cuñada	Cuñao/Cuñada
Father/Mother-in-law	Suegro/Suegra
Father and Godfather	Compadre	Paré
Mother and Godmother	Comadre	Maré
Opposite Parents of a Couple	Balahí
Husband(s) of Sister(s)	Concuño(s)
Wife(ves) of brother(s)	Concuña(s)
Husband and Wife	Marido y Mujer
Doctor and Patient	Doctor y Paciente
Lawyer and Cliento	Abogado y Cliente	Abogao y Cliente
Teacher and Pupil	Maestro y Dicipulo
Lender and Borrower	Prestamista y Deudor
Landlord and Tenant	Propietario y Inquilino
Son/Daughter-in-law	Yerno/Yerna
Single man/woman	Soltero/Soltera
Very young maiden	Dalaguita, Dalaguinguing
Young maiden	Dalaga/Dalaguita
Sweetheart	Novio/Novia
Friend(s)	Amigo(s)/Amiga(s)
Companion o Mate (classmate/officemate/et al.)	Compañero(s)/Compañera(s)
Pal/Chum	Barcada
Enemy	Enemigo
Opponent	Contrario
Partner	Socio
Acquaintance	Conocido
Stranger	Desconocido/Estranijero
Foreigner	Estranijero
Visitor	Visita
Guest	Invitado	Invitao
Landlady	Casera
Boarder	Pupilo
Boss, Employer	Ámo
Chief	Jefe
In-charge	Encargado	Encargao
Manager	Maniñger
Foreman	Capataz
Employee	Empleado	Empleao
Worker	Trabajador/Trabajadora
Laborer	Obrero
Day laborer	Jornalero
Helper	Ayudante/Ayudanta
Salesman/Salesboy, Saleslady/Salesgirl	Tendero/Tendera
Messenger	Mensajero/Mensajera
Servant	Sirviente/Sirvienta	Muchacho/Muchacha	Atchay

Diphthongs

No llevan acentos como casí todas las palabras en Chavacano.

Letters	Pronunciation	Example	Significant
ae	aye	cae	fall, to fall
ai	ayi	caido	fallen, fell
ao	aow	cuidao	take care, cared
ea	eya	patea	kick, to kick
ei	eyi	rei	king
eo	eyo	video	video
ia	iya	advertencia	warning, notice
ie	iye	cien(to)	one hundred, hundred
io	iyo	cancion	song
iu	iyu	saciut	to move the hips a little
uo	ow	instituo	institute
qu	ke	que	what, that, than
gu	strong gi	guia	to guide, guide
ua	uwa	agua	water
ue	uwe	cuento	story
ui	uwi	cuida	care, to take care
oi	oye	oi	hear, to hear

Grammar

Simple sentence structure (Verb-Subject-Object word order)

Chavacano is a language with the Verb Subject Object sentence order. This is because it follows the Tagalog and Cebuano grammatical structures. However, the Subject Verb Object order does exist in Chavacano but only for emphasis purposes (see below). New generations have been slowly and vigorously using the S-V-O pattern mainly because of the influence of the English language. These recent practices have been most prevalent and evident in the mass media particularly among Chavacano newswriters who translate news leads from English or Tagalog to Chavacano where the "who" is emphasized more than the "what". Because the mass media represent "legitimacy", it is understood by Chavacano speakers (particularly Zamboangueños) that the S-V-O sentence structure used by Chavacano journalists is standardized.

Declarative affirmative sentences in the simple present, past, and future tenses

Chavacano generally follows the simple Verb-Subject-Object or Verb-Object-Subject sentence structure typical of Tagalog and Cebuano in declarative affirmative sentences:

Ta compra (verb) el maga/mana negociante (subject) con el tierra (object).

Ta compra (verb) tierra (object) el maga/mana negociante (subject).

Tagalog: Bumibili (verb) ang mga negosyante (subject) ng lupa (object).

Tagalog: Bumibili (verb) ng lupa (object) ang mga negosyante (subject).

(‘The businessmen are buying land.’)

The subject always appears after the verb, and in cases where prenominal subjects (such as personal pronouns) are used in sentences, they will never occur before the verb:

Ya anda yo na iglesia en denantes.

(‘I went to church a while ago.’)

Declarative negative sentences in the simple present, past, and future tenses

When the predicate of the sentence is negated, Chavacano uses the words jendeh (from Tagalog or Cebuano ’hindi’ which means ’no’) to negate the verb in the present tense, no hay (which means ’not’) to negate the verb that was supposed to happen in the past, and jendeh or nunca (which means ’no’ or ’never’) to negate the verb that will not or will never happen in the future respectively. This manner of negating the predicate always happens in the Verb-Subject-Object or Verb-Object-Subject sentence structure:

Present Tense

Jendeh ta compra (verb) el maga/mana negociante (subject) con el tierra (object).

Jendeh ta compra (verb) tierra (object) el maga/mana negociante (subject).

(Eng: The businessmen are not buying land. Span: Los hombres de negocio no están comprando terreno)

Past Tense

No hay compra (verb) el maga/mana negociante (subject) con el tierra (object).

No hay compra (verb) tierra (object) el maga/mana negociante (subject).

(Eng: The businessmen did not buy land. Span: Los hombres de negocio no compraron terreno)

Future Tense

Jendeh hay compra (verb) el maga/mana negociante (subject) con el tierra (object).

Jendeh hay compra (verb) tierra (object) el maga/mana negociante (subject).

(Eng: The businessmen will not buy land. Span: Los hombres de negocio no comprarán terreno)

Nunca hay compra (verb) el maga/mana negociante (subject) con el tierra (object).

Nunca hay compra (verb) tierra (object) el maga/mana negociante (subject).

(Eng: The businessmen will never buy land. Span: Los hombres de negocio nunca comprarán terreno)

The negator jendeh can appear before the subject in a Subject-Verb-Object structure to negate the subject rather than the predicate in the present, past, and future tenses:

Present Tense

Jendeh el maga/mana negociante (subject) ta compra (verb) con el tierra (object) sino el maga/mana empleados.

(Eng: It is not the businessmen who are buying land but the employees. Span: No es el hombre de negocio que están comprando terreno sino los empleados)

Past Tense

Jendeh el maga/mana negociante (subject) ya compra (verb) con el tierra (object) sino el maga/mana empleados.

(Eng: It was not the businessmen who bought the land but the employees. Span: No fue el hombre de negocio que compró el terreno sino los empleados)

Future Tense

Jendeh el maga/mana negociante (subject) hay compra (verb) con el tierra (object) sino el maga/mana empleados.

(Eng: It will not be the businessmen who will buy land but the employees. Span: No sería el hombre de negocio que comprará el terreno sino los empleados)

The negator nunca can appear before the subject in a Subject-Verb-Object structure to strongly negate (or denote impossibility) the subject rather than the predicate in the future tense:

Future Tense

Nunca el maga/mana negociante (subject) hay compra (verb) con el tierra (object) sino el maga/mana empleados.

(Eng: It will never be the businessmen who will buy land but the employees. Span: Nunca sería el hombre de negocio que comprará el terreno sino los empleados)

The negator no hay and nunca can also appear before the subject to negate the predicate in a Subject-Verb-Object structure in the past and future tenses respectively. Using nunca before the subject to negate the predicate in a Subject-Verb-Object structure denotes strong negation or impossibility for the subject to perform the action in the future:

Past Tense

No hay el maga/mana negociante (subject) compra (verb) con el tierra (object).

(Eng: The businessmen did not buy land. Span: el hombre de negocio no compró terreno)

Future Tense

Nunca el maga/mana negociante (subject) hay compra (verb) con el tierra (object).

(Eng: The businessmen will never buy land. Span: el hombre de negocio nunca comprará terreno)

Nouns and Articles

The Chavacano definite article el precedes a singular noun or a plural marker (for a plural noun). The indefinite article un stays constant for gender as 'una' has completely disappeared in Chavacano. It also stays constant for number as for singular nouns. In Chavacano, it is quite common for el and un to appear together before a singular noun, the former to denote certainty and the latter to denote number:

el cajon (’the box’) - el maga/mana cajon(es) (’the boxes’)

un soltero (’a bachelor’) - un soltera (’a spinster’)

el un soltero (’the bachelor’) - el un soltera (’the spinster’)

Nouns in Chavacano are not always precedeed by articles. Without an article, a noun is a generic reference:

Jendeh yo ta llora lagrimas sino sangre.

(’I do not cry tears but blood’.)

Ta carga yo palo.

(’I am carrying wood’).

Proper names of persons are preceded by the defnite article si or the phrase un tal functioning as an indefinite article would:

Si Maria es un bonita candidata.

(’Maria is a beautiful candidate’.)

un tal Juancho

(’a certain Juancho’)

Singular nouns

Unlike Spanish, Chavacano nouns do not follow gender rules in general. In Zamboangueño, the article 'el' basically precedes every singular noun. However, this rule is not rigid (especially in Zamboangueño) because the formal vocabulary mode wherein Spanish words predominate almost always is the preferred mode especially in writing. The Spanish article 'la' for feminine singular nouns do exist in Chavacano. When in doubt, the article 'el' is safe to use. Compare:

English singular noun	Chavacano singular noun (general and common)	Chavacano singular noun (accepted or uncommon)
the virgin	el virgen	la virgen (accepted)
the peace	el paz	la paz (accepted)
the sea	el mar	la mar (accepted)
the cat	el gato	el gato (la gata is uncommon)
the sun	el sol	el sol
the moon	el luna	el luna (la luna is uncommon)
the view	el vista	la vista (accepted)
the tragedy	el tragedia	el tragedia (la tragedia is uncommon)
the doctor	el doctor	el doctora (la doctora is uncommon)

And just like Spanish, Chavacano nouns can have gender but only when referring to persons. However, they are always masculine in the sense (Spanish context) that they are generally preceded by the article 'el'. Places and things are almost always masculine. The -o is dropped in masculine nouns and -a is added to make the noun feminine:

English singular noun	Chavacano singular noun (masculine)	Chavacano singular noun (feminine)
the teacher	el maestro	el maestra
the witch	el burujo	el buruja
the engineer	el engeniero	el engeniera
the tailor/seamstress	el sastrero	el sastrera
the baby	el niño	el niña
the priest/nun	el padre	el madre
the grandson/granddaughter	el nieto	el nieta
the professor	el profesor	el profesora
the councilor	el consejal	el consejala

Not all nouns referring to persons can become feminine nouns. In Chavacano, some names of persons are masculine (because of the preceding article 'el' in Spanish context) but do not end in -o.

Examples: el alcalde, el capitan, el negociante, el ayudante, el chufer

All names of animals are always masculine—in Spanish context—preceded by the article 'el'.

Examples: el gato (gata is uncommon), el puerco (puerca is uncommon), el perro (perra is uncommon)

Names of places and things can be either masculine or feminine, but they are considered masculine in the Spanish context because the article 'el' always precedes the noun:

el cocina, el pantalon, el comida, el agua, el camino, el trapo

Plural nouns

In Chavacano, plural nouns (whether masculine or feminine in Spanish context) are preceded by the retained singular masculine Spanish article 'el'. The Spanish articles 'los' and 'las' have almost disappeared. They have been replaced by the modifier (a plural marker) 'maga/mana' which precedes the singular form of the noun. Maga comes from the native Tagalog or Cebuano 'mga'. The formation of the Chavacano plural form of the noun (el + maga/mana + singular noun form) applies whether in common, familiar or formal mode.

There are some Chavacano speakers (especially older Caviteño or Zamboangueño speakers) who would tend to say 'mana' for 'maga'. 'Mana' is accepted and quite common, especially among older speakers, but when in doubt, the modifier 'maga' to pluralize nouns is safer to use.

English plural noun	Chavacano plural noun (masculine)	Chavacano plural noun (feminine)
the teachers	el maga/mana maestro(s)	el maga/mana maestra(s)
the witches	el maga/mana burujo(s)	el maga/mana buruja(s)
the engineers	el maga/mana engeniero(s)	el maga/mana engeniera(s)
the tailors/seamstresses	el maga/mana sastrero(s)	el maga/mana sastrera(s)
the babies	el maga/mana niño(s)	el maga/mana niña(s)
the priests/nuns	el maga/mana padre(s)	el maga/mana madre(s)
the grandsons/granddaughters	el maga/mana nieto(s)	el maga/mana nieta(s)
the professors	el maga/mana profesor(es)	el maga/mana profesora(s)
the councilors	el maga/mana consejal(es)	el maga/mana consejala(s)

Again, this rule is not rigid (especially in the Zamboangueño formal mode). The articles 'los' or 'las' do exist sometimes before nouns that are pluralized in the Spanish manner, and their use is quite accepted:

los caballeros, los dias, las noches, los chavacanos, los santos, las mañanas, las almujadas, las mesas, las plumas, las cosas

When in doubt, it is always safe to use 'el' and 'maga or mana' to pluralize singular nouns:

el maga/mana caballero(s), el maga/mana dia(s), el maga/mana noche(s), el maga/mana chavacano(s), el maga/mana santo(s), el maga/mana dia(s) que viene (this is a phrase; 'el maga/mana mañana' is uncommon), el maga/mana almujada(s), el maga/mana mesa(s), el maga/mana pluma(s)

In Chavacano, it is common for some nouns to become doubled when pluralized (called Reduplication, a characteristic of the Malayo-Polynesian family of languages):

el maga cosa-cosa (el maga cosa/s is common), el maga casa-casa (el maga casa is common), el maga gente-gente (el maga gente is common), el maga bata-bata (el maga bata, 'child', is common), el maga juego-juego (el maga juego is common)

In general, the suffixes -s, -as, -os to pluralize nouns in Spanish have also almost disappeared in Chavacano. However, the formation of plural nouns with suffixes ending in -s, -as, and -os are accepted. Basically, the singular form of the noun is retained, and it becomes plural because of the preceding modifier/plural marker 'maga' or 'mana':

el maga/mana caballeros (accepted)

el maga/mana caballero (correct)

el maga/mana dias (accepted)

el maga/mana dia (correct)

Adding the suffix -es to some nouns is quite common and accepted. Nouns ending in -cion can be also be pluralized by adding the suffix -es:

el maga meses, el maga mujeres, el maga mayores, el maga tentaciones, el maga contestaciones, el maga naciones, el maga organizaciones

However, it is safer to use the general rule (when in doubt) of retaining the singular form of the noun preceded by the modifier/plural marker 'maga' or 'mana':

el maga mes, el maga mujer, el maga mayor, el maga tentacion, el maga contestacion, el maga nacion, el maga organizacion

Verbs

In Zamboangueño, Chavacano verbs are mostly Spanish in origin. In contrast with the other dialects, there is rarely a Zamboangueño verb that is based on or has its origin from other Philippine languages. Hence, verbs contribute much of the Spanish vocabulary in Chavacano de Zamboanga.

Generally, the simple form of the Zamboangueño verb is based upon the infinitive of the Spanish verb, minus the final /r/. For example, continuar, hablar, poner, recibir, and llevar become continuá, hablá, poné, recibí, and llevá with the accent on the final syllable.

There are some rare exceptions. Some verbs are not derived from infinitives but from words that are technically Spanish phrases or from other Spanish verbs. For example, dar (give) doesn't become 'da' but dale (give) (literally in Spanish, to "give it" [verb phrase]). In this case, dale has nothing to do with the Spanish infinitive dar. The Chavacano brinca (to hop) is from Spanish brinco which means the same thing.

Verb Tenses

Simple tenses

Chavacano (especially Zamboangueño) uses the words ya (from Spanish ya [has/have been]), ta (from Spanish está [is]), and hay plus the simple form of the verb to convey the basic tenses of past, present, and future respectively:

English Infinitive	Spanish Infinitive	Chavacano Infinitive	Past Tense	Present Tense	Future Tense
to sing	cantar	canta	ya canta	ta canta	hay canta
to drink	beber	bebe	ya bebe	ta bebe	hay bebe
to sleep	dormir	dormi	ya dormi	ta dormi	hay dormi

The Chabacano of Cavite and Ternate uses the words ya, ta, and di plus the simple form of the verb to convey the basic tenses of past, present, and future respectively:

English Infinitive	Spanish Infinitive	Chabacano Infinitive	Past Tense	Present Tense	Future Tense
to sing	cantar	canta	ya canta	ta canta	di canta
to drink	beber	bebe	ya bebe	ta bebe	di bebe
to sleep	dormir	dormi	ya dormi	ta dormi	di dormi

Perfect constructions

In Zamboangueño, there are three ways to express that the verb is in the present perfect. First, ya can appear both before and after the main verb to express that in the present perspective, the action has already been completed somewhere in the past with the accent falling on the final ya. Second, ta and ya can appear before and after the verb respectively to express that the action was expected to happen in the past (but did not happen), is still expected to happen in the present, and actually the expectation has been met (the verb occurs in the present). And third, a verb between ta and pa means an action started in the past and still continues in the present:

Chavacano Past Perfect	Chavacano Present Perfect	Chavacano Present Perfect
ya canta ya	ta canta ya	ta canta pa
ya bebe ya	ta bebe ya	ta bebe pa
ya dormi ya	ta dormi ya	ta dormi pa

The past perfect exists in Chavacano. The words antes (before) and despues (after) can be used between two sentences in the simple past form to show which verb came first. The words antes (before) and despues (after) can also be used between a sentence in the present perfect using ya + verb + ya and another sentence in the simple past tense:

Past Perfect (Chavacano)	Past Perfect (English)
Ya mira kame el pelicula antes ya compra kame con el maga gulusinas.	We had watched the movie before we bought the snacks.

Past Perfect (Chavacano)	Past Perfect (English)
Ya mira ya kame el pelicula despues ya compra kame con el maga gulusinas.	We had watched the movie and then we bought the snacks.

Chavacano uses a verb between "hay" and "ya" to denote the future perfect and past perfect respectively:

Future Perfect (Chavacano)	Future Perfect (English)
Hay mira ya kame el pelicula si hay llega vosotros.	We will have watched the movie when you arrive.

Passive and Active Voice

To form the Zamboanga Chavacano active voice, Chavacanos of Zamboanga follow the pattern:

El maga soldao ya mata con el criminal The criminal was killed by soldiers.

As illustrated above, active (causative) voice is formed by placing the doer el maga soldao before the verb phrase ya mata and then the object el criminal as indicated by the particle con

Traditionally, Zamboanga Chavacano does not have a passive construction of its own.

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        Un gran saludo: --Guaicaipuro