Chabacano del Ciudad de Cavite Sample With Spanish Translation (Video)

Chavacano or Chabacano, sometimes referred to by linguists as Philippine Creole Spanish, is a Spanish-based creole language spoken in the Philippines. The word "Chavacano" is derived from the Spanish word "chabacano", meaning "poor taste," "vulgar," "common," "of low quality," "tacky," or "coarse" for the chavacano language which was developed in Cavite City, Ternate and Ermita, and also derived from the word chavano which was coined by the people of Zamboanga. Six different dialects have developed: Zamboangueño in Zamboanga City, Davaeño in Davao, Ternateño in Ternate, Caviteño in Cavite City, Cotabateño in Cotabato City and Ermiteño in Ermita in Manila.

The Chavacano language is the only Spanish-based creole in Asia. It has survived for more than 400 years, making it one of the oldest creole languages in the world. It is the only language to have developed in the Philippines (a member of Philippine languages) which does not belong to the family of Austronesian languages, although it shows a characteristic common to the sub-classification of Malayo-Polynesian languages, the reduplication.

This creole has six dialects. Their classification is based on their substrate languages and the regions where they are commonly spoken. The three known dialects of Chavacano which have Tagalog as their substrate language are the Luzón-based creoles of which are Caviteño (spoken in Cavite City), Ternateño (spoken in Ternate, Cavite) and Ermiteño (once spoken in the old district of Ermita in Manila and is now extinct). Zamboangueño Chavacano emanated from Caviteño Chavacano as evidenced by prominent Zamboangueño families who descended from Spanish Army officers, primarily Caviteño mestizos, stationed at Fort Pilar in the 19th century. When these Caviteño officers recruited workers and technicians from Iloilo to man their sugar plantations and ricefields to reduce the local population's dependence on the Donativo de Zamboanga, taxes levied by the Spanish colonial government on the islands'inhabitants to support the fort's operations, and with the subsequent migration of Ilonggo traders to Zamboanga, the Zamboangueño Chavacano was infused with Ilonggo words as the previous migrant community was assimilated. Most of what appears to be Cebuano words in Zamboangueño Chavacano are actually Ilonggo. Although Zamboangueño Chavacano's contact with Cebuano began much earlier when Cebuano soldiers were stationed at Fort Pilar during the Spanish colonial period, however, it wasn't until closer to the middle of the 20th century that borrowings from Cebuano accelerated as a result of more migration from the Visayas as well as the current migration from other Visayan-speaking areas of the Zamboanga Peninsula. Zamboangueño is spoken in Zamboanga City, Basilan Province, parts of Sulu Province and Tawi-Tawi Province, and in Semporna-Sabah, Malaysia and the rest of the Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga Sibugay and Zamboanga del Norte. The other dialects of Chavacano which have, primarily, Cebuano as their substrate language are the Mindanao-based creoles of which are Castellano Abakay (spoken in some areas of Davao), this dialect has an influence from Chinese and Japanese, also divided into two sub-dialects namelyCastellano Abakay Chino and Castellano Abakay Japon, and Cotabateño (spoken in Cotabato city).

Much of the words in the Chavacano vocabulary are mostly derived from the Spanish language, which almost to its entirety is made up of Andalucian Spanish spoken in the coastal and insular areas of the Americas, while its grammar is mostly based on other Philippine languages primarily, Ilonggo, Tagalog and Cebuano. Its vocabulary, especially the Zamboangueño dialect, has some minor influences from the Italian language, Portuguese and several Native American languages. The vocabulary of the Ternateño dialect, in particular, has a major influence from the Portuguese language and the language of Ternate in Indonesia since the speakers of the said dialect are the descendants of the Indonesian soldiers brought by the Spaniards in the area.

In contrast with the Luzon-based creoles, the Zamboangueño dialect has the most borrowings and/or influence from other Philippine Austronesian languages including Hiligaynon,Subanen/Subanon, Sama-Banguingui, Sama-lauan, Tausug, Yakan, Tagalog and Ilocano origin are present in Zamboangueño dialect.

The highest number of Chavacano speakers are found in Zamboanga City and in the island province of Basilan. A significant number of Chavacano speakers are found in Cavite City and Ternate. There are also speakers in some areas in the provinces of Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga Sibugay, Zamboanga del Norte, Davao, and in Cotabato City. According to the official 2000 Philippine census, there were altogether 607,200 Chavacano speakers in the Philippines in that same year. The exact figure could be higher as the 2000 population of Zamboanga City, whose main language is Chavacano, far exceeded that census figure. Also, the figure does not include Chavacano speakers of the Filipino diaspora. Notwithstanding, Zamboangueño is the dialect with the most number of speakers, being the official language of Zamboanga City whose population is now believed to be over a million.

Speakers can also be found in the town of Semporna in the eastern coast of Sabah, Malaysia—not surprisingly—because this northern part of Borneo is close to the Sulu islands and the Zamboanga Peninsula. This region was once part of Spanish Philippines until the late 19th century.

A small number of Zamboanga's indigenous peoples, such as the Tausugs, the Samals, and of Basilan such as the Yakans also speak the language. In the close provinces of Sulu and Tawi-Tawi areas, there are Muslim speakers of the Chavacano de Zamboanga.

Chavacano de Cavite

Where are the Chavacano speakers of Cavite? What ever happened to this unique Creole language? Before we could answer this questions, we must first understand what is Chavacano. There are two types of Philippine Creole Spanish, the first one and most well known of the two, the Chavacano of Zamboanga. This particular variance is actually thriving, used in all types of media like Radio, Prints, Television and even in recorded songs. The Chavacano of Zamboanga is mostly Spanish words mixed with Visayan and moro words and set in Visayan Grammar. It was said that this particular Chavacano has more than 600,000 speakers, mostly in Zamboanga. Said to be one of the oldest Creole in the world and very far from dying.

But it was "Gone with the Wind" for the Chavacano of Cavite. Once flourishing in different parts of Cavite like Ternate, Maragondon and Cavite City and also some parts of Manila like Binondo and Sta.Cruz. This variance of Chavacano is a mixture of mostly Spanish Words and Tagalog words and set in Tagalog Grammar. We have this saying in English that "If you don't use it, you'll lose it", and that is what exactly happened to this Chavacano. I myself are from Cavite and i basically grew up in Cavite City. You see, Chavacano in Cavite was perceived as a language of the social elite, not just the people in Cavite but most of Filipinos, that if you speak this language its either you have Spanish blood in you or you are rich, so a lot of Non Chavacanos - Cavitenos really want to learn Chavacano even though this is not their language, so you would probably think it was doing great, right?, but in the midst of poverty?


During the late 70s a lot of people from other parts of the country most especially from the Central Visayan Region started migrating to Luzon particularly in Manila, seeking good paying jobs, most of these people ended up in the poor sections of Manila, while others ended up in the near by provinces with easy access to the city of Manila, like Cavite. While the outsiders grew in numbers, More than 70% of the original Cavite City's residence mostly Chavacano Speakers have already moved out of Cavite City, bringing with them their language. Some of them migrated in the United States and some to other places were there are less crime( where there's poverty usually there's crime). But there are still Chavacano Speakers left there, mostly old people.

Another culprit is it's proximity to Manila. Most people living near the City of Manila like those living in Cavite follows whatever new trends there are in manila and English is a new trend. Everything Spanish are old and everything American are new and trendy. The death of Chavacano in Cavite, or in fact, the Whole Spanish - Philippine culture, started dying when the U.S. won the Spanish - American war in 1898. Headed by Commodore George Dewey, the Americans killed Hundreds of Spaniards in Manila during that war. During the American Colonization of the Philippines, Americans built a base in the northern part of the Cavite City peninsula, where the old Spanish Fort San Felipe used to be (some parts of the old Spanish fort can still be seen and are intact) and called it Sangley Point, thus further killing the language. Presently, nothing has been done to help this dying language to recover. Even the remaining people who speaks Chavacano stops Speaking it and are not even teaching it to their children. I think the only solution to this is to at least create a Chavacano learning Center wherein Cavitenos can study and learn Chavacano language and culture. To the local government of Cavite, please do something before it's too late.

To read more about the Chavacano of Cavite and Chabacano in General, Click these Links Habla Chabacano, Herencia Espanola, Chavacanos de la Cuidad de Cavite and Chabacano/Spanish and the Philippines Linguistic Identity by John M. Lipski, The Pennsylvania State University. Thanks to TVE(Television Espanola) and Salita Blog. To listen to Chavacano de Zamboanga, click HERE.