Quick—what language do they speak in the Philippines? Actually, that’s a trick question—there are more than 180 languages spoken in this diverse and vibrant land. You might have said English, an official language and lingua franca; Tagalog, the most widely spoken indigenous language; or Filipino, the standardized version of Tagalog and the other official language. But Filipinos speak a lot more languages than that. One you might never have guessed is Chavacano, or Zamboangueño, a Spanish-based creole language spoken natively in a major Filipino city.
Chavacano boasts more than 700,000 native speakers, with an additional 1.2 million people learning it as a second language. Spanish was brought to the shores of the Southeast Asian nation through Spanish colonizers, who ruled the country for more than 300 years, giving rise to Spanish-based creole languages when mixed with local tongues. Today, Chavacano is a proud cultural asset for the people of Zamboanga City, with increasing attempts to cement the language in literature. Chavacano is already used by the local government and in education, and we at TranslationServices.com want to help take it further with our professional Chavacano translation services.
This is a prime opportunity to reach out and ask about a free Chavacano translation quote.
Chavacano: a unique blend of Spanish and native Philippine languages
Chavacano is mostly spoken in the southern Filipino city of Zamboanga City, with some more speakers found on the island of Basilan, south of the Zamboanga Peninsula. Rather than a single, unified language, Chavacano is more like a collection of closely related creoles, with differences depending on the indigenous languages they’re derived from. Much of the vocabulary comes from Spanish and some Amerindian languages like Nahuatl, while the grammar is largely based on native Philippine languages like Ilonggo, Tagalog, and Cebuano.
Unlike Spanish, Chavacano uses a verb-subject-object word order, common in Austronesian languages. However, the influence of English is leading a switch to subject-verb-object. Chavacano also ignores the infamous grammatical gender in Spanish, using the masculine article el for almost all singular nouns, although a few exceptions do exist. El, which in Spanish is only used for singular nouns, may also be used for plural nouns in Chavacano, although los or las may also be acceptable. Following typical Austronesian language patterns, some Chavacano nouns may also use reduplication to form the plural.
We’re here for all your Chavacano translation needs.
Whether you’re looking to translate into Chavacano or from Chavacano, you can count on our team of professional Chavacano translators. As Chavacano native speakers, our translators are skilled at producing smooth, crisp, natural translations both to and from Chavacano. Perhaps you want to share Chavacano culture with the rest of the world, whether that’s through historical documents written in the language, traditional stories told in Chavacano, or local contemporary media from Zamboanga City. Our team would love to help! Or maybe you’re going in the opposite direction and want to connect with Zamboanga City locals in their own language. Our translators can help you translate engaging business materials in Chavacano, educational content for children and adolescents, or books, poems, games, apps, websites, and other entertainment content that everyone can enjoy. This is an excellent way to keep this vibrant and unique language thriving for generations to come!
If you want to get started with Chavacano translation services, all you have to do is message us!