Survey chapter: Ternate Chabacano

Structure data for these languages can be found in structure dataset 44.

1. Introduction

Ternate Chabacano (autoglossonym: bahra) is spoken in the town of Ternate, situated at the mouth of the river Maragondon in the Manila Bay area on the island of Luzon in the Philippines. Approximately 3,000 of the town’s 20,500 inhabitants speak Ternate Chabacano. There are also some diaspora speakers in the United States and other migrant worker destinations. The official languages of the Philippines are English and Filipino. Filipino is based on Tagalog, which is the main language in the Manila region. All speakers of Ternate Chabacano speak Tagalog actively.

2. Sociohistorical background

The Spanish colonization of the Philippines began with Magellan’s expedition in 1521, and by the end of the century the Spanish had forts in many of the strategic locations in the islands. However, the origins of Ternate Chabacano can be traced back to the island of Ternate in the Moluccas. Ternate was a central location for the spice trade and the object of constant disputes between the Portuguese, the Dutch, and the Spanish (Whinnom 1956). Around 1660 the Spanish evacuated the garrison in Ternate to Manila, and with them a group of local Christians called mardikas arrived in the Philippines. The mardikas were allowed to resettle on the shores of the Manila Bay in the latter half of the 17th century, and as a consequence the new Ternate was born. The mardikas were said to have spoken Spanish, Tagalog and their own language (de la Concepción 1789: 103), and eventually Chabacano.

Ternate Chabacano is considered the earliest Chabacano variety. It may have arisen from a contact variety spoken already in the Moluccas or developed after the mardikas’ arrival in the Philippines. However, very few lexical items can be traced back to Portuguese, Malay, or Ternate (the West Papuan indigenous language of the island of Ternate), the languages spoken in the Moluccas (Molony 1973). These languages are also considered the probable substrate languages for Ternate Chabacano, while Tagalog is the only clearly attested adstrate language. Little is known about the social history of the Ternate community in the 18th and 19th centuries. The first known document of the language is a collection of folktales by T. Tirona, which dates back to 1924.

Ternate Chabacano shares many grammatical structures and an important part of the vocabulary with Cavite Chabacano (see Sippola, this volume). They probably share a common origin, even though Cavite Chabacano is more influenced by modern Spanish. All Chabacano varieties are mutually intelligible (see also Steinkrüger, this volume, on Zamboanga Chabacano).

3. Sociolinguistic situation

The 3,000 speakers of Ternate Chabacano in the central parts of Ternate represent a traditional local speech community in the town. The speakers generally use the name bahra to refer to their language and the locality. Chabacano has become a minority language in the town due to increased population movement from other parts of the country to the region. The speakers are bilingual in Chabacano and Tagalog, and some also speak English or other Philippine languages. Chabacano is a local language spoken primarily in the home and in the neighbourhood, while English and Tagalog are the dominant languages of the region and the languages of the school and the media. The language of the younger speakers of Chabacano has especially been influenced by English and Tagalog. Officially, the language policies of the Philippines have as their main goal the promotion of English and Filipino, but local languages are also recognized as auxiliary languages. At the moment there are no language materials or standardized orthography for Ternate Chabacano, which would be essential in its promotion. However, in nearby Cavite the development of Chabacano materials has begun.

4. Phonology

Ternate Chabacano has a vowel system with five vowels (see Table 1). There is alternation between e and i, and o and u in unstressed syllables, e.g. hénte ‘people’ can be realized as [hénte] or [hénti].

Table 1. Vowels

front

central

back

close

i

u

mid

e

o

open

a

Ternate Chabacano has 17 consonants (see Table 2).

Table 2. Consonants

bilabial

alveolar

post- alveolar

palatal

velar

glottal

plosive

voiceless

p

t

k

ʔ

voiced

b

d

g

nasal

m

n

ŋ <ng>

trill

r

fricative

voiceless

s

h

affricate

voiceless

<ch>

lateral approximant

l

glide

w

j <y>

The consonants /t/, /d/, and /s/ are often palatalized before the palatal glide /j/, and /s/ is often aspirated in syllable final positions. In addition, [ʎ] and [ɲ] occur as variants of the glide combinations /lj/, /nj/, and /dʒ/, /ʃ/ occur in loanwords from English. The sequence /kj/ is occasionally realized as [tʃ]. Word stress is contrastive, especially distinguishing verbs that generally have final stress, e.g. kása ‘house’ vs. kasá ‘to marry’. There is no official orthography for Chabacano; the writing often follows etymological conventions and displays considerable variation.1

5. Noun phrase

Nouns are invariable. Some nouns contain a fossilized element going back to the Spanish feminine definite article la, as in lamár ‘sea’, latárdi ‘afternoon’. Natural gender is distinguished by different words, as in nay ‘mother’ and tay ‘father’; by the final vowel -o or -a in a small class of nouns, as in prímo ‘male cousin’ and príma ‘female cousin’; or by adding ómbri ‘male’ or muhér ‘woman’ to a noun, as in gátu ómbri ‘male cat’, gátu muhér ‘female cat’.

Number is expressed by the preposed particle mánga (also mangá), as in mánga kása ‘houses’. Some nouns have maintained the Spanish plural marker -s, but it is no longer productive. There is an indefinite article un preposed to the noun, as in un ómbri ‘a man’. The demonstrative kel is used as a definite article. Generic noun phrases are expressed by a definite article and generally also with the plural marker.

The adnominal and pronominal demonstratives are éste ‘this’ and kel ‘that’. Ése ‘that’ is also used by some speakers. The adnominal demonstratives precede the noun, as in éste karakól ‘this caracol dance’.

In possessive constructions, adnominal possessives precede the noun, as in mi gargánta ‘my throat’, or they are expressed by adpositional marking following the possessum, as in el mánga íha di éle ‘his daughters’. In possessor noun phrases, the possessor is marked by adpositional marking, as in kása di Lóling ‘house of Loling’.

The cardinal numerals are of Spanish origin and they precede the noun, as in tres muhér ‘three women’. The ordinal numerals can be formed using the Tagalog origin prefix ika-, as in ika-dós ‘second’. The Spanish forms can also be used, as in terséru ‘third’.

Adjectives are generally invariant and precede the noun as in (1). Sometimes postposed adjectives are used as well. A limited number of adjectives have Spanish feminine forms, e.g. boníta muhér ‘beautiful woman’.

(1)
kel
det
mánga
pl
grándi
big
bángka
boat
the big boats

The comparison of adjectives is done marking the adjective with mas ‘more’. The standard is marked with the object marker kon or occasionally with kóntra ‘against’:

(2)
Mas
more
byého
old
tédi
you
(kóntra)
(against)
kumígu.
1sg.obj
You are older than me. (Steinkrüger 2007: 373)

The Tagalog-origin prefix pínaka- and the construction of Spanish origin kel más alternate in the superlative construction, as in pínaka-gwápa ‘most beautiful’ and kel más gwápa ‘most beautiful’.

Personal pronouns have subject, object, and possessive forms, as in Table 3.

Table 3. Personal pronouns

subject pronouns

object pronouns2

adnominal possessives

1sg

yo

konmígo

mi / di-mi

2sg

bo, (us)tédi

kon-bó, kon-tédi

bos / di-bo

3sg

éle

kon-éle

su / di-éle

1pl

mihótro, mótro

kon-mihótro, kon-mótro

di-mótro

2pl

(us)tédi

kon-tédi

di-(s)tédi

3pl

lohótro, lótro

kon-lohótro, kon-lótro

di-lótro

The plural pronouns have the weak or unstressed forms mótro, tédi, and lótro, mainly occurring after the verb (cf. Steinkrüger 2007: 368), but they have not grammaticalized and so cannot be considered dependent pronouns. The second person singular has two forms contrasting in politeness: bo expressing familiar ‘you’ and tédi respectful ‘you’. The dual category can be constructed by lexical means, and its use is common for the first person plural, adding dos ‘two’ to the subject pronoun, as in mordós from mótru dos. The pronominal possessives have two series: de-forms and simple forms that are used especially for the singular series. In pronoun conjunction with a personal name, both the singular and plural pronoun occur but with different conjunctions, e.g. yo i Lébi or mótru di Lébi ‘I and Levi’.  

Subject pronouns can sometimes be left out of narrations if the subject is known or expressed earlier in the discourse:

(3)
Múcho
many
péhro,
dog
kel
that
el
def
kompanyéro
companion
de
of
mi
1sg.poss
na
loc
kása,
house
kabándu,
then
ta
ipfv
le,
read
ta
cop
sintáw
seated
ya
already
numá
just
[...]
 
Many dogs, they are my companions in the house. Then, I read, I just sit [...]

6. Verb phrase

Ternate Chabacano has three overt preverbal markers: ya/a, ta, and di. No combinations of the markers are possible. Ya and a mark the perfective aspect, ta marks the imperfective aspect, and di marks the irrealis/future. There are two main forms of the verb, one derived from the Spanish infinitive, such as komé ‘eat’ from comer, which combines with the preverbal markers, and the other from an inflected Spanish form for a limited group of verbs, including the modal verbs: dábli ‘must’, dwéle ‘hurt’, kyére ‘want’, pwéde ‘can’, sábe ‘know’, tyéne ‘have’, which generally occur without the preverbal markers.

Table 4. Tense-Aspect-Mood markers

Spanish etymon

tense/aspect

mood

Ø

generic, past and present time reference

ya/a

ya ‘already’

perfective, past time reference

ta

está ‘be.prs.3sg’

imperfective, past and present time reference

di

ha/he de ‘should/will’

contemplated, future time reference

irrealis

The limited group of unmarked verbs with stress on the penultimate syllable can have both present and past reference. 

(4)
No
neg
kyéri
want
yo
1sg
dehá
leave
kon
obj
mi
my
nay.
mother
I don't/didn't want to leave my mother.

The unmarked verb can also occur in general statements and occasionally in narrative contexts if the aspect and the point of reference in time have been set earlier.

The perfective aspect markers ya and a are in free variation.

(5)
Ya
pfv
huntá
gather
yo,
1sg
a
pfv
komprá
buy
yo
1sg
ésti.
this
I saved, I bought this.

The imperfective aspect marker ta has both habitual and progressive meaning.

(6)
Ta
ipfv
trabahá
work
éle
3sg
na
loc
Las Pínyas.
Las Piñas
He works in Las Piñas.
(7)
Ta
ipfv
hirbí
boil
ya
already
el
det
ágwa.
water
The water is already boiling.

The contemplated aspect marker di has future, intentional, and irrealis meanings.

(8)
Si
if
di
ctpl
yubá
take
raw
encl
manyána
tomorrow
na
loc
muniśpyu,
town.hall
bo
2sg
di
ctpl
indá
go
húntu.
together
If I am take to the town hall tomorrow, you will come with me.

Predicative adjectives and predicative noun phrases do not have a copula.3 Predicative locative phrases are formed with the copula ta, which combines with the locative adverbs, e.g. takí < ta akí  [COP here] ‘is here’.

(9)
Méstra
teacher
Lóling.
Loling
Loling was a teacher. (Past reference from the context.)
(10)
Grándi
big
éle.
3sg
He is big.
(11)
Takí
cop.here
na
loc
kása
house
Lóling.
Loling
Loling is at home.

The existentials are expressed with the verb tyéni:

(12)
Tiene
exist
nah
loc
rio
river
ung
a
grande
big
bangka
boat
motor
motor
[...]
 
There is a big motor boat on the river [...] (Nigoza 2007: 27)

The verbal negation particle no precedes all verbal markers and preverbal subject pronouns. For negative existentials and the negation of possession, the negative copula nuwáy is used. The negators can be emphasized with the prefix ni-, e.g. ninó.

(13)
No
neg
yo
1sg
a-komprá
pfv-buy
kárne.
meat
I did not buy meat. (Steinkrüger 2007: 372)
(14)
Nuwáy
neg.exist
bánko
bank
akí
here
na
loc
Báhra.
Ternate
There is no bank here in Ternate.

The negative existential construction is also used to express indefinites or can occur in combination with negative indefinites.

(15)
Nwáy
neg.exist
kyén
who
di
ctpl
minyá
bother
kon-bo.
obj-2sg
There is no one to bother you.
(16)
Nuay
neg.exist
nada
nothing
con
obj
eli
3sg
quel
that
cen.
money
That money was nothing to him. (Nigoza 2007: 39)

7. Simple sentences

Ternate Chabacano has VSO word order. In transitive clauses, human, and sometimes animate, objects are marked with kon.

(17)
Ya
pfv
dáli
give
Lóling
Loling
sen
money
kon
obj
Lólet.
Lolet
Loling gave money to Lolet.

Other orders are possible in topicalization.

(18)
Éle
3sg
ta-trabahá
ipfv-work
na
loc
paléngke.
market
(S)he works at the market.

There is no morphological passive voice, but it is possible to omit the agent in the clause.

(19)
Kayá
that.is.why
lang
just
a
pfv
matá
kill
kon-éle.
obj-3sg
That is why he was killed.

Reflexive voice is expressed by saríli (of Tagalog origin) or by valency reduction.

(20)
Ya
1sg
mirá
look
yo
1sg
mi
my
saríli
self
na
loc
espého.
mirror
I saw myself in the mirror.
(21)
El
det
mánga
pl
muhér
woman
ta
ipfv
eskondé.
hide
The women were/are hiding.

Reciprocal voice is expressed with the verb hugá ‘to play’. The lexically formed dual (pronoun + dos) can be used too. 

(22)
Ta
ipfv
hugá
play.recp
keré
love
lótro
3pl
dos.
two
The two of them love each other.

Causatives make use of asé ‘make’, mandá ‘order’, or dáli ‘give’ in analytic constructions.

(23)
Yasé
pfv.make
libantá
stand.up
raw
encl
kon-éli
obj-3sg
un
a
mucháchu...
boy
It is told that a boy made him stand up.

The imperative uses the unmarked verb. 

(24)
Riponde˸
answer
bo!
2sg
Answer!

8. Interrogative and focus constructions

In content questions the interrogative word is fronted and the question particle ba can be used:

(25)
Dóndi
where
bo
2sg
ta
ipfv
kedá?
stay
Where are you staying?
(26)
Kyén
who
ba
q
bus
your
nay
mother
i
and
bus
your
tay?
father
Who are your mother and father?

Question words are (d)óndi ‘where’, kómo ‘why‘, kósa ‘what’, kwándo ‘when’ (also kósa óras), kyén ‘who’, and (pa)kilaya ‘how’.

Polar questions are marked by the question particle ba or only by rising intonation.

(27)
Tyéni
have
ba
q
bo
2sg
ermánu?
brother
Do you have brothers? (Sippola 2006: 51)
(28)
Tasé
ipfv.make
rin
also
tédi
2pl
kel
that
ayá?
there
Do you also make that there?

In subject and object focus constructions, the focused element is fronted and followed by a relative clause. In verbal focusing the particle numá (or dumá) ‘only, just’ can be used.

(29)
Mi
my
táta
father
kel
rel
yasé
pfv.make
kel
det
kása.
house
It is my father that made the house.
(30)
El
det
novio
groom
y
and
novia
bride
ta
ipfv
camina
walk
duma
just
[...]
 
The bride and the groom just walked [...] (Nigoza 2007: 31)

9. Complex sentences

The coordinating conjunctions are i ‘and’ and pati ‘and’, but juxtaposition is common in spoken discourse. Other coordinating conjunctions are péro ‘but’ and o ‘or’.

Object clauses can be headed by ki (from Spanish que) with verbs of knowing and speaking, but this is not obligatory, and zero marking is more common in spoken discourse. The verbs kre ‘believe’ and kyére ‘want’ almost never occur with the complementizer. Indirect interrogative sentences are often introduced by si ‘if’.

(31)
No
neg
sábi
know
si
if
kósa
what
nómbri.
name
(I) don't know what the name is.

Adverbial clauses are introduced by the subordinators bágo ‘before’, kayá ‘so, therefore’, kwándo ‘when’, pag ‘when’, pára ‘in order to’, si ‘if’, máske ‘even if’, and others.

Relative clauses generally follow the head noun. They can be marked with the relative particle kel or ki, which is not generally used in spoken discourse.  

(32)
Kel
det
muhér
woman
ya
pfv
biní
come
ki
here
andinánti
earlier
ta
ipfv
trabahá
work
ayá
there
na
loc
iglésya.
church
The woman who came here earlier works at the church.

10. Other features

There are a number of discourse markers that are very common in spoken discourse, e.g. lang ‘only’, pa ‘yet’, rin/din ‘too’, raw/daw ‘it is said’, ya ‘already’, and which occur generally after the first full word or sentence finally.

(33)
Koryósu
beautiful
raw
encl
mi
my
kása.
house
It is said that my house is beautiful.

The reduplication of adjectives and adverbs has an intensifying function. Nouns are reduplicated for exhaustive plural or for diminution, as in kubu-kubu ‘playhouse’ and tienda-tienda ‘playstore’ (examples of diminution from Nigoza 2007: 41).

(34)
Ta
ipfv
escribí bo
write.2sg
día
day
día
day
ben
very
lárgo
long
lárgo.
long
Every day you write a lot.

Verbs are reduplicated for intensification or for iterative and progressive functions.

(35)
Ta
ipfv
mira-mira
look-look
eli
3sg
con
obj
manga
pl
jente
people
ta
ipfv
pasa
pass
[...]
 
He was watching the people passing [...] (Nigoza 2007: 36)