"Having spent part of my early childhood in that place (it was not a city then, it was known officially only as Zamboanga, which included Basilan and the two provinces of the Zamboanga Peninsula), I remember very well that its population, Christians and Muslims, spoke a “lingua franca” that sounded Spanish. It was called Chabacano and described as pidgin Spanish. But the Chabacano that was then spoken among Zamboangueños in the upper social bracket was really more Spanish than pidgin. Court trials were argued in Spanish, and many of the official documents like birth certificates and land titles were in Spanish. The songs sang during social gatherings and even during drinking sprees in tuba joints were Spanish serenatas and, best of all, the dialogue in movies shown (usually from Mexico) was in Spanish. Also, the food served during family gatherings and celebrations was usually Iberian/Mexican: paella, lengua estofado, caldereta, morcon, callos, etc. So was the daily fare. And sarciado, endulsao, sopas, tamal or tamales, arroz caldo, leche flan, polvoron, yema, pastillas, empanaditas, and many other Spanish foods were ordinary fare. Processed fish of Mexican origin, like bacalao and salmuera (salted fish) were common, too. And the men (including calesa drivers, vendors, etc.) were all addressed as “Ñor” (short for “señor”) and the women, of course, were “Ñora” (short for “señora”) and either term was prefixed to their names accordingly. The wonder of it was that while Chabacano/Spanish was the lingua franca, the different ethnic tribes that made up Zamboanga’s population kept and spoke among themselves their own language: Samal Bangingi, Yakan, Bahasa Sug, Hiligaynon, Sugbuanon, Subanen, Tagalog, etc. It was, beautifully, a multiethnic, multilingual society." Read more: opinion.inquirer.net/55191/ciudad-de-latino#ixzz2X7pwrRhI Follow us: @inquirerdotnet on Twitter | inquirerdotnet on Facebook
Posted on: Mon, 24 Jun 2013 09:45:03 +0000
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