Chavacano Language - Archaic Spanish Words and False Friends

Archaic Spanish Words and False Friends

Chabacano has preserved plenty of archaic Spanish phrases and words in its vocabulary that modern Spanish no longer uses; for example:

"En denantes" which means 'a while ago' (Spanish: "hace un tiempo"). Take note that "En denantes" is an archaic Spanish phrase. Modern Spanish would express the phrase as "poco antes de hoy" or "hace un tiempo", but Chabacano still retains this archaic Spanish phrase and many other archaic Spanish words.

"Masquen" means 'even (if)' or 'although'. In Spanish, "mas que" is an archaic Spanish phrase meaning 'although', nowadays replaced by the Spanish word "aunque".

In Chavacano, the Spanish language is commonly called "castellano". Chavacano speakers, especially older Zamboangueños, call the language as "castellano" implying the original notion as the language of Castille while español is used to mean a Spaniard or a person from Spain.

The pronoun "vos" is alive in Chavacano. While "vos" was used in the highest form of respect before the 16th century in classical Spanish and quite archaic nowadays with modern Spanish (much like the English "thou"), in Chavacano, it is used in the common level of usage (lower than tu, which is used in the familiar level) as in the same manner of Cervantes and in the same manner as certain Latin American countries such as Argentina does (informally in contrast with usted, which is used formally). Chavacano followed the development of vos in same manner as Latin America did – (the voseo) or, incidentally, as English "thou" vs. "you" did.

"Ansina" means 'like that' or 'that way'. In modern Spanish, "asi" is the evolved form of this archaic word. The word "Ansina" can still be heard among the aged in Mexico.

On the other hand, some words from the language spoken in Spain have evolved or have acquired totally different meanings in Chavacano. Hence for Castillian speakers who would encounter Chavacano speakers, some words familiar to them have become false friends. Some examples of false friends are:

"Cerilla" means 'earwax'. In Spain, "cerilla" generally means 'match' (and earwax too, to a lesser extent); Although in Latin America its meaning is 'earwax'.

"Siguro"/"Seguro" means 'maybe'. In Spanish, "seguro" means 'sure', 'secure', or 'stable', although it could imply as well as a probability as in the phrase, "Seguramente vendrá" (Probably he will come).

"Siempre" means 'of course'. In Spanish, "siempre" means 'always'.

"Firmi" means 'always'. In Spanish, "firme" means 'firm' or 'steady'.