Macasero, Lyshan I.

2013-22125

Comparative Study of French and Chavacano Proverbs: On Family and Wealth

Abstract

This paper tackles how French and Chavacano proverbs

portray each culture. Focusing on thematic analysis, the study
showed that French perception of family and wealth is near total
opposite to Chavacano; French perception of family is very
individualistic and for wealth, money as a tangible thing that just
come and goes while Chavacano perception of family is
described as wholesome and for wealth, money as a blessing.

Key words: proverbs, family, wealth, perception, individualistic,

tangible, wholesome, blessing

1.0 Introduction

In comparison to full-on sentence statements or sayings, proverbs are shorter and easier to remember.
Translation though are harder in proverbs; general assumptions can be made and usually relatable to everyday
life. (Tonoyan, 2010)
Utilization of proverbs in relation to family and wealth were of continuation to a previous ethnolinguistic
fieldwork study in Bahra-Chavacano’s quality of contentment. From the gathered interviews in the Bahra
community, in Ternate, Cavite, even college graduates still intend to go back in their hometown Ternate than to
work in Manila. Homesickness is the primary factor, not wanting to be separated from the family. When asked
about the living expenses, as the area in situ is practically beside the Manila Bay, the family interviewed
expressed satisfaction in their everyday fishing that is enough for a day living. The study will focus if French
perception of family and wealth through the proverbial lens is the same as Chavacano’s conceptualization.
The researcher has gathered more French proverbs than Chavacano. Most of the data gathered from the said
language were mainly from Bahra-specified sources. The 20 Chavacano proverbs in relation to family and
wealth were exhausted from Dr. Evangelino Nigoza’s Manga Proverbs nah Bahra, the pioneer academic
proponent of Bahra, Chavacano in Ternate, Cavite and from Prof. Emmanuel Romanillo’s Chavacano Proverbs,
Riddles, Metaphors. Cavite where a variety of Chavacano called Bahra is found.
The researcher stemmed this study from the previous fieldwork conducted in Ternate, Cavite where a
variety of Chavacano called Bahra is found.
2.0 Thematic Classification

The criteria of which the thematic classifications on family were based on is when the words
synonymous to mother, father, child/children, son and daughter are indicated in the proverb. While in
relation to wealth, proverbs with words synonymous to money, rich and poor were selected.

2.1 On Family
The identified themes found in the proverbs for family were mostly about the roles of the mother/ wife/
woman, father/ husband/ man, of the children, roles as parents, and view on marriage.

2.1.1 Role of the mother/ wife/ woman

(1) A femme avare galant escroc
‘A covetous woman deserves a swindling gallant’
Here in this proverb, it can be reflected that French women that are adulterous deserves a dishonest man.
(2) Fumée, pluie, et femme sans raison, chassent l’homme de sa maison
‘Smoke, floods, and a troublesome wife, are enough to drive a man out of
his life’
This proverb may constitute how paternally centric French people are as no man can live with an
unreasonable woman and why are there are no proverbs in relation to family that states, i.e. how women can’t
live with unreasonable men.

2.1.2 Role of the father / husband/ man

(3) A père avare enfant prodigue
‘A miserly father makes a prodigal son’
If in Chavacano there is a saying how a father can be similar to his son, here in French it contradicts that
of Chavacano’s as the son compensates for the shortcomings of the father.
(4) Du cuir d’un vieux mari on en acheté un jeune
‘With an old husband’s hide one buys a young one’
Cuir here literally means “leather” and it can be said that one can bet that an old husband means an
established one - and can buy anything he likes, even a young woman / wife.
(5) Si cosa el tata, aquel el hijo
‘Like father, like son’
 If in French there are no parallelism of the characteristics of a parent and child, in Chavacano, this proverb
describes how not far the apple falls from the tree

2.1.3 Roles as parents

(6) Nuey bueng ping, si quek hijo no ta sigue cung su mayor
‘No one will be having a good life, disobeying the advice of parent’
It can be seen here that no one can live independently afar from parents’ guidance.
(7) El niño que no llora, no mama
‘The baby, who does not cry, does not get fed’
While in this proverb, dominance of parental authority is observed.

2.1.4 Role of the children

(8) Enfants et fous sont devins
‘Children and fools are prophets’
“Prophets” here is a metaphorical word for the inability to tell lies. Thus children and fools always tell
the truth.
(9) Joyeuse vie père et mère oublie
‘A merry life forgets father and mother’
There is also the other way in which it’s “joyeuse et riche” that means merry and rich; children who
have grown usually forgets the hard work of the parents who took care of them.
(10) La jeunesse revient de loin
‘Youth may stray afar yet return at last’
This proverb may be a continuation of proverb (9) where children that left and forgot their parents can’t
deny the fact that they always return home.

2.1.5 View on marriage

(11) En mariage trompe qui peut
‘In marriage cheat who can’
In France, according to Pew Research Center (PRC), infidelity is socially acceptable. It’s even the top
country in the Global Attitudes Project of PRC that negates extramarital affairs is unacceptable. And it goes back
since the time of Napoleon thus, this proverb.
(12) Aujourd’hui marie, demain marri
‘Married to-day, marred to-morrow
 In Eugene Ehrlich’s Les Bons Mots: How to Amaze Tout Le Monde with Everyday French, he associated
this proverb in English as it’s already normal that one can be married today and divorced the next day.
(13) Fiançailles vont en selle et repentaills en croupe
‘Wedlock rides in the saddle and repentance on the crupper’
Getting married is a choice. Either you do it, or you don’t. But once you do, you can’t take it back
anymore and no amount of regret can change it. It’s somehow you’re given a saddle on which you will sit or not,
but the crupper prevents it from moving. So once you are already sitting down, you cannot change anything
anymore because the saddle will not move.
(14) Boda o mortaja, del cielo baja
‘Getting married or wrapped in a shroud’
It can be surmised that Chavacanos’ rather get married than to die alone wrapped with only a shroud.
(15) Ta casá rugaruga, ta viví agora badju-badju
‘He who marries in haste will live in distress’
Marriage is not some rice, eaten and if one is seared, will be spitted out. Thus marriage should not be
done in just a leap of blood or ‘lukso ng dugo”.
(16) Quiere ya boh con pobre, no duma con rico mata-pobre
‘Marrying a poor man is better than marrying an overly mean rich man’
The inner quality, rather characteristic of a man still abounds the material wealth he has.
(17) No bali ya hace novio, con jente sin verguenza
‘Better be sweethearts rather than be married soon’
Again here in Chavacano proverbs, precautionary mood on marriage is observed in search for a better
future after marriage.

2.2 On Wealth
The identified themes found in the proverbs for wealth were generally how money plays a role in everyday
life; its acquisition, the ways it’s utilized as a cure and symbol of social status, as a source of living and its
contrast to love.
2.2.1 Acquisition
(18) Il ne faut que tourner le dos a Dieu pout devenir riche
‘To grow rich one has only to turn back on God’
Unlike how Chavacanos’ regard money as a blessing, in this French proverb, one must renounce God as
soon he become rich.
(19) Argent emprunte porte tristesse
‘Money borrowed is soon sorrowed’
Simply, having debts is a sorrowful situation.
(20) Trabaja no se flojo, Esti un principio paraqueda rico
‘Work and do not be indolent, this is one principle to be rich’
(21) Cunta no hace cuenta, Levanta no busca cueño
‘Count and do not sum up, rise and don’t fall asleep’
Proverbs 20 and 21 emphasize how Chavacanos hold time preciously in order to make a living.
(22) Mas bueno ta dali investa recibe
‘Much better to give than to receive’
Even though Chavacanos in general do not have an upstate way of living, they are very generous on what
they have.
(23) Quel cercao con Dios mas mucho suerti ta yega
‘Those who are very close to God more graces will come’
(24) Si ta planta quel mariposa chocolati di tiene cen
‘If a brown butterfly touches us, we will have money’
(25) Ta cava el gracia enceguida des pues ta yega quel hora ta anga-anga
‘Don’t waste the wealth given by the Almighty, so not to look nothing
someday’
In Chavacano proverbs 23, 24 and 25, even though money is a necessity in living, Chavacanos always regard
their fortune as blessing from God.

2.2.2 Use
2.2.2.1 As cure to problems
(26) Argent comptant porte medicine
‘Ready money works great cures’
When a pocket is full, one can speak and brag, and and words that can’t do, money will.
2.2.2.2 As symbol of social status
(27) Deniers avancent les bediers
‘Money advances meacocks’
Money can bury cowardly or effeminate men.
(28) Honnete pauvrete est clair semee
‘Honest poverty is thinly sown’
 One cannot be rich without doing underhanded things.
(29) L’argent est un bon serviteur, mais c’est un mauvais maitre
‘Money is a good servant but a bad master’
Money is a double-edged sword where one can utilize it wisely or worse, be swallowed by greed.
(30) Homme chiche jamais riche
‘A stingy man is always poor’
This proverb can complement proverb 22 in which one must learn to give other than receive.
(31) Le plus riche n’emporte qu’un liceal
‘The richest man carries nothing away with him but a shroud’
In the end of our lives, even the richest man can’t carry anything, any amount of fortune past his grave.
(32) No bali ya tragong, No duma ladrong
‘It is acceptable to be greedy rather than to be a thief’
(33) Bueno pa queda tragong no duma ladrong
‘It is better to be a glutton than to be robber’

Unlike in French, Chavacano proverbs in 30 and 31 are more on to having self-preservation , not allowing
oneself to be overtaken by it.
(34) Un rico na su casa, como un quago nuay ta atraca
‘A rich person inside his house is like an owl especially when nobody comes’
A rich person is always on the lookout and being observant even when nobody is looking.
(35) Limpia bueno, Para quita quel sucio
‘If you do not have money, just sit down quietly’
One can’t do anything without money thus his words nor actions don’t carry any weight.

2.2.3 Source of living

(36) Nécessite n’a pas de loi
‘Necessity has no law’
When in need, one only finds a way to be satisfied, no matter what laws to defy.
(37) Argent recu, le bras rompu
‘The money paid, the workman’s arm is broken
Paying beforehand doesn’t guarantee anything,
(38) Nuay debi no di paga
‘There is no credit that is not paid’
Basically, all credits are in the end needs to be paid.
(39) Tiene jente como ligasing, el puera ta brilla dentro lodu
‘If you aspire for one liter, a ganta will be lost’
Be prepared to invest a lot if one aspires more than a lot.
(40) El jente si ta magipit, Masqui cuchilla agudo dice kapit
‘A person seriously in need, rasps the knife in order to live’
A Chavacano version of proverb 36 in which necessity really has no laws.

2.2.3 In contrast to love

(41) Amour fait moult, argent fait tout

‘Love does much, money everything’
Much as infidelity is socially acceptable in French culture, love cannot do anything better than
what money can.

3.0 Analysis and Conclusion

FAMILY
French French regard for family
based on the collected data
shows how infidelity is a socially
acceptable phenomenon and an
individualistic way of living can
be observed on how children’s
feelings grew apart from their
parents as they grow.
WEALTH
French regard for money in
relation to wealth, based on
the collected data, shows that
money is a substantial thing
that just come and goes.

Chavacano While in Chavacano, While in Chavacano, money

the concept of
wholeness in the family can
be observed. Unlike in
French, Chavacano’s view on
marriage is more on
precaution than French’s
“regretful” proverbial tone.
is a substantial thing too that
needed to come from a hard-
earned effort but at the same
time one cannot just revolve
his/her world on money alone.
Chavacano’s
conceptualization of wealth is
nothing that comes and goes
because it is a blessing from

Comprehension of both
God.
Proverbs are really indicative to By examining wealth of
the values of the people but Chavacanos, which is a
French people are more detached Portuguese-Spanish creole
from filial piety than Chavacanos language (of European descent),
or more so, than Filipinos. the researcher have considered if
Infidelity is an absolute action it has the same values as of
forbidden in our society due to the French. Both cultures, when it
church values embedded in our comes to necessity, one will do
culture especially when anything, even to defy laws.
Catholicism spread throughout the
country when colonized by the
Spanish.

4.0 Recommendation
The researcher would like to recommend to not just have proverbs as basis of conceptualization
for French and Chavacano’s perception of family and wealth and for the next researcher to have a
higher level of French language acquisition (more than 18 units of French course). The researcher
believes that this study is just a preliminary discussion of how linguistics functions in culture and
society.
5.0 Bibliography
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Spanish, Portuguese, and Danish with English translations and a general index. London: Henry
G. Bohn.

Ehrlich, E. (2008). Les Bons Mots How to Amaze Tout Le Monde With Everyday French. Paw Prints.

Gob, E., Macasero, L., Puton, K., Sagun, R., & Sampana, L. (2017). Linggwistiks 125: Bahra Grammar

Sketch [Scholarly project].

Nigoza, E., Calairo, E. F., & Villanueva, N. M. (2007). Bahra: the history, legends, customs, and
traditions of Ternate, Cavite. Dasmariñas: Cavite Historical Society.

Nigoza, E. (2017). Manga Proverbs nah Bahra. In Bahra II: Lenguaje Arte Y Literatura. Cavite.
Publication by Ternate Historical Society and Cavite Historical Society.

Romanillos, E. (n.d.). Chavacano Proverbs, Riddles, Metaphors. Retrieved December 8, 2017, from
http://filipinokastila.tripod.com/chaba3.html

Tonoyan, H. (2010). Comparing Proverbs and Their Translatability[PDF]. Ruse: University of Ruse.

Verzosa, P. R. (1950). The psychology of Filipino proverbs: including Ilokano, Bikol, Ilongo, Moro,
Pampango, Pangasinan, Sambal, Tagalog, Sugbuanon, Samarnon, Aklan, French, Spanish,
Latin, Malay, Amoy, and Mandarin. Manila: Cooperative Service.

Wike, R. (2014, January 14). French more accepting of infidelity than people in other countries.
Retrieved February 02, 2018, from http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014
/01/14/french-more-accepting-of-infidelity-than-people-in-other-countries/