Introduction

Method

A study of lexical similarity aims to determine the indication of
mutual intelligibility of two languages. This surveys the degree of phonetic,
morphological and syntactic similarities. Statistics in lexical comparisons is
used to decide the branching order of languages in their presumed genetic
tree. Lexical comparison in a nutshell can build a broad phylogeny of large set
of languages.

In the Philippines, several languages were born in order to
communicate. Colonizers and traders brought with them their languages to our
country giving way to the birth of a new language called Chabacano. Camins
(1999) cited that Chabacano all started from our need to communicate with
the Spanish colonizers. He further discussed that Chabacano in Cavite and that
in Zamboanga are lexically and phonologically closer to the Spanish language.
The mixture of local and Spanish lexical items comprises the language corpus
of the two Chabacano varieties. However, despite the geographical and
time separation of both Chabacano languages, these varieties share typical
features.

There have been studies conducted about Zamboanga Chabacano.
Malbago (2000) who studied the language profile of Zamboanga City revealed
that Chabacano is still the dominant language of the city. Edding (2003) in her
research on Chabacano found out that the native and non-native Chabacano
speakers responses have significant differences in some lexicon in terms
of the socioeconomic status, gender, ethnicity and educational qualification
of the respondents. Cruz (2005) in her study on the syntax of Zamboanga
Chabacano revealed, among others, that Zamboanga Chabacano follows
Verb-Subject-Object (VSO) Pattern. Olaers (2005) study on the non- Spanish
idiolect composition of Zamboanga Chabacano showed that the 30% of the
Zamboanga Chabacano lexes comes from the three languages: Tagalog,
Cebuano and Hiligaynon. Likewise, Cabangons (2006) thesis on the rural and
urban Zamboanga Chabacano revealed the importation of words from Bisaya,
Tagalog and English.

It should be noted that none of the aforementioned studies
compared or contrasted Zamboanga Chabacano with another type like the
Cavite Chabacano. Aside from that, no study has been conducted on the
phonological changes in the categories of vowel shift, assimilation/dissimilation
and epenthesis/aphesis. Hence, to have one is necessary to provide data
needed for the development of an English, Spanish, Cavite and Zamboanga
Chabacano Dictionary.

The study employed the qualitative research design utilizing the
manifest content analysis of the lexicon in both Cavite and Zamboanga
Chabacano found in the internet and in the published Chabacano Handbook
and Dictionary written by Camins (1999). Out of the total lexical entry of
about 16, 000 available on-line, the study got 2,126 lexical items on the basis
of the availability of Cavite Chabacano lexicon with Zamboanga Chabacano
equivalents.

The data gathering started with the downloading of the 2,126 Cavite
Chabacano lexical items from the Cavite Chabacano Glossary available on-line.
It was followed by the adding of the Zamboanga Chabacano translations and
their phonetic transcriptions (from Camins Chabacano Dictionary) of these
lexical items to the table with six columns having the headings of English,
Spanish, Cavite Chabacano, Cavite phonetic transcription, Zamboanga
Chabacano translation and Zamboanga phonetic of transcriptions in that
order. Lastly, the lexical items were rearranged alphabetically with English as
the basis, as shown in the table below.

18

Research Journal January 2011 - June 2011

Table 1

Illustration of the Cavite and Zamboanga Chabacano

Lexical Terms with English as Basis
English

Spanish

a, an once un

Cavite
Phonetic
Chabacano Trans

Zamboanga Phonetic
Chabacano Trans

Un

un

un

un

abdomen

abdomen barriga

barriga

barriga

ba-RRI-ga

abdomen

vientre

bientre

Byentre

vientre

VIEN-tre

able

capaz

capas

Kapas

capas

ca-PAS

able

habil

puedi

pwede

puede

PUE-de

above
on top

encima

incima

insima

encima

en-CI-ma

The initial findings in code forms as SIM for similarities, DIF for
differences in phonological changes were placed on the seventh column of the
table. Other codes as VS for vowel shift, AD for assimilation/dissimilation
and EA for epenthesis/aphesis were also added. These codes were used to
cluster the findings together using an excel command FILTER. The clusters
were, then, placed in separate tables for further analysis.
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Table 2

The data were, then, analyzed using the following theories as bases:
Greenbergs (2004) new statistical technique, the Mass Lexical Comparison
, where one simply compares a large sample of words from Language A with
Language B. Looking for similar sound patterns was used in analyzing the
lexical similarities between Cavite and Zamboanga Chabacano.

Lexical Similarities between Cavite and Zamboanga Chabacano from A to Z

N=2,126

Clus
ter

N u m b e r Examples
of Lexical
English
I t e m s
having
similarities

Holmes (1994) Theory of Lexical Diffusion was used in analyzing the lexical
differences in terms of phonological changes between Cavite and Zamboanga
Chabacano. The theory stated that lexical differences involve change that
may spread word for word, through different words one by one, or may first
occur in one word and then later in another word.

310

S
C

Schramms (2001) Phonological Rules classified into 4 major kinds:

assimilation (where a sound becomes similar to a neighboring sound)
dissimilation (where similar consonant or vowel sounds in a word become
less similar) insertion/epenthesis (where a sound is added in slow phonetic
pronunciation or spelling) and deletion/aphesis (where sounds are left off)
were also used in classifying the lexical differences.
Results

On the problem of determining the lexical similarities between the
two varieties of Chabacano understudy, the data in Table 2 revealed that
out of the 2,126 lexical items used in the study, 1,475 (69.3791%) of them
show similarities in spelling, word formation and syntax between Cavite and
Zamboanga Chabacano from Clusters A to Z. Among the 26 clusters, from
A to Z, the top ten clusters in terms of the number of lexical similarities in
terms of spelling, sound and word formation are Cluster T (362), Cluster S
(145),Cluster C (140), Cluster P (94), Cluster B (89), Cluster D (66), Cluster L
(62), Cluster W (61), Cluster F (59) and Cluster G (52).

Spanish

Cavite
Chabacano

Transcrip
tion

Zambo
a n g a
Chabacano

Transcrip
tion

tablet (n)

tableta

tableta

tableta

tableta

TAB-ble-ta

145

sad (adj)

triste

triste

triste

triste

TRIS-te

140

cabbage
(n)

c o l
repollo

repollo

repolyo

repollo

Re-POLLO

94

package
(n)

paquete

paquete

pakete

paquete

pa-QUE-te

89

backward
(adj)

atras

atras

atras

atras

a TRAS

66

dagger
(n)

pual/
daga

pual

punyal

pual

Pu-AL

62

l a b o r
strike(n)

huelga

huelga

hwelga

huelga

HUEL-ga

61

waist (n)

cintura

cintura

sintura

cintura

cin-TU-ra

59

face (n)

cara/faz

cara

kara

cara

CA-ra

52

gallon (n) gallon

gallon

galon

gallon

ga-LON

49

hair (n)

pelo

pelo

pelo

pelo

PE-lo

47

race (n)

carrera

carrera

karrera

carrera

CA-rre-ra

37

madam

seora

ora

nyora

ora

O-ra

36

I (pron)

Yo

Yo

Yo

Yo

Yo

30

occasion occasion
(n)

occasion

okasion

occasion

o-ca-SION

26

economy

/thrift
(n)

economia

economia

economya

economia

e-co-noMIA

25

name (n)

nombre

nombre

nombre

nombre

NOM-bre

Others 147
Total

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1,475 (69.39%)

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Results regarding phonological changes came in three categories:
vowel shift, assimilation/dissimilation and epenthesis/aphesis.

In the category of vowel shift, the data in Table 3 revealed that out of
the 2,126 lexical items understudy, 267 (12.56%) showed lexical differences.
Then, out of the 267 showing lexical differences in vowel shift, 157 lexical
items showed vowel shift from I in Cavite Chabacano to E in Zamboanga
Chabacano as in dibati (to debate) in Cavite Chabacano to debate
in Zamboanga Chabacano. Sixty (60) lexical items underwent the change
from U to O as in the word, cumpania (company) in Cavite Chabacano
to compania in Zamboanga Chabacano. Eleven (11) lexical items showed
vowel shift differences from IE in Cavite Chabacano to IE in Zamboanga
Chabacano as in pitati (mat) to petate. Six (6) underwent UO to IE change
as in kumpuni (to fix) in Cavite Chabacano to compone in Zamboanga
Chabacano, and 5 lexical items showed A to E vowel shift; an example is the
term basa (basis) in Cavite Chabacano to base in Zamboanga Chabacano.
Table 3

Lexical Differences between Cavite and Zamboanga Chabacano

Lexical Items in Terms of Vowel Shift
N=2,126
Vowel
shift

In terms of lexical differences through assimilation and dissimilation,
the data in Table 4 revealed that out of the 2,126 lexical entries understudy,
there are 216 (10.16%) lexical items that show assimilation and dissimilation.

The spelling differences in assimilation show sounds in Cavite
Chabacano that become more similar to the sounds in Zamboanga Chabacano,
and these are reflected in the 63 items of P-F; 60 of B-V; 21 of S-Z; 14 of K-C;
8 of L-R,; 5 each for H-J and P-F, I-E, P-F; 4 of J-H; 3 of R-L; 2 each for
K-C, I-E and H-J, S-Z; lastly, 21 others for the rest of the spelling differences
on K-C, U-O , B-C, B-P and S-C.

In the first five groups of lexical differences, Cavite Chabacano shows
the use of P, B, S, K and L in words like PECHA (date), BIENTRE (abdomen),
BRASO (arm), KUAGO (owl) and PILMI(frequent) while Zamboanga Chabacano
shows the use of F, V, Z, C and R in words like FECHA, VIENTRE, BRAZO,
CUAGO and PIRMI.

In addition in Table 4, 5 lexical items show dissimilation in spelling
whereby a consonant like /L/ in Cavite Chabacano is converted to /R/ in
Zamboanga Chabacano. This is shown in the term jilbi (to boil) in Cavite
Chabacano which becomes irbi in Zamboanga Chabacano.

Examples
English

Spanish

Cavite Chab
Transcription

Zamboanga Chab &

Transcription

I-E

maybe (adj)

quiza

siguro [siguro]

seguro [se-GU-ro]

157

U-O

company (n)

compania

cumpania
[kumpanya]

compania[com-paNIA]

60

IE-IE

mat (n)

estera/petate

pitati [pitati]

petate [pe-TA-te]

11

UO-IE

to fix, repair
(v)

kumpuni

c u m p u n i
[kumpuni]

compone [com-poNE]

A-E

basis (n)

basa

basa [Basa]

base [BA-se]

E-A

air (n)

aire

eire

E-U

powder (n)

rolvera

p u l b e r a
[pulbera]

[eyre]

pulvura [pulvura]

aire

[aire]

I-A

to debate ( v)

debater

dibati [dibati]

debata [debata]

IE-BV

to evade (v)

evitar

ibita [ ibita]

evita [e-vi-TA]

Others

20

Total

267

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Volume 30 No. 1

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Table 4

Assimilation and Dissimilation in Consonants between Cavite

and Zamboanga Chabacano
Assimilation
in Consonant

English

Spanish

Cavite Chab
Transcription

Zamboanga
C h a b /
Transcription

Subtotal

P-F

date (n)

Fecha

pecha [pecha]

fecha [FE-cha]

63

B-V

abdomen (n)

Vientre

bientre
[byentre]

vientre [VIENtre]

60

S-Z

arm (n)

Brazo

braso [braso]

brazo [BRA-zo]

21

K-C

affected (adj)

Afectado

apektaw
[apektaw]

afectao
[apectao]

14

L-R

frequent (a
(adj)

frecuente

pilmi [pilmi]

pirmi [PIR-mi]

H-J

game,
play(n)

Juego

huego[hwego]

juego [JUE-go]

P-F, I-E P-F

fiesta (n)

Fiesta

piesta [Pyesta]

fiesta [FIES-ta]

J-H

to kneel (v)

Hincarse

jinca [hingka]

hinca [hingCA]

R-L

estimate (n)

Calcular

carcula
[karkula]

calcula [CALcu-la]

fever (n)

Fiebra

kalintura
[kalintura]

calentura [calen-TU-ra]

K-C, I-E
O t h e r s
showing
assimilation
Dissimilation
in L-R
Grand Total

21

to boil (v)

Bullir

jilbi [hilbi]

irbi [ir-BI]

5
216 (10.16%)

Regarding lexical differences through addition or epenthesis/deletion
or aphesis, the data in Table 6 revealed that Cluster E shows phonetic dropping
in the Cavite Chabacano word IMPLEAO (Employee), the shorter version of
the word EMPLEADO in Zamboanga Chabacano which is also the same word
in Spanish. The phoneme D is dropped making the word shorter. In Cluster
F, phonetic addition can be observed by comparing the lexical entries from
Cavite Chabacano to their Spanish origin. Zamboanga Chabacano shows
phonetic addition of /t/ in the word MIEDUT, and a conversion of to to rat
in the word CHARAT from CHATO. Phonetic change is also observed in the
Chabacano word ESPONJA from the Spanish and Cavite Chabacano word
ESPUMA. The change is from -uma to onja.
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Research Journal January 2011 - June 2011

Cluster G shows aphesis or phonetic deletion in Cavite Chabacano
for the word INGIBRE (GINGER). The original Spanish spelling is JENGIBRE.
Zamboanga Chabacano translates this word as JENIBRE. The original ng
phoneme is now replaced with n minus the J in the initial position. The
second lexical item in Cluster G, on the other hand, HIJADA-AJIJADA (God
Daughter) shows phonetic deletion of A in the Cavite Chabacano translation.
The third pair HIEl-YEL shows phonetic dropping in the Zamboanga translation
of the English word GALL.

The lexical items under Cluster H also show phonetic deletion both
in Cavite and Zamboanga Chabacano. ALTURA - ALTOR, GUJERO AGUJERO
show the deletion of A in Zamboanga Chabacanos ALTOR and the phonetic
dropping of A in GUJERO from the Chabacano lexical translation of HOLE.

On the contrary, Cluster I shows phonetic addition called Epenthesis.
It takes place when there is a sound being added to the original form of
the word. The Cavite Chabacano word DILANTE from the Spanish word
DELANTE (IN FRONT) has Zamboanga Chabacano translation of ADELANTE.
It shows the addition of Phoneme A at the beginning of the Spanish term. This
deviation is called regional variations created by the speakers of Zamboanga
Chabacano themselves. There is also a phonetic change from the E to I in
the pair DELANTE-DILANTE which is common to a lot of lexicon in Cavite
Chabacano.

The lexical items under Cluster P show phonetic deletion or aphesis
in Zamboanga Chabacano. The word PAR is a shortened version of PAREJA,
the Spanish and Cavite Chabacano term of the English PAIR; -eja is deleted.
In the second word BARRA from the Spanish and Cavite term BARRETA
(pickaxe), et is deleted.

In Cluster T, the first pair, CRASCA-CASCA (to peel) from the Spanish
word CRASCAR, shows phonetic dropping of R to form the Zamboanga
Chabacano term. The second pair, SIMBRA-SIEMBRA from the Spanish word
SIEMBRAR shows phonetic dropping of E in the lexical unit of Cavite. The
third pair, IMPUJA-REMPUJA (to push) from the Spanish word EMPUJA shows
phonetic addition of R in the Zamboanga Chabacano lexis. There is a vowel
change in Cavite Chabacano from E to I. However, Zamboanga Chabacano
added R.

The next pairs, MARRA-AMARRA (to tie), PAGA- APAGA (to put
out), MULA-AMULA (to sharpen) and NAMURA-ENAMORA (to court) from the
Spanish words, AMARRAR, APAGAR, AMOLAR and ENAMORAR show phonetic
dropping of A and E in the Zamboanga Chabacano lexes to form the Cavite
Chabacano equivalents.

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The remaining pairs of Cavite-Zamboanga Chabacano terms show
phonetic addition of I in TAJA TAJIA; the adding of DE/N in MUSTRADEMONSTRA; the addition of AD in PALMIA-PALMADIA; the dropping of H in
MAMA-MAMAH and the adding of E in TRUNA-TRUENA.

Table 5
(continued)
Cluster

Table 5
Phonetic Addition /Epenthesis and Deletion /Aphesis in Cavite Zamboanga
Chabacano
N=2,126
Zamboanga
Chabacano

Phonetic
Difference

impleao[implyaw]

empleado[em-pleA-do]

D Dropped

Miedo

miedu [myedu]

miedut [mie-DUT]

T Added

flat nose
(adj)

Chato

chato [chato]

charat [cha-RAT]

TO - RAT

foam (n)

Espuma

ispuma [ispuma]

esponja [ es-PONja]

-UMA to
-ONJA

ginger (n)

Jenibre

ingibre[inghibre]

jenibre[e-NIB -re]

-N to NG

goddaughter
(n)

Ahijada

hijada [ihada]

ajijada [a-ji-JAda]

A deleted

Hiel

hiel [yel]

yel [YEL]

HI to Y

height

Altura

altura [altura]

altor [al-TOR]

A deleted

hole (n)

Agujero

gujero [guhero]

agujero [a-guJE-ro]

A deleted

in front,
before (adv)

Delante

dilante [dilante]

adelante [a-deLAN-te]

A added

Cluster
E

English

Spanish

employee (n)

Empleado

fear, afraid
(adj)

gall (n)

Cavite Chabacano

pair (n)

pareja/par

pareja [pareha]

par [PAR]

-EJA deleted

pickaxe (n)

Barreta

barreta [barreta]

barra [BA-rra]

ET deleted

to peel (v)

Crascar

crasca [krasca]

casca [CAS-ca]

R deleted

to plant (V)

Sembrar

simbra [simbra]

siembra [Si-YEMbra]

I added

to push (v)

Empujar

impuja [impuha]

rempuja [rempu-JA]

Initial R
Added

to tie (v)

Amarrar

marra [marra]

Amarra [A-maRRA]

A deleted

26

Research Journal January 2011 - June 2011

English

Spanish

Cavite Chabacano Zamboanga

Chabacano

Phonetic
Difference

to put out (v)

Apagar

paga [paga]

apaga [a-pa-GA]

A deleted

to sharpen (v)

Amolar

mula[mula]

amula [a-mu-LA]

A deleted

to woo (v)

cortejar/
enamorar

namura
[namura]

enamora [e-namo-RA]

E deleted

to slice (v)

Tajar

taja [taha]

tajia [ta-JIA]

I added

to show (v)

Mostrar

mustra [mustra]

demonstra [deMONS-tra]

DE/N added

to slap (V)

Palmear

palmia [palmya]

palmadia [palma-DIA]

AD added

to suck (v)

Mamar

mama [mama]

mamah [maMAH]

R to H

to thunder (v)

Tronar

truna [truna]

truena [true-NA]

O to UE
R deleted

Total

24 (1.13%)

Discussion

Both Cavite and Zamboanga Chabacano show lexical items that
are Spanish in origin. This shows a strong manifestation of the Spanish
substrate appearing in the Chabacano Language. This finding is supported
by Greenbergs Theory of Phylogeny which explains similarities in the Lexical
Mass. This concept explains that the origin of both languages contributes to the
development of their lexicon. Language maintenance is also evident. Despite
the time and geographical separation among the speakers of Chabacano, the
lexical items found in the Chabacano Websites show a strong lexical similarity
not only in spelling but in word origin as well. Lexical similarity can be used
to evaluate the degree of genetic relationship between two languages.
Percentages higher than 85% usually indicate that the two languages being
compared are likely to be related "dialects".

Chaudenson (2004) posits that the feature of a creole can be
explained by the influence of its base languages. In the case of Chabacano,
Spanish appears as the base influence on its lexicon. Other linguists use
the Relatedness Hypothesis to explain obvious similarities between words
belonging to different languages or dialects assuming that these languages
are related.
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On the other hand, results regarding lexical differences in the
categories of vowel shift, assimilation/dissimilation and epenthesis/aphesis
between Cavite and Zamboanga Chabacano lexicon can be explained through
Holmes Lexical Diffusion Theory. Holmes (1999) describes the changes of
vowel spelling as Lexical Diffusion. Sound changes spread from one word
to another. She further explains that vowel changes such as in the variants
of Chabacano are typical evolutionary stages of a creole language. The
differences may not be seen entirely in all lexical items but the spread will be
gradual. Taking in consideration of the geographical distance between Luzon
and Mindanao, vowel changes are most likely to happen.

Moreover, the finding on the spelling differences in assimilation and
dissimilation between the two varieties of Chabacano implies sound change.
Redford (1998) presented two hypotheses to explain the sound change.
The Rate Hypothesis suggests that change occurs abruptly or gradually
depending on how much an existing system is destabilized by social and
cultural forces. The second explanation for this observed phenomenon is the
Variation Hypothesis. This hypothesis suggests that a greater diversity of
sound structures emerge from abrupt change than gradual change because
selection occurs on large amounts of variation in more destabilized systems.

Based on the main finding revealing strong similarity rate (69%)
between the two Chabacano varieties, the study concluded that Cavite and
Zamboanga Chabacano came from the same source which is Spanish. The
slight lexical differences are still related in terms of lexical structure. In other
words, Spanish is the substrate language of both Cavite and Zamboanga
Chabacano. It recommended, therefore, that an English, Spanish, Cavite and
Zamboanga Chabacano Dictionary be published.

Cabangon, B. M. (2004). Zamboanga chabacano variants among the urban

and rural Zamboanga chabacano speech communities: A sociolinguistic
study (Unpublished masters thesis). Western Mindanao State

University, Zamboanga City.

Camins, B. S. (1999). Chabacano handbook and chabacano English dictionary

(2nd Edition). Zamboanga City, Philippines. Retrieved from www.

zamboanga.com/chabacano/chabacano_de_zamboanga_speak.htm

Campbell, L. (2004). Historical Linguistics: An introduction (2nd Edition).

Cambridge: MIT Press.
Chabacano Glossary (n.d.). Chabacano- Cavites Dialect. Retrieved from

http://www.angelfire.com/art2/roger_santos/glossA.html
Chaudenson, R. (2004). La Creolisation: Theories, applications,
implications. Paris: L Harmattan.
Chomsky, N. (1985). Syntactic structures. The Hague: Mouton. Reprint. Berlin

and New York.
Crowley, T. (1997). An introduction to historical linguistics (3rd Edition). UK:

Oxford Publishing.
Cruz, L. A. (2005). The Syntax of Zamboanga chabacano: A description and
analysis. WMSU Research Journal, 26(2), 17-35.
Edding, N.R. (2003). Language maintenance and shift among native and nonnative speakers of Zamboanga chavacano (Unpublished doctoral

dissertation). Western Mindanao State University, Zamboanga City.

References
Briscoe, E. J. (1998). Language as a complex adaptive system: Coevaluation

of language and of the Language Acquisition Device. Proceedings of

the 8th Meeting of Computational Linguistics in the Netherlands (pp.

3-40). Rodopi, Amsterdam.

Greenberg, J. H. (2004). Method of mass comparison of language classification.

Retrieved from www.academon.com/essay/greenberg-method-of
mass-comparison-of-languageclassification-137355

Briscoe, E. J. (1999b). Grammatical acquisition and linguistic selection.

Draft for Linguistic Evolution through Language Acquisition: Formal

and computational models, CUP, in prep.

Holmes, J. (1994). Inferring language change from computer corpora:

Some methodological problems. ICAME Journal (18) 27-40

Retrieved from www.helsinki.fi/varieng/CORD/corpora/LOB/
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Holmes, J. (2000). An inrtoduction to pidgins and creoles. Cambridge: CUP.

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