Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s “The Little Prince” Will Soon Have a Waray Translation!
The beloved children’s book, The Little Prince, will now have a Waray version while also debuting its other translations in the various Philippine languages.
Although Tagalog is the official language of the Philippines, that doesn’t invalidate the other 180-plus Philippine languages from the different islands. Unfortunately, some of those languages are dying because there’s not much pop culture that uses those languages. But with The Little Prince coming out with a Waray translation, there’s hope that other pop culture pieces will follow suit!
Why do we need more pop culture stories in various Philippine languages?
Language is part of a culture’s identity and with the many provinces in the Philippines, they each have their languages and own dialects. Even among us Filipinos, we can easily identify where someone is from based on their accent and the language they prefer to use. Although most of us use Tagalog or English to get around, some may not be comfortable because they didn’t grow up using it.
Because we often rely on Tagalog, English, or Taglish to get around, the other languages slowly lose speakers or die out. They turn into dead languages—a language that is not used in everyday life. And for the Philippines, that becomes an obstacle in teaching because it’s only through learning that people become fluent in it.
But how can they use the language when there’s no source material like books to demonstrate how?
Luckily, Camarines Sur-based publishing house and bookstore, Savage Mind, will be publishing some popular pieces in the native Filipino languages. The Little Prince, or An Ditoy Nga Prinsipe in Waray, will be released on February 14, 2024. It’s the perfect Valentine’s Day gift for a bookworm, especially since the book speaks about love.
Hopefully, this will inspire translators and writers alike to make more books!
While we are aware that the Philippines is rich in stories and culture, there seems to be a lack of material to showcase all that. Yes, cinemas like the Metro Manila Film Festival are already adapting traditional Filipino stories into something more modern, we’re hoping that more intriguing and interesting books like The Little Prince will have translations also in other languages.
And if there are more, it won’t just preserve the languages of the Philippines but also celebrate the other Filipinos from the different islands. They have families too and we’re sure they have stories to tell.
At the moment, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s The Little Prince has translations in Hiligaynon, Cebuano, Ilokano, Tagalog, and Bikolano.
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