This article is about systems of language obfuscation, sometimes called secret languages. For the concept in philosophy, notably in the philosophy of Ludwig Wittgenstein, see Language game (philosophy).
A language game (also called a cant, secret language,ludling, or argot) is a system of manipulating spoken words to render them incomprehensible to an untrained listener. Language games are used primarily by groups attempting to conceal their conversations from others. Some common examples are Pig Latin; the Gibberish family, prevalent in the United States and Sweden; and Verlan, spoken in France.
A common difficulty with language games is that they are usually passed down orally; while written translations can be made, they are often imperfect, thus spelling can vary widely. Some factions argue that words in these spoken tongues should simply be written the way they are pronounced, while others insist that the purity of language demands that the transformation remain visible when the words are imparted to paper.
Use
Some language games such as Pig Latin are so widely known that privacy is virtually impossible, as most people have a passable understanding of how it works and the words can sound very similar to their English counterpart. Although language games are not usually used in everyday conversation, some words from language games have made their way into normal speech, such as ixnay in English (from Pig Latin), and loufoque in French (derived from fou according to the rules of Louchébem)[1]
Classification
One way in which language games could be organized is by language. For example, Pig Latin, Ubbi Dubbi, and Tutnese could all be in the "English" category, and Jeringonza could be in the "Spanish", ("Portuguese", or "Italian") category.
An alternate method of classifying language games is by their function. For example, Ubbi Dubbi, Bicycle, and Allspråket[sv] all work by inserting a code syllable before the vowel in each syllable. Therefore, these could be classified in the Gibberish family. Also, Double Talk, Língua do Pê, Jeringonza, and B-Sprache all work by adding a consonant after the vowel in each syllable, and then repeating the vowel. Thus, these could be classified in the Double Talk family. Another common type of language game is the spoonerism, in which the onsets of two words are exchanged. Using a standard word for each transformation gives another type, for example, the Finnish "kontinkieli", where kontti is added after each word, and spoonerism applied (kondäntti koonerismspontti koppliedäntti).
Insert "mer" at the end of each word. Longer words that consists of joined words are often broken into two or more words with the "mer" sound inserted in the middle and at the end.
Example. Daar onder in die vlei stap 'n mannetjie → Damer ommer immer diemer vleimer stammer immer mammer-tjiemmer.
Insert "Əp" before the first vowel of each syllable. Syllables with stacked consonants may follow additional rules.
Writing generally depicts the sounds instead the original letters. Daar onder in die vlei stap 'n mannetjie → Depaar epondeper epen depie vlepei stepap epe mepannepekepie.
All vowels are doubled, and "f" is placed between them.
Spoken mostly by kids and teenagers between their friends. Dialectal patterns are observed in some areas. Example: "Ç'do bëjmë tani? (What are we going to do now? in the Tosk dialect)" becomes "Çdofo bëfëjmëfë tafanifi?".
Yäwof q'uanq'ua ('bird language') and Yägra quanqua ('language of the left'). There is also another form with more complex rules.[2]
Yäwof q'uanq'ua: Duplicate each syllable, replacing the initial consonant with "z" in the duplicate.;[3] for Yägra quanqua the last syllable moves to the front of the word.[4]
-rb- language game found in several dialects involves the insertion of the consontants -rb- at various parts within the word, often on the stressed syllable.
For example, 'balad' becomes 'baarbalad' and 'fiil' becomes 'fiirbiil'[5]
was in general vogue during the 30s and throughout the 60s in Mecca.
Insert "pi" before each syllable. Though simple, when spoken quickly words become nearly incomprehensible. Often called "chicken language" because it mimics the sounds fledgelings make. Pileshko means "chicken" in Bulgarian.
Insert "Əp" before the first vowel of each syllable. Syllables with stacked consonants may follow additional rules.
Writing generally depicts the sounds instead the original letters. Daar op straat staat een mannetje → Depaar epop strepaat stepaat epen mepannepetjepe.
Add -okki to any consonant, and replace vowels with a number corresponding to the order of vowels in the alphabet (e.g. a → 1, e → 2, etc.) Ex. example → 2 xokki 1 mokki pokki lokki 2.
Move the onset of the first syllable to the end of each word, and add "ay" /eɪ/.
When a word starts with a vowel (there is no onset), you simply add "ay", "way", "yay", or "hay" (depending on the variant) at the end. E.g. "hello, how are you?" becomes "Ellohay, owhay are-ay ouyay?" In some variants, vowels are moved to the end, "ay" is added, and the speaker will attempt to pronounce it.
In each syllable of a word, insert "alf" after the first consonant and/or before the first vowel of the syllable. Thus each syllable becomes two syllables, the first rhyming with "pal" and the second beginning with the "f" in "alf."
E.g. "hello, how are you?" becomes "halfellalfo, halfow alfare yalfou?"
Insert ("itherg" for words 1 to 3 letters, "itug" for words with 4 to 6 letters, and "idig" for words with 7+ letters) after the first consonant in each syllable.
Gibberish is also a family of related language games.
The primary rule is the "vowel shift", where each vowel is shifted over one place to the right (e.g. "a" becomes "e"). Other rules exist like tongue clicks to signify verb tenses.
Replaces the accusative with the preposition je, and the final -o of nouns with an apostrophe, all while keeping to the letter of official grammar if not actual usage.
"Oni ĉiam obeu la Fundamenton" becomes "Ĉiamu onia obe' je l' Fundament'"
Replace every vowel with the vowel "ö" or "õ", "ä", "ü". For making it different and even more difficult any other vowel or 2 vowels in a row (instead only "ö" can be used "ö" and "ä" together as "öä") can also be used.
For example: "Mis sa teed?" - "What are you doing?" becomes – "Mös sö tööd".
After every vowel, insertion of 'v', then the vowel.
An Egyptian "dialect" of Javanais, used by children and teenagers in French speaking schools in Cairo to avoid understanding by adults (specially by teachers).
Each (spoken) vowel or diphthong is reduplicated with a leading 'lef', 'lew' or 'lev'.
"Hallo! Wie geht es dir?" → "Halewallolewo! Wielewie geleweht elewes dilewir?" Also possible with other languages: "Don't try to take me to New York!" → "Dolevon't trylevy tolevo tailevaik meleve tolevo Newlevew/Newlevoo Yolevork!"
Similar to the Albanian Të folurit me f . Add 'Fx' after all syllables. x is the vowel in the corresponding syllable of the real word. ex.: ciao → ciafaofo (cia-FA-o-FO)
By applying the same 'rule' to the English word hello, we would obtain: he-FE-llo-FO
A 'p' is added to the end of each syllable, followed by the vowel in the corresponding syllable, except in final position if the word ends on a consonant.
In two syllable words, the syllables exchanging positions (a), in words of three syllables the second and third syllable exchange positions (b), and in one syllable words the first and last consonants exchange places (c).[10]
Every vowel in the word, except for diphthongs, is repeated, inserting a "p" before the repeated vowel. For example, "a" would be "apa", "e" becomes "epe" and so forth. In diphthongs, this is only done with the first vowel.[11]
E.g. "valoda" becomes "vapalopodapa", while "Daugava" becomes "Dapaugapavapa"
Switch the vowels of the first and last syllables in a word or phrase
Example: Change "pheasa" (Khmer: Language)to "phasea" Invented by teenagers for mostly affecting a meaning from a normal word/phrase to an obscene one.
Put "s plus vowel" or "b plus vowel" between syllables.
Example 1: "Yasa! Neoseo! Jasal gasa (야사! 너서! 자살 가사)" instead of "Ya! Neo! Jal ga (야! 너! 잘 가; Hey! You! Good bye)" Example 2: "Neoseo neoseomusu yeseppeoseo (너서 너서무수 예세뻐서)" instead of "Neo neomu yeppeo (너 너무 예뻐; you are so pretty)"
After each syllable, add 'f' and repeat last vowel.
"Kau nak pergi mana tu, Linda?" → "Kaufau nakfak perfergifi mafanafa tufu Linfindafa?"
Invented in the early 1990s in Malaysian primary schools, it was mostly used by girls for gossiping. In 1998, the Malay romantic comedy film, Puteri Impian 2, pushed this language into the limelight of Malaysian popular culture.
The last syllable, excluding its first consonant, is dropped from a 2- or 3-syllable word; similarly, the last two are dropped from a 4- or 5-syllable word.
Variation: Add an 's' to each "halved" word as well.
"susu besar" → "sus bes"; "gunung tinggi" → "gun ting"; "Kenapa kau selalu buat begitu?" → "Kenaps kau selals buat begits?"
Split one syllable into two: the first syllable represents the onset of the original word, the second represents the final
Derives from the fanqie system (a traditional way of indicating the pronunciation of a Chinese character through using two other characters). Example: ni hao → nai li hai gao
Write each consonant twice with an "o" in the middle.
No: "Slik snakker man røverspråk på norsk." → Soslolikok sosnonakokkokeror momanon rorøvoverorsospoproråkok popå nonororsoskok. En: "This is how you speak røverspråk in Norwegian." → Tothohisos isos hohowow you sospopeakok rorøvoverorsospoproråkok inon nonororwowegogianon.
Insert the sound [z] and a copy of the previous vowel after the vowel of the syllable: e.g., mazan < man 'I'; azaz < az 'from, of'; tozo < to 'thou' (singular 'you'), etc.
Add a consonant of your choice followed by the preceding vowel after each vowel in the word.
Example: Ahlan (meaning Hallo) has two syllables, so when used with B, it will be abahlaban (aBAh-laBAn). En: enjoying → eBEnjoBOyiBIng, eben-jobo-yibing.
Each word is split in two halves (or each syllable). The parts are then put in reverse order to form a new word (sometimes written as two words) started with "fi" and ended with "kon" ("Fikon" is Swedish for fig).
Sv: "Hur är läget?" → Fir hukon fir äkon figet läkon? En: "How are you doing?" → Fiw hokon fir(e) akon fio(u) ykon fiing dokon?
An 'e' is added before words starting with a consonant, and a 't' is added before words starting with a vowel. In every other word the vowels are doubled and an 's' is added in between them. In the other words every vowel is doubled and an "l" is added in between.
Sv: "Jag är från Sverige" - "Ejasag tälär efråsån Esveleriligele".
Eng: "I am from Sweden" - "Tisi talam efrosom Esweledelen".
Exchange first and last syllable of any two-syllable word. Prefix last syllable onto first syllable and affix the first syllable after the second to last one in any word more than two syllables. Sometimes "s" is added to certain words for stylistic effect.
Sigarilyo (taken from Spanish term Cigarillo) becomes Yosi (last and first syllable, middle syllables omitted). Katulong (Domestic helper) becomes Lóngkatuts (last syllable prefixed, other syllables moved along. t affixed as means of differentiating word from subsequent ones. s is added as stylistic feature. Also applicable to English words like Father and Mother, which become Erpats and Ermats.
Insert "fay" (Urdu language Alphabet corresponding to the sound of 'F' in English) in the middle of each syllable (usually before the vowel—splitting the syllable into two) in each word. In some monosyllabic words, "yay" (Urdu alphabet for 'Y') is added at after fay and in reverse before completing the rest of the half.
Spoken and understood widely in Karachi (Pakistan) and Native Urdu Speakers. Fay can be replaced by most other consonants to form another variety.
Insert "pay" and "noon" (Urdu language Alphabets corresponding to the sound of 'P' and 'N' respectively in English) in the middle of each syllable (usually before the vowel—splitting the syllable into two, ending first half into pay and starting the next with noon) in each word.
Not commonly known and very complex for even who know how it works, especially when spoken in fast speed, resulting in handy privacy.
Urdu
Zargari Urdu
Inspired from Persian Zargari, Urdu also has its own Zargari boli. One variation includes adding 'Zay' letter with sound 'Z' at the start of each word or substituting for first letter. This is also played with children to guess original words. and phrases.
Louchébem or loucherbem is Parisian and Lyonnaise butchers' slang, similar to Pig Latin and Verlan. It originated in the mid-19th century and was in common use until the 1950s.
Pig Latin is a language game, argot, or cant in which words in English are altered, usually by adding a fabricated suffix or by moving the onset or initial consonant or consonant cluster of a word to the end of the word and adding a vocalic syllable to create such a suffix. For example, Wikipedia would become Ikipediaway. The objective is often to conceal the words from others not familiar with the rules. The reference to Latin is a deliberate misnomer; Pig Latin is simply a form of argot or jargon unrelated to Latin, and the name is used for its English connotations as a strange and foreign-sounding language. It is most often used by young children as a fun way to confuse people unfamiliar with Pig Latin.
Ubbi dubbi is a language game spoken with the English language. Originating in America in the 17th century, it was popularized by the 1972–1978 PBS children's show Zoom. When Zoom was revived in 1999 on PBS, Ubbi dubbi was again a feature of the show. Variations of Ubbi Dubbi include Obbish, Ob, Ib, Arpy Darpy, and Iz.
Verlan is a type of argot in the French language, featuring inversion of syllables in a word, and is common in slang and youth language. It rests on a long French tradition of transposing syllables of individual words to create slang words. The word verlan itself is an example of verlan. It is derived from inverting the sounds of the syllables in l'envers. The first documented use of verlan dates back to the 19th century, among robbers.
Shelta is a language spoken by Mincéirí, particularly in Ireland and the United Kingdom. It is widely known as the Cant, to its native speakers in Ireland as de Gammon or Tarri, and to the linguistic community as Shelta. Other terms for it include the Seldru, and Shelta Thari, among others. The exact number of native speakers is hard to determine due to sociolinguistic issues but Ethnologue puts the number of speakers at 30,000 in the UK, 6,000 in Ireland, and 50,000 in the US. The figure for at least the UK is dated to 1990. It is not clear if the other figures are from the same source.
Rövarspråket is a Swedish language game. It became popular after the books about Bill Bergson by Astrid Lindgren, where the children use it as a code, both at play and in solving actual crimes.
A cant is the jargon or language of a group, often employed to exclude or mislead people outside the group. It may also be called a cryptolect, argot, pseudo-language, anti-language or secret language. Each term differs slightly in meaning; their uses are inconsistent. Richard Rorty defines cant by saying that "'Cant', in the sense in which Samuel Johnson exclaims, 'Clear your mind of cant,' means, in other words, something like that which 'people usually say without thinking, the standard thing to say, what one normally says'." In Heideggerian terms it is what "das Man" says.
Šatrovački or šatra is an argot within the Bosnian-Serbo-Croatian language. Šatrovački was initially developed by various subcultures and criminal groups in Yugoslavia, and became employed as a device of secret communication. Today, it is primarily used among youth as a form of pig Latin. It is more widespread in urban areas, such as capitals Belgrade (Serbia), Zagreb (Croatia) and Sarajevo.
Kobon is a language of Papua New Guinea. It has somewhere around 90–120 verbs.
Tutnese is a argot created by enslaved African Americans based on African-American Vernacular English as a method to covertly teach and learn spelling and reading.
In Abrahamic and European mythology, medieval literature and occultism, the language of the birds is postulated as a mystical, perfect divine language, Adamic language, Enochian, angelic language or a mythical or magical language used by birds to communicate with the initiated.
Língua dos Pês is a language game spoken in Brazil and Portugal with Portuguese. It is also known in other languages, such as Dutch, Afrikaans, and Estonian.
Javanais is a type of French slang where the extra syllable ⟨av⟩ is infixed inside a word after every consonant that is followed by a vowel, in order to render it incomprehensible. Some common examples are gros which becomes gravos ; bonjour, which becomes bavonjavour ; and pénible, becomes pavénaviblave. Paris becomes Pavaravis.
The farfallino alphabet is a language game used primarily in Italy, which can be regarded as an elementary form of substitution cipher. It is usually used by children for amusement or to converse in (perceived) privacy from adults. The name "farfallino" comes from the word "farfalla" (butterfly), which is an ordinary Italian word but sounds like the "codified" words in farfallino alphabet. The farfallino alphabet is similar to games found in other languages such as jeringonza (Spanish/Portuguese), langue de feu (French), Fay Kee Bolee (Urdu) and pig latin (English).
Jeringonza is a Spanish language game played by children in Spain and all over Hispanic America. It consists of adding the letter p after each vowel of a word, and repeating the vowel. For example, Carlos turns into Cápar-lopos.
Back slang is an English coded language in which the written word is spoken phonetically backwards.
The Majang language is spoken by the Majangir people of Ethiopia. Although it is a member of the Surmic language cluster, it is the most isolated one in the group. A language survey has shown that dialect variation from north to south is minor and does not seriously impede communication. The 2007 Ethiopian Census lists 6,433 speakers for Majang (Messengo), but also reports that the ethnic group consists of 32,822 individuals. According to the census, almost no speakers can be found in Mezhenger Zone of Gambela Region; a total of eleven speakers are listed for the zone, but almost 10,000 ethnic Mejenger or Messengo people.
Baiso or Bayso is an Afro-Asiatic, more specifically a Lowland East Cushitic language belonging to the Omo-Tana subgroup, and is spoken in Ethiopia, in the region around Lake Abaya.
Musom is an Austronesian language spoken in the single village of Musom in Labuta Rural LLG, Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea. The other name for Musom is Misatik, given by the older generations because this was the name of the village that the ancestors settled on. Musom is currently an endangered language due to the fact that native Musom speakers are continuing to marry other language speakers. Musom is also endangered because of its change in grammar and vocabulary due to its bi- and multilingualism. In the Musom village, other languages that Musom speakers may speak are Aribwuang and Duwet. In the Gwabadik village, because of intermarriages other languages that Musom speakers may speak are Nabak and Mesem.
References
↑ "loufoque". fr.m.wiktionary.org (in French). Retrieved November 2, 2023.
↑ Teshome Demisse and M. Lionel Bender. 1983. An argot of Addis Ababa unattached girls. Language in Society Volume 12.3: pp. 339-347.
↑ Lyle Campbell. 1980. The Psychological and Sociological Reality of Finnish Vowel Harmony. In Issues in Vowel Harmony, edited by Robert Vago, pp. 245-270. (Studies in Language Companion Series, 6.) John Benjamins.
↑ Nahon, Peter, 2018. Gascon et français chez les Israélites d'Aquitaines. Documents et Inventaire Lexical. Paris, Classiques Garnier, 314-316
↑ p. 169, Toni Borowsky & Peter Avery. 2009. Dhochi: A Dholuo Language Game. Australian Journal of Linguistics Vol. 29, No. 2, pp. 169-194.
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