Language_games

Language game

Language game

Obfuscation of language for fun and secrecy


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).

List of common language games

More information Host Language, Name ...

Additionally, Auflinger described some types of speech disguise in some languages near the city of Madang in Papua New Guinea.[14]

See also


References

  1. "loufoque". fr.m.wiktionary.org (in French). Retrieved November 2, 2023.
  2. Teshome Demisse and M. Lionel Bender. 1983. An argot of Addis Ababa unattached girls. Language in Society Volume 12.3: pp. 339-347.
  3. P.367 of Marcel Cohen. 1939. Nouvelles Etudes d'Etiopien Meridional. Paris: Librairie Ancienne Honore Champion.
  4. p. 79, Kebbede Hordofa and Peter Unseth. 1986. "Bird Talk" in Oromo. Quaderni di Studi Etiopici 6-7:74-83
  5. Kiadó, Debreceni Egyetemi (2010). "On three-rb-language games in Arabic". Argumentum. 6: 76–90.
  6. "Uasi Language". uasilanguage.online.
  7. 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.
  8. Nahon, Peter, 2018. Gascon et français chez les Israélites d'Aquitaines. Documents et Inventaire Lexical. Paris, Classiques Garnier, 314-316
  9. p. 169, Toni Borowsky & Peter Avery. 2009. Dhochi: A Dholuo Language Game. Australian Journal of Linguistics Vol. 29, No. 2, pp. 169-194.
  10. 郭青萍 (1987年). "徽宗语". 殷都学刊 (in Chinese (China)) (3): 114–150. Retrieved 2022-05-31.
  11. Kebbede Hordofa and Peter Unseth. 1986. Bird Talk" in Oromo. Quaderni di Studi Etiopici 6-7:74-83
  12. Auflinger, Albert. 1949. Secret languages of small islands near Madang II. South Pacific 3.5: 113-119.

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