Farfallino Alphabet

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Farfallino Alphabet
(Alfabeto Farfallino or Afalfafabefetofo fafarfafallifinofo)
Spoken in: Italy
Region: N/A
Classification: Alfabeto Farfallino
Spoken with: Italian
See also: Language games

The farfallino alphabet is a language game used primarily in Italy. It is usually used by children for amusement or to converse in (perceived) privacy from adults.

Another very similar language game is played with the Urdu language in parts of Pakistan and India called "Fay Kee Bolee" or " the language of Fay" where "Fay" is the letter in the Urdu language that represents the "f" sound.

[edit] Rules and variations

The usual rules for changing standard Italian into Farfallino Alphabet are:

  1. For every single vowel sound in the word, add "f" and repeat the vowel. Examples:

The most common variation in Farfallino Alphabet is, when there are two consonants to put before the fa/fe etc one of the two consonants.

Similar to the Farfallino Alphabet in Fay Kee Bolee the f sound is added to consonant sounds in normal Urdu language words. It is used primarily by adults to converse in the presence of children in perceived privacy. Examples:

tum = tfum kya = kyfa kis = kfis

Here is an example:

Quefestofo èfe ufun efesefempiofo difi frafasefe ifin afalfafabefetofo fafarfafallifinofo. Nofon èfe fafacifilefe, afanchefe peferchèfe vafa defettofo ifil pifiùfu vefelofocefe pofossifibifilefe
Its translation in Italian is:
Questo è un esempio di frase in alfabeto farfallino. Non è facile, anche perchè va detto il più velocemente possibile
Which means, in English:
This is an example of phrase in Farfallino Alphabet. It is not easy, also because you should say it as fast as possible.

[edit] See also

Languages