Gibberish (language game)

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Gibberish is a language game similar to Pig Latin which is played in the United States. Similar games are played in many other countries. The name Gibberish refers to the nonsensical sound of words spoken according to the rules of this game.

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[edit] In English

There are many variations of Gibberish in the English-speaking world. They use -itherg-, -elag-, -itug-,-uthaga- and -idig-, -atheg- (th in then and the two vowels are pronounced with a schwa) and -adeg-. The dialects are given different names. Another form of gibberish known as allibi is spoken using the insertion -allib-.

[edit] "-itheg-", "-idig-"

These three dialects of Gibberish are spoken by adding the infix -itheg-or -idig- to each syllable after the onset. Example:

  • dog → dithegog,didigog
  • cat → kithegat, kidigat

When the onset of the syllable contains more than one consonant, -itheg-or -idig- is added before the last of the consonants. Example:

  • creek → krithegeek, cridigeek
  • strong → strithegong, stridigong

When the syllable begins with a vowel, that vowel is used in place of the i in the infix, with the exception of the -theg- infix. Example:

  • all → athegall, adigall
  • eat → eithegeet, eedigeet

Words of more than one syllable are split up along syllable boundaries.

  • example → ethegexathegampithegle, edigxampidigle
  • flower → flithegowitheger, flidigowidiger

[edit] "-atheb-"

This dialect works in much the same way as the previous dialects, with two differences.

  1. When the onset of the syllable contains more than one consonant, those consonants stay together.
    • flower → flathebowatheber
    • creek → crathebeek
  2. When the syllable begins with a vowel, the atheb infix acts as a prefix, with no change to the initial "a", except for two-letter words that begin with "i"; then the initial "a" becomes "i".
    • all → atheball
    • eat → athebeet
    • if → ithebif
    • it → ithebit
  • up-- udagidup
  • at-- uthagat
  • is-- uthagis
  • I-- uthagi

[edit] "-(V)rV+g-"

Another paradigm involves infixing (V)rV+g following the onset of a monosyllabic word, or less usually after each onset or nucleus of polysyllabic words. In words consisting of a single diphthong, the Gibberish morpheme breaks up the syllable into a sequence of vowels plus a glide. The vowels of the Gibberish morpheme typically harmonize for quality with the vowel of the syllable nucleus, but can be reduced if unstressed according to English stress rules. The [ɡ] syllabifies into a new onset. Examples:

  • Eye → Eregye [ɑ.ɹə.ɡɑj]
  • Float → Florogoat [flɔ.ɹə.ɡoʊt ~ flɚə.ɡoʊt]
  • Street → Streregeet [stɹə.ɹi.ɡit ~ stɹɚə.ɡit]

[edit] Gibberish family

The term "gibberish" is used more generally to refer to all language games created by inserting a certain infix before the vowel in every syllable. For example, if the code infix were "ob", then "Hello, Thomas" would be translated as "Hobellobo, Thobomobas". While a relatively simple code, this can be difficult to understand when spoken swiftly and sounds merely like meaningless babble, which is how it received its name. While any syllables could be used as code syllables, some syllables are more commonly used. These include:

Another variation consists in the code syllable's not having a specific vowel, but repeating the vowel of the syllable in which it is being inserted. This variation is common in Switzerland, where the inserted syllable thus could be "@n@f", where @ denotes the original vowel, e.g. "Hallo, Chrige" would be translated into Hanafallonofo, Chrinifigenefe. Similarly, "Lalafa" replaces each occurrence of a vowel with "@ləf@." In Gibberish as spoken in the United Kingdom, the infix code syllable is often "@rag".

Combining (or double-encoding) forms of Gibberish, or by further encoding with other languages games such as Pig Latin and Tutnese can result in increasingly hard to decipher (and pronounce) words. For instance, combining Pig Latin, Hard Gibberish and Openglopish might result in a phrase idigopidigatthidigopidigay idigopidigoundsidigopidigay idigopidigikelidigopidigay idigopidigisthidigopidigay ('that sounds like this').

[edit] In other languages

Language games in the Gibberish family are not unique to English-speaking countries. Gibberish games in other languages include:

  • Sweden: Allspråket
  • Finnish: Konttikieli, Vedkieli
  • Germany: Löffelsprache – infix "@ləf"
  • Hungary: Madárnyelv ("bird's-language") – infix "@v" or "@rg"
  • Spanish (Latin America): Jerigonza – "@p*" (Hola mundo → Hopolapa mupundopo)
  • Portuguese: Língua do P/Língua dos PP/Língua dos Pês ("language of the Ps") – "p@" (Eu amo-te → pEu papmo-pte no Brasil; Epeupu Apamupu-tepe em Portugal)
  • Romanian: Păsărească ("bird talk") – "@p*" (Bună ziua! → Bupunăpă zipiuapa!)

[edit] See also