Games - Pig Latin

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Pig Latin is a language game primarily used in English. The rules of Pig Latin can be modified to apply to almost any language. An alternative British name for Pig Latin is backslang (not to be confused with the backslang used by the criminals of 19th century London, which was based on turning words backwards). Pig Latin is usually used by children, who will often use it to converse in (perceived) privacy from adults, or simply for amusement, although sometimes adults will use it around very young children to discuss topics they don't want the child to hear. The impact of Pig Latin on the English language proper is minimal, although certain Pig Latin translations, most notably ixnay and amscray, have been incorporated into English slang. Pig Latin is also used by tourists in foreign countries where its inhabitants have an appreciation for the English language and one wishes that the general public are not privy to the conversation.

The rules are roughly:

#For words that begin with consonant sounds, move all the first consonant sounds to the end of the word and add "ay." Thus, ball becomes "all-bay"; button becomes "utton-bay"; star becomes "ar-stay"; three becomes "ee-thray"; question becomes "estion-quay"; cheese bacon becomes "eeschay aconbay". The word backslang itself becomes "ack-bay ang-slay". #For words that begin with vowel sounds, simply add a syllable ending in "ay" to the end of the word. Variation of this rule make for many of the "dialects" of Pig Latin. The various syllables that are added after vowel-initial words are "way", "yay", "hay", and just plain "ay". Thus, a becomes "a-way", "a-yay", "a-hay", or "a-ay", depending on the dialect. Similarly, honest becomes "honest-way" etc. because even though it begins with the consonant letter h, the word begins with a vowel sound.

A Pig Latin example text follows: :Isthay isway anway exampleway ofway Igpay Atinlay. Asway ouyay ancay eesay, itway isway illysay, utbay ortsay ofway unfay orfay ildrenchay. Which after translation, turns into: :This is an example of Pig Latin. As you can see, it is silly, but sort of fun for children.

The formula above, although it reflects a popular consensus of the varying definitions of Pig Latin used by different speakers, has been called "a common misconception", with the claim that the "correct" rule is to rearrange ONLY the first letter, no matter what the word, and add the -ay suffix. In some words this rule causes the word to sound wrong and/or be difficult to say, which is said to be one reason why the "misconception" came about in the first place. The other dialects were supposedly made to counter the difficulty of saying words rearranging the first letter only, and are now acceptable in common use; but "originally" Pig Latin consisted only of rearranging the first letter to the end, not syllable. No documented origin of Pig Latin accompanies the claim, nor is there much likelihood of a single "original" form ever having existed at all given that the game is a folk phenomenon likely to have been invented independently in multiple times and places. The lack of an authoritative body for defining Pig Latin in the manner of the Académie française makes any claim of what is or is not "correct" Pig Latin ultimately subjective. Thus, the historical basis and authority described for the single-letter variant may be best understood as part of the myth and mystique of the game.

Pig Latin appeared in an episode of The Three Stooges where there were three professors and their names were Professor Ixnay, Professor Onay, and Professor Amscray.

It is also "normal" in such a versatile language, that the hyphen is not used, e.g. "Isthay isway away ommoncay exampleway ofway yphenlesshay Igpay Atinlay." The capitalization rules also vary, so Michael Schumacher can be translated to any of these entries: Ichael-may Umacher-schay, Ichaelmay Umacherschay, ichael-May umacher-Schay, ichaelMay umacherSchay, Ichael-may Chumacher-say, Ichaelmay Chumachersay, ichael-May chumacher-Say, or ichaelMay chumacherSay. Interesting words include "Be", which becomes "eBay", if the last variation of Pig Latin is used and "God", which becomes "Odgay" with the first variation of Pig Latin. Also, if you translate Rx (meaning "receive" in computertechnics) to the first variation of Pig Latin, it will result in "X-ray". In the dating world, "nice guy" comes out as "ice-nay I-gay".

Although the principle of moving the initial consonants to the end of a word and adding "ay" is universal, there is no "standard" for Pig Latin, Like most languages, there are many different forms, or "dialects" of Pig Latin. These tend to be semi-geographical in usage, because Pig Latin is rarely used in mass media. Different language games often have their own names, but are sometimes referred to as "Pig Latin" as a general descriptive. The widest dialectical variation in Pig Latin is in the treatment of vowel-initial words, as described in rule 2. However, some dialects have an alternate version of rule 1: move only the first consonant to the end of the word, retaining any other consonants in the initial consonant cluster at the beginning of the word. Using this rule, street becomes "treet-say" and truck becomes "ruck-tay". Another alternation of this rule is to move the non-sonorant portion of the initial consonant cluster, leaving behind "l" or "r". Thus, street becomes "reet-stay" rather than "eet-stray" or "treet-say". The variations in rule 1 are relatively rare, while the variations in rule 2 are widespread.

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