Linguist Forum
Specializations => Phonetics and Phonology => Topic started by: szegedin on May 31, 2014, 07:48:01 PM
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[right thread?]
Hi all - question from a filmmaker for linguists: can anyone point me to nonsense language patterns in Korean, Japanese, or Chinese languages.
By that I mean a structured way of producing nonsense speech akin to the French 'verlan' English 'pig latin' or better yet Serbo-Croatian Šatrovački. The latter is (I believe incorrectly) listed in Wikipedia as being akin to pig latin whereby syllables are reversed. However the Šatrovački I know involves substituting every vowel for one of the same, as in:
Brate, neću da igram fudbal. (Bro, I don't want to play football.)
Briti, nići di igrim fidbil
If there is any such patterned, childish or slangish way of making nonsense speech in the above languages, I would be interested to know, as I don't know the technical term for this kind of thing.
thanks
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Phonologists are usually pretty interested in this stuff, though I've never seen it called anything more specific than "language games". I don't have any particular knowledge about Korean, Japanese, or Chinese, but there's a wikipedia page listing a few basic mechanics for each. It's a bit thin on details, but the names might help you get started. Let us know what you find!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language_game
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There are also the terms "argot" and "secret language" that are a bit more functional-- meant to obscure meaning from outsiders. Sometimes these involve similar game-like properties. You can find information if you search for those terms.
One famous example is Cockney Rhyming Slang.
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[right thread?]
However the Šatrovački I know involves substituting every vowel for one of the same, as in:
Brate, neću da igram fudbal. (Bro, I don't want to play football.)
Briti, nići di igrim fidbil
The Šatrovački I'm familiar with is the Wikipedia-type wherein syllables are switched around, resulting in the common Belgrade slang for marijuana being vutra instead of trava. The reason for the vowel switch is to avoid overlap with the existing word vatra meaning fire.