Re: Pig Latin rules?

On Sat, Aug 14, 2004 at 03:27:31PM +0200, Philip Newton wrote:
> On Sat, 14 Aug 2004 15:13:37 +0200, Carsten Becker
> <naranoieati@...> wrote:
> > What are the rules of Pig Latin? I only remember you put the first
> > consonant to the end and add an "-ay", but this can't be everything, the
> > words then would all sound the same.
>
> That's pretty much it, as I understand it. And words starting in
> vowels add -way to the end.
Which results in the occasional ambiguity, which context usually
resolves.  e.g. "itchway" = "itch" sounds a lot like "ichwhay"= "which"
in PL dialects which don't distinguish /W/ from /w/.

Another favorite mangling algorithm is "insert syllable X before each
vowel sound".  I first encountered this on a kids' TV show called "Zoom"
in the 1970s, where they spoke something they called "Ubby-Dubby"
and the syllable in question was /Vb/.

        Subbo thubbis ubbis Ubbubbubby Dubbubbubby.
        /'sV.bo 'DV.bIs 'Vb.Iz 'Vb.Vb.Vb.bi dVb.Vb.Vb.bi/

Comedian Bill Cosby's routines include a character allegedy from his
childhood called "Dum Donald" who speaks a language very much like
Ubby-Dubby.  However, the vowel in the inserted syllable is variable,
being chosen to match the following one.  He also uses this
"Dum Donaldspeak" in his bit about being numb from the dentist:

        Seebee thibbis?  Thibbis ibbis myby bobbottobbom libbip!
        /'si.bi 'DI.bIs  'DI.bIs 'I.bIz 'maj.baj 'bO.bO,tO.b@m 'lI.bIp/

-Marcos