How to Speak Pig Latin

It dawned on me recently that Pig Latin seems to be a lost art. When I was a kid in the 70s and 80s, while Pig Latin wasn't exactly in vogue, it was still fairly commonly known and used on occasion. Then I realized that real Latin, classical Latin, seems to be a lost art too! It seems that where Latin was taught at many high schools (including my own) in the 80s and before, it's not so widespread anymore. This could be due to the "shrinking" of the world via technology, and emphasis being placed on languages currently spoken in order to play into a global market rather than to learn languages for the sake of literature, erudition, and etymology.

There's no strong connection between classical Latin and Pig Latin, as far as I know, other than having "Latin" in the names, but one has to wonder if there is a connection between the two languages (if Pig Latin can even be called a language) declining in usage.

I used to say that in order to best appreciate Monty Python's silliness, one has to appreciate the serious first. Their humor often depends upon a certain knowledge of world history, literature, and culture or manners in general in order to have a giggle when they break the rules. You might recall that the Three Stooges, while not nearly so "sophisticated" as Monty Python, also made sport of violating manners, especially upon crashing high society functions. And recall that the Three Stooges made frequent use of Pig Latin.

Pig Latin doesn't depend upon knowing Latin in order to use it, but its mild subversiveness may have been to some extent undermined by a postmodern disintegration of absolutes and the increasing blurring of the distinction between the formal and the informal, especially in language. In other words, since Pig Latin drew its distinction for being a "slang language", it may have lost some of its appeal due to the widespread use of slang, and even the development of other slang languages such as Hip Hop jargon and the Urban Dictionary and its sources.

Philosophical conjecture aside, in this article you will learn the most basic way of speaking Pig Latin. There are, however, many variations.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• A working vocabulary

1. 
   Augustus (contrast with sow and piglet photo above)

   Words Beginning in Consonant Sounds - Move the Consonant Sound to the End
   
   This is the most basic rule. Move the consonant sound from the beginning of the word to the end.

2. Add -ay to the End of the Word
   
   So for instance, with the word "car", we've moved the "c" to the end (temporarily making "arc"), but then we add the suffix -ay, ending up with "arcay" as the Pig Latin for "car".
   
   Two Pig Latin "words" that are still commonly spoken even by people naive to Pig Latin are "ixnay" and "amscray". "Ixnay" is the Pig Latinization of the English word "nix", and "amscray" is likewise Pig Latin for "scram".
   
   Other examples of applying this rule: word = ordway, taxi = axitay, snake = nakesnay (note that the whole "sn" is moved, not just the "s", since the "sn" forms a single consonant sound).

3. Words Beginning in Vowel Sounds - Add -way
   
   Simply add the suffix -way (to the end of the word of course, that's where suffixes go). Some examples: ant = antway, elope = elopeway, ill = illway.

4. Teach Pig Latin To Your Friends
   
   A spoken language is really only effective if at least two people know it. So teach Pig Latin to your friends and then you can carry on in it without others knowing what you're saying (especially since Pig Latin is more esoteric now than it used to be, ironically resulting in its being more effective).

Tips & Warnings

• Please see "Resources" at the bottom of this page for translating words from English to Pig Latin and vice versa.
• Kids - don't count on your parents not being able to understand Pig Latin, since they're probably from my generation and may have used it themselves as kids.

Resources

• English to Pig Latin Translator
• Pig Latin to English Translator

[gahazeleyes]

on 6/12/2009 Interesting. "smile"

[veryirie]

on 9/21/2008 OODGAY IPSTAY! ANKTHAY OUYAY! :)

[amylaine]

on 5/25/2008 Fun, I remember trying to speak pig Latin with my sisters when we were kids. It was always a blast. 5 stars.