Pig Latin first came about (for me anyways) when I was in 8th grade.
I was excited to learn a fun language that wasn't useful for anything.
Alas, when I finally got to 8th grade they had stopped teaching it,
determined to learn in spite of the schools lack of encouragement
for it. I wanted to be able to showcase my weirdness in preparation
for my life. (I had no idea at the time how much it would impact my
life). I have spent the time in between then and now perfecting the
art of speaking it fluently. I still get stuck sometimes b/c the trick
of speaking Pig Latin sucessfully (w/o stopping) is to think ahead. If you
know me at all you know how difficult that is for me. (I'm kind of
surprised that I am able to think it so clearly sometimes). Now that
you know a bit of my Pig Latin past we shall begin the actual steps
in breaking down Pig Latin and hopefull by the end of this lesson
you'll be able to impress your friends, family, church members (there's
a story there for me), and anyone else you care to amaze. I personall
love to step into an elevator and begin to speak in Pig Latin to see
what kind of reaction I may encounter. It'd be neat to one day find
someone that speaks it fluently as well! Okay here we go:
Lesson 1:
The first thing you need to know about Pig Latin is that there are no other
symbols or letters. It uses the English language alphabet so YAY! no new
letters to learn! Now you know that.
Lesson 2:
The next thing you need to know is that none of the words you'll be using
are spelled differently. For example: the word Laugh is still spelled Laugh
the letters are arranged differently - aughLay. As you can see it
keeps all the same letters they are just arranged differently.
Lesson 3:
Next on our agenda is learning how to rearrange the letters of a word to look
like Pig Latin. As you could see in the above example, it's not too
complicated. We shall use the word Drink for this one. All you have
to do is find the first vowel. In the word Drink the first vowel
is 'i'. This is the first letter of our new word. After you find the
first vowel, you add the constants you took off from the beginning of the
word and add them to the end. You will end up with this. Ex: inkDr
You may want to practice a few times before moving on. Try finding the vowel in
these words.
a. Health
b. House
c. World
Did you spell them this way?
a. ealthH
b. ouseH
c. orldW
If you did than you were correct! Now you're ready to move on!
Lesson 4:
Now we can finish up the word. The part that confuses people when you speak
Pig Latin is this part. You have your world spelled like this: inkDr
now you add on the ending part. In Pig Latin you always add the letters 'ay' at
the end of whatever word you are using. (Unless the word starts with a vowel,
but I will cover that in the next lesson). So with the word Drink
you will spell it like this: inkDray. Also remember to capitalize
the beginning letter only. It needs to stay capitalized even when you spell it
in Pig Latin so you can see where the word actually begins.You have now spelled
your first Pig Latin word! Congrats! Now try some of the words I've listed below!
a. Center
b. Food
c. Gate
d. Clock
If you spelled them like this then you're doing great!
a. enterCay
b. oodFay
c. ateGay
d. ockClay
Lesson 5: The Rules
Always All the words you could possibly use are compiled in just that fassion
with a couple of exceptions;
♠ Exception 1: If the word stars with a vowel like Atlas you must add only
'lay' at the end of the word. Example: Atlaslay. All vowel starting
words are handled in this fassion.
♠ Exception 2: Always pronounce the word just as you would in regular English.
Don't sound it out like it's written.
♠ Exception 3: When you have to say a compound word like Breakfast
You have to break the word up into two different words thus: eakBray astFay
♠ Exception 4: The letter 'Y' can be used as a vowel, so some
words may need to be stopped/started there.
Below I will demonstrate Pig Latin is use, see if you can follow along:
(if you want to this story in English, please go to my homepage and email me!)
Ilay asWay Inlay undaySay oolSchay Onelay orningMay Andlay eWay ereWay alkingTay
Aboutlay eThay anishSpay anguageLay. Ilay oldTay eThay assClay atThay Ilay ouldCay
otNay eakSpay anishSpay orFay eThay easonRay atThay Itlay asWay ooTay ardHay. Ilay
enThay Explainedlay Atlay Ilay ouldCay eakSpay igPay atinLay. heThay ereWay Alllay
ookingLay Atlay eMay Aslay Iflay ooTay aySay, "ellWay et'sLay earHay Itlay."
oSay Ilay aidSay, "anishSpay Islay aWay ooTay ardHay orFay eMay ooTay eakSpay."
Aslay Ilay ookedLay Aroundlay eThay oomRay Ilay awSay eThay ooksLay Oflay upriseDay
Onlay Everylay One'slay aceFay. Ilay enThay aughedLay Andlay eganBay Explainlay hyWay
Ilay ouldCay eakSpay igPay atlinLay. Everylay Onelay oughtThay Ilay asWay unnyFay, Andlay
eThay assClay ovedMay Onlay.
eThay Endlay.
