Teenage Life in America Series –Pig Latin

“Iyay avehay ayay ecretsay”

Do you know what the sentence mean? You may wonder whether it is English or not. Actually it is Pig Latin. It is a made-up language and it’s widely known and used by English-speaking people.

Pig Latin is a language game primarily used in English. The rules can be easily modified to apply to most any language. Pig Latin is usually used by children, who will often use it to converse in privacy from adults, or simply for amusement. It’s a really cool language and widely used by American teenagers.

If you still feel confused about it, let me help you take a closer look at it. There are different ways in which people speak Pig Latin. I only know a few ways. Here come the ways I have learned:

1．如果一个词是由一个辅音字母开始的，就把第一个辅音字母提到这个词的最后，然后在后面加上“ay”。如：
cat = atcay    dog = ogday

2．如果一个词开头有两个或多个辅音字母，就把这一组辅音字母提到词的后面，然后在词的最后加上“ay”。如：
scratch = atchscay    thick = ickthay

3．对于一个以一个元音字母开头的词，方法一是在词的结尾加上“yay”。如：
is = isyay       apple = appleyay
而方法二是在词的开头加上一个“y”，如果这个词以元音字母结尾，就再在词的结尾加“yay”。如果这个词的结尾是一个辅音字母就在词的最后加“ay”。如：
extra = yextrayay     answer = yansweray

Actually, there is no “standard” for Pig Latin, though the principle of moving the initial consonants of a word and adding “ay” is universal. Like most languages, there are many different forms, or “dialects” of Pig Latin. For teenage people in America, Pig Latin is very important. It’s symbolizing the period of time of American high school, which means, if you want to get in a high school student’s group, Pig Latin is one thing you ought to know.

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