Pig Latin Definition

If you are trying to learn a second language – English is your first – Pig Latin is the perfect second language. No wonder it has a cult status among children and adults alike. And the most fun part about learning this new language is that its fun – essentially it’s not a language, its a language game or argot/cant (jargon). But wait for a language game?!! Yes and that’s why it’s fun to learn this “language” and what’s more, you get to learn a “second” language in the process. The Pig Latin meaning in itself is a deliberate misnomer – well at least the “Latin” part of it is. Several Pig Latin words like “ixnay” and “amscray” have found a place in regular English

History of Pig Latin

One of the first instances of the use of Pig Latin was in the 16th century by no other than Shakespeare. Back then, it was called dog Latin. The modern version of Pig Latin burst into the cultural scene in 1919 through a Columbia Records album containing a song “I-Yay Ove-Lay oo-yay eerie-day” by a singer named Arthur Fields.

The Three Stooges shorts made Pig Latin famous in the 1930s by famously using “ix-nay” and “am-scray”. Ixnaying and Ixnayed have been famously included as a present participle and simple past and past participle of the word “Ixnay”.

Other languages have a similar play on words. For example, French has the Loucherbem and Verlan, which are French slang, and are is quite similar to English pig Latin in terms of rules.

How to Speak Pig Latin?

To speak Pig Latin language is easy. It relies on the placements of consonant and vowel sounds of the regular English world. We will now see some Pig Latin rules that will essentially make you an expert in no time. And as with every other language, the use of it will be easier with experience. Ets-Lay Et-Gay Arted-Stay (Let’s get started).

Pig Latin Rules

For the words beginning with consonant sounds: If the words begin with consonant sounds, the letters before the initial vowel are placed at the end of the character sequence. Then, the suffix “ay” is added, as in the following examples:

“pig” = “igpay”
“latin” = “atinlay”
“me” = “emay”
“duck” = “uckday”

For the words beginning with multiple consonants forming single sound: When words begin with consonant clusters, the whole sound is added to the end when speaking or writing. Let’s look at some examples:

“stupid” = “upidstay”
“smile” = “ilesmay”
“string” = “ingstray”
“glove” = “oveglay”
“trash” = “ashtray”

What if words begin with vowels? For words beginning with vowel sounds, the vowel is left alone, and usually, the suffix ‘yay’ is added to the end. Others might add “way” or “hay” depending on the dialect used. Here are some examples:

“are” = “areyay” or “areay”
“eat” = “eatyay” or “eatay”
“omelet” = “omeletyay” or “omeletay”
“egg” = “eggyay” or “eggay”
“explain” = “explainyay”

A different structure for words beginning with a vowel: Sometime when words begin with vowels one might remove the starting vowel along with the first consonant(s). Let’s look at some examples:

“under” = “erunday”
“every” = “eryevay”
“another” = “otheranay”
“island” = “andislay”

The sentence structure remains the same as English: Rather than having to exchange the sounds and add a sound in the end, some sentences form the Pig Latin could be remembered. A few key phrases can be remembered and expressed without thinking. This will help speed up the process of communication considerably! Here are some examples:

“What’s up?” = “At’s-whay up-way? “
“How are you?” = “Ow-hay are-way ou-yay?”
“What are you doing later?” = “At-whay are-way ou-yay oing-day ater-lay? “
“We live in a city.” = “E-way ive-lay in-way a-way ity-cay. “
“I hope this is what you asked for.” = “I-way ope-hay is-thay is-way at-whay ou-yay asked-way or-fay.”

Pig Latin to English translation

Now that you know the rules of Pig Latin, the next thing to do is to use it. Find a friend who is interested as you are such that you can start practicing – a learner will tolerate your foibles during the sessions. What can be fun is one can act as a ” Pig Latin transltor ” and can essentially latin translation what the person is saying in Englsih during the practice sessions. This as our experience suggests help in quicker learning.

“Ank-Thay Ou-Yay Or-Fay Eading-Ray! Ope-Hay Ou-Yay Ave-Hay Eat-Gray Ime-Tay Earning-Leay”

Being a good translator isn’t just about having the qualification to translate or the knowledge of being acquainted with 2 or more languages. If you are experienced, you would realize that the work doesn’t involve just decrypting information, but also some amount of skill and ability to understand the context. The wall of text or audio given to you will look intimidating until you break the process and look into the intricacies. Yes, it is a very challenging job and requires you to be talented, creative and patient. The power of knowing too many languages is a pretty sassy attribute to have.

As translators, you need to permanently develop innate skills to keep growing as and when the translation industry sees a change. You need to have the ability to stay connected with two or more languages and their cultures. To help you get there, we are listing out 6 important skills a translator should possess.

• Excellent native language command

In order to have the handiness to type continuously and be a good translator, one must have extensive knowledge over their native language. You must be able to speak; write and read your mother tongue. Your target audience are people who have years of experience in reading and speaking it, so command over the same is an absolute necessity. If you cannot reach the expertise of your readers, then getting your clients to be satisfied with your work would become a huge challenge. A translator who aspires to become efficient in what he/she does should always remember this as their thumb rule.

•  Cultural Difference expertise

Knowing about different countries and having a wide know how on the cultural variation is definitely a very big advantage if you want to become a good translator. You will be connected to the cultural beliefs and the do’s and don’ts of cultural variations. Even though your job requires you to just translate, if you know that a particular word would upset a cultural group or if it’s a misfit, you can definitely notify your client and avoid the usage. This will automatically get your client to believe in you and your flair. There have been many translational blunders made in the past that has affected a company or an individual’s cultural reputation. So, be aware and be acquainted with the culture of any language you are working on.

• Excellent second language command

A good translator doesn’t replace a word while translating it to another language. Sometimes machine translation does that and gets everyone in trouble. When you are manually translating a document, you must be affluent in both the source and target language. Source language is the language from which you are translating, and target language is to which you are converting. Meaning, if you are translating from Spanish to English, Spanish would be the source and English would be the target language. If you are fluent in both languages, it would be a cake walk. If you are only ‘almost’ talented in your second language, then you would only be able to translate from your second language to your native. You can’t promise to translate to any other language because you would always end up having doubts.

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• Avid researching and learning skills

Research, Explore, Study and Implement!

If you are just starting off in the translation industry, the foremost thing you should do is to have your questions answered. And how would you do that? It can only be achieved by researching and getting down to the subject matter. You need to learn the local jargon, terminologies, words, concepts and more. You should be able to dig and absorb whatever you think may fit your needs. Learning is a process and we all learn every single day. There is so much out there about translation that you might not know. So, don’t hesitate to explore.

• Great Computer and Software familiarity

Well, don’t you think anyone who has a little knowledge can tell you about how important computer and typing skills are? To be able to be a good translator, you need to type and just type away. It works as a great advantage if you can type faster and learn the intricacies of a computer or the other tools associated with it. You should also give yourself the benefit of acquiring familiarity of the software you might use for translation. In simple words, it makes it easier for you in keeping up time.

• Importance on Observation and time management

Observe what you should deliver. Let’s say your client has looked up for same day translation service online and your work comes up. He goes through your reviews and likes your work accuracy.  But what if you don’t impress him to keep up with time? Every job is bound by time management. We keep learning about time management from our school days. From having to submit an assignment on time to having to finish a deadline, we all are stuck in the wheel of time. Likewise, a translator must be effectual with time. If you promise a deadline, make sure you are done. A lazy employee is never preferred.

You need to be productive and need to do that in the time allotted to you. If you think there could be a lot on your plate and that you are just starting out, it is absolutely okay to reject or deny projects that come your way. No matter how busy you get, the client’s projects have to be submitted before its deadline. This will definitely keep you in the good books of the clients. 

Diligently following all of these pointers and making sure you stay true to your efforts. We wish you a great translation future ahead!

We, at Vanan Translation, give you the opportunity to translate and make a living out of that. Looking for freelance translation work, contact us!