Language game (linguistics)

A language game (also called secret language or ludling) is a system of manipulating spoken words to render them incomprehensible to the untrained ear. Language games are used primarily by groups attempting to conceal their conversations from others. Some common examples are Pig Latin, which is used all over the globe, the Gibberish family, prevalent in the United States and Sweden, and Verlan, spoken in France.

Related Topics:
Pig Latin - Gibberish - United States - Sweden - Verlan - France

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Each of these language games involves a usually simple standard transformation to speech, thus encoding it. The languages can be easily mentally encoded and decoded by a skilled speaker at the rate of normal speech, while those who either don't know the key or aren't practiced in rapid speech are left hearing nothing but gibberish.

Related Topics:
Encoding - Gibberish

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A common difficulty with language games is that they are usually passed down orally.

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While written translations can be made, they are often imperfect, and thus spelling can vary widely.

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Some factions argue that words in these spoken tongues should simply be written the way they are pronounced, while others insist that the purity of language demands that the transformation remain visible when the words are imparted to paper. Contrary to what proponents of either side may tell you, there is no one definitive written lexicon for language games, but it is rather a matter of dialect.

Related Topics:
Lexicon - Dialect

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