Pig Latin: Fact or Fiction?

Pig Latin is not a real language. It is made up dialect used usually to be playful or secretive about something. It comes from an alteration of English words by adding a false suffix or by moving the onset or initial consonant cluster of a word to the end of the word and adding a vocalic syllable to create this suffix. 

It’s all in fun. And although talking Pig Latin is a good time, it could also serve as the key language in times of expressing secrets. Like a set of siblings with their own code to keep secrets from their parents. Or coworkers in the office. A set of siblings can use Pig Latin for fun and to communicate secrets to one another around parents. A coworker could create an exclusive way to communicate with other coworkers in Pig Latin when the boss is present. Some people begin to treat it like an actual language, an exclusive and members only type of way to communicate. It is, indeed. However, Pig Latin shouldn’t be confused as an actual language. It is not. 

If anything, Pig Latin is sort of like fun slang. It isn’t to be compared to actual English or Latin where words are particularly constructed for meaning. So, the game of Pig Latin allows you to be more creative with language.

How to talk Pig Latin?

Pig Latin has been around for 100s of years and is still popular. Pig Latin is a language game in which words in English are altered. The objective is to conceal the meaning of the words from others not familiar with the rules. The good news is the rules are not that hard. So let’s learn those simple rules and you can claim you have learned a new language!

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