LINGUIST List 2.277

Friday, 7 June 1991

Disc: Tongue Twisters

Editor for this issue: <>

Directory

1. Projekt Matrace, Czech tongue twisters
2. "ELISE EMERSON MORSE-GAGNE", tongue-twisters
3. Effie Ananiadou, Greek Tongue Twisters
4. Ralf Thiede, German tongue twister{_

Here is another Czech tongue twister:
Nenaolejuje-li te Julie, naolejuju te ja.
(If Julia won't oil you, I'll do.)

But the all-time favourite in this language, notorious
for tongue-twisting, should be this one:
Strc prst skrz krk.
(Push your finger through the throat.)

Alexandr Rosen, Charles University, Praha

Thank-you to everyone who provided correct versions of the Oberammergau
verse--my favorite is the "the Russians are coming" variant! And I am
glad to find out from speakers of the language that it doesn't count as
a tongue-twister but presumably just as language play.
Two short ones in English--one fairly widely known, one my own, but I find
it impossible to say:
Unique New York
blue-black beetle
--Elise Morse-Gagne

A good Greek one is:

'aspri petra kseksaspri ki'ap'ton ilio kseksasproteri'

'white stone all white and from the sun even whiter'

The prefix kse- is used as a means to express degree.

Other ones involve very complicated oneword compounds, e.g.

'skoulikomirmigotripa'

'a hole for ants and worms'

This latter is a favourite among Greek schoolchildren, often preceded
with 'ftou' (literally "I spit"), but here taken not negatively but positively
as in 'ftou sou matakia mou' which is often said for babies.

Effie Ananiadou
Centre for Computational Linguistics, UMIST

In response to Shelly Harrison and to continue the ongoing silliness about
Hans' itinerary and exploits, here is the other stanza:

	Hans isst den Schweizerkaes mit dem Gebiss.
	Ob er'n aber ueber'n Oberkiefer kaut,
	Oder aber ueber'n Unterkiefer kaut,
	Oder aber ueberhaupt nicht kaut,
	Ist nicht gewiss.

	[Hans eats Swiss chease using his dentures.
	 Whether he chews it over the upper jaw
	 Or else over his lower jaw
	 Or even not at all
	 Is uncertain.]

Neither the first or the second stanza can be called a tongue twister, I
would say, but rather fall into the category of joyously context-free word
play. I don't know where the song first came up, though as a Westphalian
I am willing to suspect Bavaria as the country of origin. ;-)

 Ralf Thiede
 UNC Charlotte

 UNC Charlotte

[End Linguist List, Vol. 2, No. 0277]