How to Speak Pig Latin

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Last Updated: October 18, 2024 Fact Checked

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Pig Latin is a pseudo-language which is widely known and used by English-speaking people, especially when they want to disguise something they are saying from non-Pig Latin speakers. To speak Pig Latin, move the consonant cluster from the start of the word to the end of the word; when words begin on a vowel, simply add "-yay", "-way", or "-ay" to the end instead. These are the basic rules, and while they're pretty simple, it can take a bit of practice to get used to them. If a word starts with a vowel, say yay at the end. For example, out is "outyay." If a word has two letters that make one sound at the beginning, like "which," then you would take that sound and put it at the end, so "which" would become "ichway."^{[1]
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Things You Should Know

For words that begin with consonants, move the starting consonant to the end of the word and add "-ay." So "hello" become "ello-hay."
For words starting with a vowel, just add "yay," "way," or "ay" to the end of the word. So "ant" could become "ant-yay."
Practice with someone else and speak slowly while you're getting the hang of things. And most importantly, have fun!

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Sample Pig Latin Phrases

Sample Pig Latin Conversation

Part 1

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Learning the Rules

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1
Learn how to form words beginning with consonants. To form Pig Latin words from words beginning with a consonant (like hello) or a consonant cluster (like switch), simply move the consonant or consonant cluster from the start of the word to the end of the word. Then add the suffix "-ay" to the end of the word.^{[2]
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- Words beginning with consonants would change as follows: the word "hello" would become ello-hay, the word "duck" would become uck-day and the term "Pig Latin" would become ig-pay Atin-lay.
- Words beginning with consonant clusters would change as follows: the word "switch" would become itch-sway, the word "glove" would become ove-glay and the term "fruit smoothie" would become uit-fray oothie-smay.
2
Learn how to form words beginning with vowels. To form Pig Latin words from words beginning with vowels, all you need to do is add "-yay" (some Pig-Latin speakers may add "-way" or "-ay") to the end of the word. You don't need to change any letters around, just say the word as normal then add "-yay" to the end.^{[3]
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- For example: the word "it" becomes it-yay, the word "egg" becomes egg-yay and the word "ultimate" becomes ultimate-yay.
- This also holds true for the personal pronoun "I", which becomes I-yay.
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Learn how to form words containing the letter "Y". Words with the letter "Y" can be tricky, as whether you treat the letter "Y" as a consonant or a vowel changes depending on the letter's location in a word.
- If a word starts with the letter "Y" it is treated like a consonant and is moved to the end of the word, as usual. For example, the word "yellow" becomes ellow-yay.
- The normal rules apply if "Y" is the second letter in a two letter word, such as "my", which becomes y-may.
- However, if the letter "Y" comes at the end of a consonant cluster, like in the word "rhythm", it is treated like a vowel and does not move to the end of the word. For example, "rhythm" becomes ythm-rhay.
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Learn how to deal with compound words. Compound words work better in Pig Latin when they are split up, as it makes them less comprehensible to listeners.^{[4]
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- For example, the word "bedroom" becomes ed-bay oom-ray rather than "edroom-bay", which is more obvious.
- Another example is the word "toothbrush", which becomes ooth-tay ush-bray rather than "oothbrush-tay".

Part 2

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Practicing

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1
Find someone to practice with. Learning Pig Latin is no good if you have no one to speak it with. The whole point of the language is so that you can secretly converse with another person in a way no one else can understand. Plus learning the rules and practicing them together will make the whole experience much more fun!
- Learning Pig Latin with a friend will allow you to have all kinds of secret conversations. For example, you can invite them over to play video games after school without anyone else knowing, or comment on how disgusting your broccoli is without insulting your mother!
- Pig Latin can be tricky to get the hang of, so you'll have to practice a lot to get it perfect. Try speaking it whenever you and your friend are together, at lunch or after school. You can also write coded text messages and emails to each other in Pig Latin, for extra practice.
2
Be aware of the variations. If you find someone who can also speak Pig Latin, be aware that they might form their words a little differently to you. This is normal as there are a number of different Pig Latin variations. Some of the main ones are as follows:
- For words beginning with a vowel, some Pig Latin varieties add the word "yay" rather than "way" to the end of a word. For example, the word "ocean" would become ocean-yay rather than "ocean-way" and the word "inbox" would become inbox-yay rather than "inbox-way".
- Another variation is to add the letter "Y" to the beginning of a word that starts with a vowel, in addition to adding "yay" to the end. For example, the word "extra" would become yextra-yay and the word "orange" would become yorange-yay.
- Another variation entails adding the suffix "ay" rather than "way" to a word that begins with a vowel but ends in a consonant. For example, "after" would become after-ay rather than "after-way" and the word "olives" would become olives-ay rather than "olives -way".
- According to Wikipedia, just adding "ay" to a word beginning with a vowel is also acceptable. This variation clears up the confusion of added consonants (e.g. wondering if the speaker means "wit" or "it").
- You might want to speak one of these variants of Pig Latin instead of the variant taught in this article.
- Using æ instead of ay is a good idea. It makes it sound more like latin, and it makes the same sound as ay. However, the main drawback is that it is hard to type it and hard to write it.
3
Learn some handy phrases. Rather than having to mentally form the Pig Latin every time you want to say something, try learning a few key phrases off by heart that you can say and understand without thinking. This will speed up the communication process considerably! Here are some examples:^{[5]
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- 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?
- I love you. = I-way ove-lay ou-yay.
- I have a secret = I-way ave-hay a-way ecret-say.
- The guy next to me has toilet paper stuck to his shoe = E-thay uy-gay ext-nay o-tay e-may as-hay oilet-tay aper-pay uck-stay o-tay is-hay oe-shay.
- Can you speak Pig Latin? It's really not that hard. You should try it = An-cay ou-yay eak-spay Ig-pay Atin-lay? It's-way eally-ray ot-nay at-thay ard-hay. Ou-yay ould-shay y-tray it-way.
- Holy cow! My goldfish just exploded! = Oly-hay ow-cay! Y-may old-gay ish-fay ust-jay exploded-way!
- Hello! I am currently speaking in a psuedo-language known as Pig Latin. = Ello-hay! I-yay am-yay urrently-cay eaking-spay in-yay a-yay uedop-say anguage-kay own-knay as-yay Ig-pay Atin-lay.
Pig Latin can be difficult to understand, even if you know all the rules, so make sure to speak slowly and enunciate all your words correctly when speaking to another person. They'll be able to understand you better and it will save you the frustration of having to repeat yourself all the time!

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How do you translate Pig Latin?

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Work backwards using the rules of Pig Latin. Put the first letter or blended letter sound from the Pig Latin suffix back on the beginning of each word. For example, “ove-glay” would become “glove,” “oy-jay” would become “joy,” and “ou-yay” would become “you.”

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Where is Pig Latin spoken?

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Pig Latin isn’t a real language, so it has no region! You can Pig Latinize any language. However, the modern version of Pig Latin may have originated in America.

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Are there any Pig Latin to English translators?

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You can find a variety of translation programs online. For example, check out the one on LingoJam, which lets you enter text in either English or Pig Latin and get a translation at the push of a button.

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Tips

At first, speak slowly so you can correct yourself. As time goes on, you'll be able to pick up some speed.

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Pig Latin is a good way to vent without insulting anybody or letting them find out.

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Write the word in pig Latin before you speak it so you don't mess up.

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Tips from our Readers

The advice in this section is based on the lived experiences of wikiHow readers like you. If you have a helpful tip you’d like to share on wikiHow, please submit it in the field below.

Before trying to speak Pig Latin orally, practice writing it out. This will give you a better command of the language when you start speaking since you'll have more practice converting words on the fly.
Write down your most used words and practice them until they become second nature. For example, memorize your best friend's name in Pig Latin, or words like "yes," "no," "okay," etc.
Remember that a lot of people know Pig Latin, so be careful who you use it around when sharing secrets!

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Warnings

Other people may get offended if they can't understand what you're talking about, especially if you rub it in their face. Try not to be too obvious about speaking Pig Latin and don't use it to intentionally exclude someone, as that's just mean.

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