Estonian children have a mock language that is
an analog of Pig Latin. It's called the Bi language (bi-keel, pronounced [bii
keel]). It works by adding the syllable "bi" (always stressed,
pronounced short or long, depending on the word) to every word.
The first thing a child learns in the Bi
language is usually this sentence:
Sibina obiled lobill. (Sina oled loll.) – You are stupid.
That's usually enough for a (native Estonian)
child to gain intuitive understanding of the language – although I remember a
friend asking me to compile a dictionary of the Bi language for him, because he
was unable to figure it out on his own.
I didn't do that dictionary and I couldn't
explain the rules either. I just knew intuitively what was right and what
wasn't, just like I know how to say things in actual Estonian.
Only as a grown-up, I was gradually able to
come up with the algorithm of turning Estonian words into Bi language words.
Actually, there is only one rule:
"bi" is added after the stressed vowel. It becomes stressed and takes
the length of the vowel after which it has been inserted.
The simplest case is where the stressed vowel
is short, as is the case with the all the three words in the above example:
sina
[sina] (you) becomes sibina [sibina]
oled
[oled] (to be, 2nd Sg) becomes obiled
[obiled]
loll
[loll'] (stupid; fool, idiot) becomes lobill
[lobill']
When the stressed vowel is long, it becomes
short and "bii" is added.
kool
[kool'] (school) becomes kobiil [kobiil']
jäätis
[jäät'is] (ice cream) becomes jäbiitis
[jäbiit'is]
maa
(land) becomes mabii [mabii]
The 2nd and 3rd length (which is usually not
marked in writing) is preserved. Thus
kooli
[kool'i](II) (of school) becomes kobiili
[kobiil'i](II)
kooli
[kool'i](III) (to school) becomes kobiili
[kobiil'i](III)
The same applies to the one-open-syllable
words such as ma" which, when spoken alone, is actually pronounced
the same as maa. Thus
ma (I,
short form) becomes mabii [mabii]
ka
(too, also) becomes kabii [kabii]
etc.
Curiously, the Bi-language teaches us that the
Estonian language instinct holds only the first vowel in a diphthong for
stressed, even though the two vowels in a diphthong are in the same syllable.
Thus:
auto
[au-to] (car) becomes abiuto [a-biu-to]
teater
[tea-ter] (theatre) becomes tebiater
[te-bia-ter]
ei
[ei] (no) becomes ebii [e-bii]
naine
[nai-ne] (woman) becomes nabiine [na-bii-ne]
aiand
[ai-and] (market garden) becomes abiiand [a-bii-and]
The word duo
(duo), however, is pronouced not as a diphthong, but [duu-o], therefore it
becomes dubiio [du-bii-o].
(If there were a word duo pronounced as a diphthong [duo], it would become dubio [du-bio]; compare to auto > abiuto above.)
In most Estonian words, the stress is on the
first syllable, but in some words it's not.
debiilik [de-bii-lik] (retard, imbecile) becomes debibiilik
[de-bi-bii-lik]
Note the difference between
bioloog [bio-loog] (biologist) > bibioloog
[bi-bio-loog]
and
bioloogia [bio-loo-gja] (biology) > biolobiigia
[bio-lo-bii-gja]
Words that have two stresses, get two
"bi's" added:
veoauto [veo-au-to] (truck) becomes vebioabiuto
[ve-bio-a-biu-to]
laualamp [lau-a-lamp] (desk lamp) becomes labiualabimp
[la-biu-a-la-bimp]
võõrkeel [võõr-keel] (foreign language) becomes võbiirkebiil
[võ-biir-ke-biil]
However, a compound word that has only one
stressed syllable, doesn't:
poolsaar [pool-saar] (peninsula) becomes pobiilsaar
[po-biil-saar]
tainapea [tai-na-bea] (dunderhead, nitwit) becomes tabiinapea
[ta-bii-na-bea]
