Main Findings

Tongue twisters are usually meaningless and comprised of nonsensical language; however, they serve the important role of acting as a linguistic exercise. Tongue twisters often rhyme, and the repetitive sounds are usually the ones that present pronunciation barriers within that language. For example, many individuals have difficulty rolling their tongues. We found that Russian, Slovak, Czech, German and Spanish languages use tongue twisters to help speakers practice tongue rolling. Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Czech, and Chinese languages also use tongue twisters to practice clearly enunciating words beginning with “sh” followed by “s,” as seen in “Sally sells sea shells…” Interestingly, some informants noted that they had a different name for tongue twisters. In Germany, for example, tongue twisters are called “tongue breakers.” Likewise, we found that some countries used specific terms to describe pronunciation abnormalities. For instance, Czech and Russian languages use the term “ráčkovat” to describe the speech of those who cannot roll their tongues.

As for the tongue twisters themselves, we found that the informants knew around two or three immediately, yet they struggled to come up with more. This result suggests 1) that each interviewed culture has several prevalent tongue twisters and 2) that these prevalent tongue twisters represent each language’s most difficult sounds and/or sequences of sounds.

Presentation Link

Collectors:

Katie Harris
Caroline Atwood
Ashley Martinez
Brent Jacobellis
Dillon Corwin
Jack Schmidt
Jason Ceto
Karam Sandhu
Logan Adams
Ryan Spence
Shae Wolfe
Summer Christensen

Items:

Title: Slovakian Tongue Twisters

General Information about the Item:

Oral Tradition: tongue twister
Language: Slovak
Country of Origin: Slovakia
Informant: Matúš Petrovsky
Date Collected: October 11, 2018

Informant Data:

Matúš Petrovsky was born on April 12, 1997, in Slovakia. He traveled to the United States for one year during high school, where he later returned to complete his secondary education at Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH. Matúš is an Economics major, a member of the Men’s Rowing Team, a UGA in School House, and a brother of Beta Alpha Omega. He aspires to work in finance after graduation in June 2019.

Contextual Data:

Social context: I spoke with Matúš on October 11, 2018, in a Dartmouth residential hall lounge. Another friend, Simpson Tanner ’19, was also with us. Matúš said he first heard tongue twisters in elementary school. When he and his friends grew bored, Matúš said they shared tongue twisters. In addition, his teachers introduced tongue twisters “as an entertaining side note to our curriculum.”
Cultural context: In Slovakia, it is common for kids to visit a specialist to learn how to pronounce the letter “ŕ,” a sound that requires rolling the tongue. For example, Matúš visited a specialist to receive help with rolling his tongue, and the specialist gave Matúš “ŕ” tongue twisters to practice his pronunciation. According to Matúš, “it sounds pretty funny” when people cannot properly pronounce the “ŕ” sound, and Slovakians have a special word to describe this type of speech (“ráčkovat”). Apart from the letter “ŕ,” some people have trouble pronouncing multiple consonants in a row, as seen in the tongue twister “Strč prst skrz krk.”

Item: Video (start at 0s)

Transcriptions/Translations:

The following tongue twister was both written down in Slovakian and then translated into English by Matúš Petrovsky. To my knowledge, these transcriptions and translations are taken verbatim from the tongue twister spoken in the recording.

Slovakian transcription: “Strč prst skrz krk”
English translation: “Stick your finger through your throat”

Collector’s Comments:

The Slovakian tongue twisters are nonsensical and primarily serve to teach children how to pronounce certain sounds. It is interesting how Slovakians have a special word to describe the speech of people who cannot roll their tongues to pronounce the “ŕ” sound. Matúš had a friend with “ráčkovat” speech, and he liked to make his friend repeat, “Roger Federer is eating a Ferrero Rocher” to practice. (Ferrero Rocher is a type of chocolate.) It is also interesting to note how other languages, like Spanish, Czech and German, require tongue rolling.

Collector’s Name: Katie Harris

Tags/Keywords:

Slovak*
Tongue twister

Title: Slovakian Tongue Twisters

General Information about the Item:

Oral Tradition: tongue twister
Language: Slovak
Country of Origin: Slovakia
Informant: Matúš Petrovsky
Date Collected: October 11, 2018

Informant Data:

Matúš Petrovsky was born on April 12, 1997, in Slovakia. He traveled to the United States for one year during high school, where he later returned to complete his secondary education at Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH. Matúš is an Economics major, a member of the Men’s Rowing Team, a UGA in School House, and a brother of Beta Alpha Omega. He aspires to work in finance after graduation in June 2019.

Contextual Data:

Social context: I spoke with Matúš on October 11, 2018, in a Dartmouth residential hall lounge. Another friend, Simpson Tanner ’19, was also with us. Matúš said he first heard tongue twisters in elementary school. When he and his friends grew bored, Matúš said they shared tongue twisters. In addition, his teachers introduced tongue twisters “as an entertaining side note to our curriculum.”
Cultural context: In addition to “ŕ” being a difficult sound to pronounce, many Slovakians also have trouble saying words that begin with “pšt.” While the individual letters are not difficult to pronounce, the combination of these letters is a mouthful, as demonstrated in the following video clip.

Item: Video (start at 52s)

Transcriptions/Translations:

This tongue twister was both written down in Slovakian and then translated into English by Matúš Petrovsky. To my knowledge, these transcriptions and translations are taken verbatim from the tongue twister spoken in the recording.

Slovakian transcription: “Pštros s pštrosicou šli s pštrosíčaťom na pštrosiu prechádzku”
English translation: “A male ostrich went with his female ostrich and their baby ostrich on an ostrich walk.”

Collector’s Comments:

Of the four tongue twisters given, Matúš had the greatest difficulty with this one.

Collector’s Name: Katie Harris

Tags/Keywords:

Slovak*
Tongue twister

Title: Slovakian Tongue Twisters

General Information about the Item:

Oral Tradition: tongue twister
Language: Slovak
Country of Origin: Slovakia
Informant: Matúš Petrovsky
Date Collected: October 11, 2018

Informant Data:

Matúš Petrovsky was born on April 12, 1997, in Slovakia. He traveled to the United States for one year during high school, where he later returned to complete his secondary education at Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH. Matúš is an Economics major, a member of the Men’s Rowing Team, a UGA in School House, and a brother of Beta Alpha Omega. He aspires to work in finance after graduation in June 2019.

Contextual Data:

Social context: I spoke with Matúš on October 11, 2018, in a Dartmouth residential hall lounge. Another friend, Simpson Tanner ’19, was also with us. Matúš said he first heard tongue twisters in elementary school. When he and his friends grew bored, Matúš said they shared tongue twisters. In addition, his teachers introduced tongue twisters “as an entertaining side note to our curriculum.”
Cultural context: In Slovakia, the letter “š” is pronounced with an “sh” sound, while “s” is pronounced like the English “s.” Therefore, the Slovakian “š” sound is analogous to the English “sh.” Many Slovakian and English tongue twisters alike take advantage of these similar sounds and combine them to form difficult tongue twisters.

Item: Video (start at 24s)

Transcriptions/Translations:

Slovakian transcription: “Šašo suší osušku”
English translation: “A clown is drying his towel”

Collector’s Comments:

This tongue twister reminds me of the English tongue twister, “Sally sells sea shells…” as both employ the use of “s” and “sh” sounds. It is also interesting to note that Russia and Serbia have similar tongue twisters that distinguish between “s” and “sh” sounds.

Collector’s Name: Katie Harris

Tags/Keywords:

Slovak*
Tongue twister

Title: Slovakian Tongue Twisters

General Information about the Item:

Oral Tradition: tongue twister
Language: Slovak
Country of Origin: Slovakia
Informant: Matúš Petrovsky
Date Collected: October 11, 2018

Informant Data:

Matúš Petrovsky was born on April 12, 1997, in Slovakia. He traveled to the United States for one year during high school, where he later returned to complete his secondary education at Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH. Matúš is an Economics major, a member of the Men’s Rowing Team, a UGA in School House, and a brother of Beta Alpha Omega. He aspires to work in finance after graduation in June 2019.

Contextual Data:

Social context: I spoke with Matúš on October 11, 2018, in a Dartmouth residential hall lounge. Another friend, Simpson Tanner ’19, was also with us. Matúš said he first heard tongue twisters in elementary school. When he and his friends grew bored, Matúš said they shared tongue twisters. In addition, his teachers introduced tongue twisters “as an entertaining side note to our curriculum.”
Cultural context: The Slovakian letters “š” and “p” are hard to pronounce in unison, which is why the following tongue twister can be difficult.

Item: Video (start at 32s)

Transcriptions/Translations:

Slovakian transcription: “V našej peci myši pištia, v našej peci psík spí”
English translation: “There are mice squealing in our fireplace and there is also a dog sleeping nearby our fireplace.”

Collector’s Comments:

I found it interesting that Matúš used rhythm to aid him in pronouncing this tongue twister.

Collector’s Name: Katie Harris

Tags/Keywords:

Slovak*
Tongue twister

Title: Czech Tongue Twisters

General Information about the Item:

Oral Tradition: tongue twister
Language: Czech
Country of Origin: Czech Republic
Informant: Sofie Blahova
Date Collected: October 30, 2018

Informant Data:

Sofie Blahova is a Dartmouth ’22 who was born in Prague and “raised in the mountains.” She went to gymnasium for secondary school, which is the most advanced type of Czech secondary schooling and is analogous to prestigious high schools in the United States. She first traveled to the US for rowing training camps during secondary school, and she later came back to join the women’s rowing team at Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH. Sofie aspires to major in Biomedical Engineering.

Contextual Data:

Social context: I spoke with Sofie on October 30, 2018, at a Starbucks table in Hanover, NH. Sofie first learned tongue twisters from her speech pathologist, and she also heard them at school from her peers and teachers.
Cultural context: In the Czech Republic, it is common for children to visit a speech pathologist to pronounce the letter “Ř,” a difficult sound that requires the tongue to buzz while simultaneously making a “sha” sound. The Czech language is the only language that uses this sound, which is why it can be especially difficult for non-native speakers to pronounce, let alone hear the distinction. According to Sofie, Czech and Slovakian languages are almost identical. For instance, Sofie could speak Czech and another person could speak Slovak and they would understand each other perfectly. However, Slovakians are notorious for not being able to pronounce the Czech “Ř” sound, and Czech people like to poke fun at Slovakians’ mispronunciation.

Item: Audio (start at 0s)

Transcriptions/Translations:

The following tongue twisters were both written down in Czech and then translated into English by Sofie Blahova. To my knowledge, these transcriptions and translations are taken verbatim from the tongue twisters spoken in the recording.

Czech transcription: “Třista třiatřicet stříbrných stříkaček stříkalo přes třista třiatřicet stříbrných střech”
English translation: “Three hundred and thirty-three silver syringes were squirting over three hundred and thirty-three silver roofs”

Collector’s Comments:

The Czech tongue twisters are illogical, just like the Slovakian tongue twisters. One interesting thing that Sofie shared is that while Slovak and Czech are almost identical, the two languages have several words that are entirely different. For example, blueberry in Czech is “borůvka” and in Slovakian, it is “čučoriedka.”.

Collector’s Name: Katie Harris

Tags/Keywords:

Czech
Tongue twister

Title: Czech Tongue Twisters

General Information about the Item:

Oral Tradition: tongue twister
Language: Czech
Country of Origin: Czech Republic
Informant: Sofie Blahova
Date Collected: October 30, 2018

Informant Data:

Sofie Blahova is a Dartmouth ’22 who was born in Prague and “raised in the mountains.” She went to gymnasium for secondary school, which is the most advanced type of Czech secondary schooling and is analogous to prestigious high schools in the United States. She first traveled to the US for rowing training camps during secondary school, and she later came back to join the women’s rowing team at Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH. Sofie aspires to major in Biomedical Engineering.

Contextual Data:

Social context: I spoke with Sofie on October 30, 2018, at a Starbucks table in Hanover, NH. Sofie first learned tongue twisters from her speech pathologist, and she also heard them at school from her peers and teachers.
Cultural context: In the Czech Republic, it is common for children to visit a speech pathologist to pronounce the letter “Ř,” a difficult sound that requires the tongue to buzz while simultaneously making a “sha” sound. The Czech language is the only language that uses this sound, which is why it can be especially difficult for non-native speakers to pronounce, let alone hear the distinction. According to Sofie, Czech and Slovakian languages are almost identical. For instance, Sofie could speak Czech and another person could speak Slovak and they would understand each other perfectly. However, Slovakians are notorious for not being able to pronounce the Czech “Ř” sound, and Czech people like to poke fun at Slovakians’ mispronunciation.

Item: Audio (start at 5s)

Transcriptions/Translations:

Czech transcription: “Byl jeden Řek a ten mi řek, abych mu řek, kolik je v Řecku řeckých řek a já mu řek, že nejsem Řek abych mu řek kolik je v Řecku řeckých řek”
English translation: “He was a Greek, and he tells me to tell him how many Greek rivers are in Greece, and I tell him that I am not Greek to tell him how many Greek rivers are in Greece”

Collector’s Comments:

This tongue twister was the longest given. Sofie shared that the Czech language is playful and that there are seven different forms of every noun. She gave an example of how she might refer to a Starbucks cup in Czech by using the words “skinny white cylinder.” According to Sofie, the playfulness of the Czech language can make it difficult to translate.

Collector’s Name: Katie Harris

Tags/Keywords:

Czech
Tongue twister

Title: Czech Tongue Twisters

General Information about the Item:

Oral Tradition: tongue twister
Language: Czech
Country of Origin: Czech Republic
Informant: Sofie Blahova
Date Collected: October 30, 2018

Informant Data:

Sofie Blahova is a Dartmouth ’22 who was born in Prague and “raised in the mountains.” She went to gymnasium for secondary school, which is the most advanced type of Czech secondary schooling and is analogous to prestigious high schools in the United States. She first traveled to the US for rowing training camps during secondary school, and she later came back to join the women’s rowing team at Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH. Sofie aspires to major in Biomedical Engineering.

Contextual Data:

Social context: I spoke with Sofie on October 30, 2018, at a Starbucks table in Hanover, NH. Sofie first learned tongue twisters from her speech pathologist, and she also heard them at school from her peers and teachers.
Cultural context: In the Czech Republic, it is common for children to visit a speech pathologist to pronounce the letter “Ř,” a difficult sound that requires the tongue to buzz while simultaneously making a “sha” sound. The Czech language is the only language that uses this sound, which is why it can be especially difficult for non-native speakers to pronounce, let alone hear the distinction. According to Sofie, Czech and Slovakian languages are almost identical. For instance, Sofie could speak Czech and another person could speak Slovak and they would understand each other perfectly. However, Slovakians are notorious for not being able to pronounce the Czech “Ř” sound, and Czech people like to poke fun at Slovakians’ mispronunciation.

Item: Audio (start at 14s)

Transcriptions/Translations:

Czech transcription: “Měla babka v kapse brabce, brabec babce v kapse píp. Zmáčkla babka brabce v kapse, brabec babce v kapse chcíp”
English translation: “Grandma had a sparrow in her pocket and the sparrow made a sound. Grandma squished the sparrow and it died.”

Collector’s Comments:

Sofie laughed while translating this tongue twister and commented on how it contained rather dark humor.

Collector’s Name: Katie Harris

Tags/Keywords:

Czech
Tongue twister

Title: Czech Tongue Twisters

General Information about the Item:

Oral Tradition: tongue twister
Language: Czech
Country of Origin: Czech Republic
Informant: Sofie Blahova
Date Collected: October 30, 2018

Informant Data:

Sofie Blahova is a Dartmouth ’22 who was born in Prague and “raised in the mountains.” She went to gymnasium for secondary school, which is the most advanced type of Czech secondary schooling and is analogous to prestigious high schools in the United States. She first traveled to the US for rowing training camps during secondary school, and she later came back to join the women’s rowing team at Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH. Sofie aspires to major in Biomedical Engineering.

Contextual Data:

Social context: I spoke with Sofie on October 30, 2018, at a Starbucks table in Hanover, NH. Sofie first learned tongue twisters from her speech pathologist, and she also heard them at school from her peers and teachers.
Cultural context: In the Czech Republic, it is common for children to visit a speech pathologist to pronounce the letter “Ř,” a difficult sound that requires the tongue to buzz while simultaneously making a “sha” sound. The Czech language is the only language that uses this sound, which is why it can be especially difficult for non-native speakers to pronounce, let alone hear the distinction. According to Sofie, Czech and Slovakian languages are almost identical. For instance, Sofie could speak Czech and another person could speak Slovak and they would understand each other perfectly. However, Slovakians are notorious for not being able to pronounce the Czech “Ř” sound, and Czech people like to poke fun at Slovakians’ mispronunciation.

Item: Audio (start at 22s)

Transcriptions/Translations:

Czech transcription: “Nejneobhospodařovávatenějšího”
English translation: To the least cultivable ones”

Collector’s Comments:

Interestingly, “Nejneobhospodařovávatenějšího” (the tongue twister mentioned above) is the longest word in the Czech language.

Collector’s Name: Katie Harris

Tags/Keywords:

Czech
Tongue twister

Title: German Tongue Twister (known as tongue breaker in German): Brautkleid bleibt Brautkleid und Blaukraut bleibt Blaukraut

General Information about the Item:

Oral tradition: tongue twister, known as tongue breaker in German
Language: German
Country of Origin: Berlin
Informant: Hendric Tronsson
Date Collected: October 29, 2018

Informant Data:

Hendric Tronsson and his family are from Berlin, Germany where Hendric grew up and spent most of his life. Now, Hendric is twenty one years old, goes to school at Dartmouth College, and is on the track and field team. Hendric is an engineering major and though he has been a very busy student, he has still enjoyed meeting a lot of different people. He is very interested in seeing the similarities and differences between many different cultures.

Contextual data:

In Germany, education is strongly encouraged and expected. The tongue twisters were used for educational purposes to help with pronunciation of difficult words and sounds, and served as a type of practice for children to master certain aspects of the language. In addition to their educational purpose, tongue twisters were also a form of entertainment. Hendric remembers school being particularly strict, rigid, and challenging, but that is where he learned the tongue twisters when they had breaks. Therefore, Hendric and his elementary school classmates would introduce tongue twisters to each other, and use them in order to create fun and challenging entertainment amongst themselves. Hendric also recalls his family being competitive which led to a desire to challenge himself as well as other students with difficult tongue twisters and felt a sense of accomplishment when someone could master one of them. Tongue twisters have been particularly fun for Hendric because he has met many students at Dartmouth that have wanted to learn German. These tongue twisters could be shared with students and help to teach non-native speakers difficult pronunciations while also connecting with the German-speaking students as well.

Item:

Orally transmitted tongue twister:

Brautkleid bleibt Brautkleid und Blaukraut bleibt Blaukraut

Translation:

A wedding dress will always be a wedding dress and blue cabbage will always be blue.

Collector’s Names: Shae Wolfe and Ashley Martinez

Tags/keywords:

German
Tongue twister
Tongue breaker

Title:

German Tongue Twister (tongue breaker in German): Fischers Fritze fischt frische Fische; Frische Fische fischt Fischers Fritze

General Information about the Item:

Oral tradition: tongue twister, known as tongue breaker in German
Language: German
Country of Origin: Rostock
Informant: Marie-Luise Kieseler
Date Collected: October 26, 2018

Informant Data:

Marie-Luise Kieseler and her family are from Rostock, Germany where she grew up and spent most of her life. Now, Marie is twenty seven years old, is a graduate student at Dartmouth College, and conducts Neuroscience research on facial perception and animal cognition. Marie loves to be outside, and she has enjoyed meeting a lot of different people from various backgrounds and ages at Dartmouth. She is interested in learning about unique cultural customs, so she was pleased to share information about her own culture.

Contextual data:

In Germany, Marie reflected on the seriousness of her childhood and the pertinence of a solid educational background. The tongue twisters are used for educational purposes to help with pronunciation of difficult words and sounds, and served as a type of practice for children to master certain aspects of the language. Therefore, she remembers her parents teaching her tongue twisters at a young age to solidify her pronunciation and diction, so that her speech was pristine. In addition to their educational purpose, tongue twisters were also a form of entertainment. Marie remembers learning tongue twisters from her relatives and then learning from and teaching her friends at school. It was a way for her to bond with the other students, make new friends, and even impress other boys, because they were also used as a determining factor for who was the most impressive. It became a friendly competition of who could pronounce the most difficult tongue twisters. To this day, she loves tongue twisters, and as she has learned english, she has enjoyed mastering english tongue twisters as well.

Item:

Orally transmitted tongue twister:

Fischers Fritze fischt frische Fische; Frische Fische fischt Fischers Fritze.

Translation:

Fritz, the fisherman’s son, fishes for fresh fish; For fresh fish fishes Fritz, the fisherman’s son

Collector’s Names: Shae Wolfe and Ashley Martinez

Tags/keywords:

German
Tongue twister
Tongue breaker

Russian Tongue Twisters (Link To All 5 Audio Recordings Russian Tongue Twisters)

Title: Shla Sasha

General Information about item:

Material and Verbal: Tongue Twister
Language: Russian
Country of Origin: Russia
Informant: Valentina Apresjan
Date Collected: 10/2/2018

Informant Data:

Valentina Apresjan hails from Moscow, Russia and came to the United States when she was 21 years old. She received her undergraduate degree in philology from Moscow State University before receiving her PH.D. in linguistics from the University of Southern California. The mother of four has been a professor at Dartmouth College in the Russian Department since 2010.

Contextual Data:

Social Context:

This tongue twister was collected during an office hours session with Professor Apresjan. She stated that this tongue twister is commonly heard in elementary schools, as she herself first heard the tongue twister from a care taker at either three or four years of age. The tongue twister attempts to teach children how to differentiate the sounds of “S” and “Sh” which can be difficult for younger speakers due to the fact that the sounds are pronounced very close together in the mouth. In the event that a child was having difficulty pronouncing these sounds, a teacher, care taker, or parent could teach the child the tongue twister to demonstrate how pronounce the two distinct sounds. Thus, the most common social contents for the tongue twister to be heard are the classroom or in the home.

Cultural Context:

This tongue twister is one of the most well-known throughout all of Russian, and it is not by any means region-specific. Although Professor Apresjan heard this tongue twister in Moscow, she confidently indicted that it could be heard across the entire country. With this in mind, one can expect to be able to hear this tongue twister in any elementary school or household from St Petersburg to Volgograd.

Transcript:

Shla Sasha po shosse

I sosala sushku

Translation:

Went Sasha along the road

And sucked sushka

Informant’s Comments:

Professor Aspresjan also noted that this tongue twister may be used in a competition amongst children to see who could pronounce it the quickest.

Collector’s Comments:

I personally found this tongue twister to be especially interesting because it reminded me of an English tongue twister that teaches nearly identical sounds to the one in Shla Sasha. The tongue twister goes as such “Sally sells sea shells by the sea shore.” As with Shla Sasha, the tongue twister with Sally involves the sounds associated with an “S” sound and a “Sh” sound. These sounds are formed close together and present many of the same difficulties for English speakers as Shla Sasha does for Russian speakers, a cross-cultural connection which I found to be very captivating.

Audio Link: Shla Sasha

Collector’s Name: Brent Jacobellis

Tags/Keywords: Dartmouth. Tongue Twisters. Verbal Lore.

Title: Na Gore Ararat

General Information about item:

Material and Verbal: Tongue Twister
Language: Russian
Country of Origin: Russia
Informant: Valentina Apresjan
Date Collected: 10/2/2018

Informant Data:

Valentina Apresjan hails from Moscow, Russia and came to the United States when she was 21 years old. She received her undergraduate degree in philology from Moscow State University before receiving her PH.D. in linguistics from the University of Southern California. The mother of four has been a professor at Dartmouth College in the Russian Department since 2010.

Contextual Data:

Social Context:

This tongue twister was collected during an office hours session with Professor Apresjan. She stated that she first heard this tongue twister while she was teaching Russian to foreigners. The tongue twister has an educational benefit as it teaches Russian speakers how to roll their “Rs”, something even native speakers may struggle with. With this said, there are several social settings one may hear this tongue twister: elementary schools (to help children roll their “Rs”), households (parents teaching children to roll their “Rs”), or in language classes designed for non-native speakers. Professor Apresjan also noted that the tongue twister is not particularly difficult to pronounce, as its distinct sounds are formed farther apart in the mouth than other tongue twisters. Thus, its primary focus is the rolling of the “Rs”. In the event that a child is having difficulty rolling their “Rs” one may expect to hear this tongue twister being used as an educational tool.

Cultural Context:

Similar to Shla Sasha, this tongue twister is one of the more popular ones in Russia and does not belong to any region in particular. Since it is taught primarily to young children (as well as new speakers), one can expect that the tongue twister is well known amongst the majority of native Russian speakers.

Transcript:

Na gore Ararat

Rastijot krupnvi vinograd

Translation:

On Mount Ararat

Grows large grapes

Informant’s Comments:

Professor Aspresjan also noted that this is a tongue twister she used when she was taught Russian to foreigners to help them learn how to pronounce the distinct sounds.

Collector’s Comments:

I found this tongue twister to be interesting, as the rolling of “Rs” is a phonetic skill that also appears in Spanish, a language in which I have studied in depth. Although I have spoken Spanish for a number of years, I still struggle with this skill, which proves it is not easy to roll “Rs” regardless of the language.

Audio Link: Na Gore Ararat

Collector’s Name: Brent Jacobellis

Tags/Keywords: Dartmouth. Tongue Twisters. Verbal Lore.

Title: Lit Kolokol Ne Po-Kolokolovski

General Information about item:

Material and Verbal: Tongue Twister
Language: Russian
Country of Origin: Russia
Informant: Valentina Apresjan
Date Collected: 10/2/2018

Informant Data:

Valentina Apresjan hails from Moscow, Russia and came to the United States when she was 21 years old. She received her undergraduate degree in philology from Moscow State University before receiving her PH.D. in linguistics from the University of Southern California. The mother of four has been a professor at Dartmouth College in the Russian Department since 2010.

Contextual Data:

Social Context:

This tongue twister is unique in the sense that it is not used for educational purposes like many others. The tongue twister is incredibly difficult to pronounce due to the complicated morphologic patterns that consistently build on the given verbs, and it is by no means meant for children. An additional difficulty with the tongue twister arises from the fact that it is essentially comprised of nonsense words, as they simply words that do not exist in the Russian language. Two of the most common social situations to hear this tongue twister are at competitions or a conversation between two adults in which the tongue twister is presented as a challenge to see who can pronounce it the best.

Cultural Context:

As it is primarily heard in competitive settings across the nation, the exact region of this tongue twister is not clear. Professor Apresjan noted that she heard first heard the tongue twister in Moscow when she was an adult, which indicates that it is more so prevalent amongst an older demographic of Russians, as it is far too advanced for the vast majority of children to pronounce.

Transcript:

Lit kolokol ne po-kolokolovski

Shit kolpak ne po-kolpakovski

Nado kolokol perekolokolovat’-perevykolokolovat’

Nado kolpak perekolpakovat’- perevykolpakovat’

Translations:

English Gloss:

Cast bell not bell-like

Sewn cap not cap-like

Necessary bell re-belled, re-re-belled

Necessary cap re-capped, re-re-capped

English Translation:

The bell was not cast properly

The cap was not sewn properly

You need to recast the bell

You need to re-sew the cap

Informant’s Comments:

Professor Aspresjan noted that many adults themselves have difficulty pronouncing this tongue twister themselves; simply put, she states that the tongue twister is “absurd.”

Collector’s Comments:

Although I am not a Russian speaker, it is not difficult to recognize the complicated nature of the tongue twister, as it clearly appears far more sophisticated than some of the previously archived ones which were often used in educational settings.

Audio Link: Lit Kolokol Ne Po-Kolokolovski:

Collector’s Name: Brent Jacobellis

Tags/Keywords: Dartmouth. Tongue Twisters. Verbal Lore.

Title: Karl u Klary

General Information about item:

Material and Verbal: Tongue Twister
Language: Russian
Country of Origin: Russia
Informant: Alfia Rakova
Date Collected: 10/8/2018

Informant Data:

Alfia Rakova was born in Kazan, the capital of the Republic of Tatarstan. She received her PH.D. from Kazan University before coming to the United States in 1991 when she was invited by the American Council of Teachers of Russia to teach advanced Russian courses. Rakova has been a Dartmouth professor in the Russian Department for eleven years.

Contextual Data:

Social Context:

This tongue twister is one that is most commonly used in educational settings in order to help young children understand the differences between the sounds of “L” and “LR.” In addition, this tongue twister may be used for fun or entertainment in the household between parents and children. Professor Rakova noted that around the second grade is a popular time for the use of this tongue twister as it also assists students learn how to contort their facial muscles when pronouncing the aforementioned phonetic sounds. Above all, this tongue twister is youth oriented and popular in elementary schools.

Cultural Context:

When asked, Professor Rakova noted that this is one of the more universal tongue twisters in all of Russian, and it is by no means region-specific. In many regards, this is a standard Russian tongue twister known throughout the nation.

Transcript:

Karl u Klary ukral korally

A Klara u Karl ukrala klarnet

Translation:

Carl from Clara stole corals

And Clara from Carl stole clarinet

Informant’s Comments:

Professor Rakova noted that she teaches this tongue twister (as well as “Shla Sasha”) to the students in her Russian classes her at Dartmouth.

Collector’s Comments:

From an English perspective, it seems very evident that this Russian tongue twister focuses on the sounds of “LR” and “L,” and it comes as no surprise that the main environment in which the tongue twister can be heard is primarily in schools, where young children struggle to pronounce complex sounds.

Audio Link: Karl u Klary

Collector’s Name: Brent Jacobellis

Tags/Keywords: Dartmouth. Tongue Twisters. Verbal Lore.

Title: Byk Tupogub

General Information about item:

Material and Verbal: Tongue Twister
Language: Russian
Country of Origin: Russia
Informant: Alfia Rakova
Date Collected: 10/8/2018

Informant Data:

Alfia Rakova was born in Kazan, the capital of the Republic of Tatarstan. She received her PH.D. from Kazan University before coming to the United States in 1991 when she was invited by the American Council of Teachers of Russia to teach advanced Russian courses. Rakova has been a Dartmouth professor in the Russian Department for eleven years.

Contextual Data:

Social Context:

Unlike most other of the aforementioned tongue twisters, “Byk Tupogup” is one that is popular amongst children and adults alike. The tongue twister can be heard in schools as children learn the differences between the “B” and “P” sounds. In this context it is an educational tool like many of the earlier tongue twisters. In addition, the tongue twister can also be used in a competitive context amongst adults, as Professor Rakova noted that it is not uncommon to hear the tongue twister during a night of drinking, as drunk men compete to see who can overcome their slurred speech and best pronounce the challenging tongue twister.

Cultural Context:

Once again, this tongue twister is not region-specific, and it seems as though it is popular throughout Russia. As a result, it is fair to say that there is little cultural context for this tongue twister.

Transcript:

Byk tupogub

U byka bela guba

Byla tupa

English Gloss:

Ox blunt-lipped

To ox white lip

Was blunt

English Translation:

Ox has blunt lip

It’s white lip

Was blunt

Informant’s Comments:

Professor Rakova was very straightforward in noting that the tongue twister is definitely one that is “silly” and “doesn’t make any sense at all.”

Collector’s Comments:

This tongue twister, while lacking a definitive English translation, clearly centers on the “B” and “P” sounds. Essentially, the tongue twister stands as another example of the theme of absurdity in tongue twisters, as their focus is on pronunciation and not meaning.

Audio Link: Byk Tupogub

Collector’s Name: Brent Jacobellis

Tags/Keywords: Dartmouth. Tongue Twisters. Verbal Lore.

Title: Indian Tongue Twisters

General Information about the Item:

Oral Tradition: Tongue Twister
Language: Telugu
Country of Origin: India
Informant: Sai Davuluri
Date Collected: October 15, 2018
Collected By: Logan Adams and Jack Schmidt

Informant Data:

Sai Davuluri was born on March 29, 1999 in New York City, New York. He lived the first two years of his life in Andhra Pradesh, but then moved back to the United States and lived in New York and Florida for a short time before moving to California. After moving back to the United States, he still would return to Andhra Pradesh every other summer. Sai is a sophomore at Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH. Sai is an Economics major and a member of the Dartmouth Varsity Baseball team.

Contextual Data:

Social Context: We spoke with Sai on October 15, 2018 in Berry Library at Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH. He said that he heard these tongue twisters from his grandmother when he would visit Andhra Pradesh in the summer. Sai’s grandmother would make him repeat the tongue twisters in order to better improve his pronunciation of tough sounds. Sai also has a brother that is two years younger than him and he taught him the same tongue twisters that his grandmother taught him.
Cultural Context: Many children learning to speak Telugu will visit a speech pathologist to help with their pronunciations, but since Sai was only in Andhra Pradesh every other summer, he never attended one. These speech pathologists help children mainly with the difficulty of pronouncing double letters. Sai said that these particular sounds “can get stuck in the back of your mouth” and the speech pathologists help make their pronunciations more clear.

Item: Sai #1

Transcription/Translation:

Telugu uses the Brahmi alphabet of ancient India, but Sai transcribed these tongue twisters into the Latin alphabet.

Transcription: Rendu yerra laarilu nalgu nalla laarilu.

Translation: Two red trucks two black trucks.

Collector’s Comments:

Consistent with all tongue twisters, this tongue twister makes no sense once it is translated into another language. Even in their own languages they are still nonsensical arrangements of difficult sounds. Sai had some trouble with this particular tongue twister and it took several recordings. He had trouble because it features several sets of double letters which, as mentioned before, tend to get stuck in the back of the mouth of the person saying them.

Tags/Keywords:

Indian
Telugu
Tongue Twister

Title: Indian Tongue Twisters

General Information about the Item:

Oral Tradition: Tongue Twister
Language: Telugu
Country of Origin: India
Informant: Sai Davuluri
Date Collected: October 15, 2018
Collected By: Logan Adams and Jack Schmidt

Informant Data:

Contextual Data:

Social Context: I spoke with Sai on October 15, 2018 in Berry Library at Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH. He said that he heard these tongue twisters from his grandmother when he would visit Andhra Pradesh in the summer. Sai’s grandmother would make him repeat the tongue twisters in order to better improve his pronunciation of tough sounds. Sai also has a brother that is two years younger than him and he taught his brother the same tongue twisters that his grandmother taught him.
Cultural Context: Many children learning to speak Telugu will visit a speech pathologist to help with their pronunciations, but since Sai was only in Andhra Pradesh every other summer, he never attended one. These speech pathologists help children mainly with the difficulty of pronouncing double letters. Sai said that these particular sounds “can get stuck in the back of your mouth” and the speech pathologists help make their pronunciations more clear.

Item: Sai #2

Transcription/Translation:

Telugu uses the Brahmi alphabet of ancient India, but Sai transcribed these tongue twisters into the Latin alphabet.

Transcription: Yerra lorry tella lorry.

Translation: Red truck white truck.

Collector’s Comments:

Sai said this particular tongue twister with ease. He said it slowly and only one time, but he said that it is most often recited as rapid as possible and repeated three times.

Tags/Keywords:

Indian
Telugu
Tongue Twister

Title: Indian Tongue Twisters

General Information about the Item:

Oral Tradition: Tongue Twister
Language: Telugu
Country of Origin: India
Informant: Sai Davuluri
Date Collected: October 15, 2018
Collected By: Logan Adams and Jack Schmidt

Informant Data:

Contextual Data:

Social Context: We spoke with Sai on October 15, 2018 in Berry Library at Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH. He said that he heard these tongue twisters from his grandmother when he would visit Andhra Pradesh in the summer. Sai’s grandmother would make him repeat the tongue twisters in order to better improve his pronunciation of tough sounds. Sai also has a brother that is two years younger than him and he taught his brother the same tongue twisters that his grandmother taught him.
Cultural Context: Many children learning to speak Telugu will visit a speech pathologist to help with their pronunciations, but since Sai was only in Andhra Pradesh every other summer, he never attended one. These speech pathologists help children mainly with the difficulty of pronouncing double letters. Sai said that these particular sounds “can get stuck in the back of your mouth” and the speech pathologists help make their pronunciations more clear.

Item: Sai #3

Transcription/ Translation:

Telugu uses the Brahmi alphabet of ancient India, but Sai transcribed these tongue twisters into the Latin alphabet.

Transcription: Kekeeka Kekiki Kaaka Kaakiki Vuntudaa

Translation: How can the feather of a peacock belong to a rooster?

Collector’s Comments:

Consistent with the Telugu tongue twisters above this twister was difficult to pronounce due to the repetition of double letters. Sai recited this particular twister several times before feeling confident enough to record.

Tags/Keywords:

Indian
Telugu
Tongue Twister

Title: Indian Tongue Twisters

General Information about the Item:

Oral Tradition: Tongue Twister
Language: Telugu
Country of Origin: India
Informant: Sai Davuluri
Date Collected: October 15, 2018
Collected By: Logan Adams and Jack Schmidt

Informant Data:

Contextual Data:

Social Context: We spoke with Sai on October 15, 2018 in Berry Library at Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH. He said that he heard these tongue twisters from his grandmother when he would visit Andhra Pradesh in the summer. Sai’s grandmother would make him repeat the tongue twisters in order to better improve his pronunciation of tough sounds. Sai also has a brother that is two years younger than him and he taught his brother the same tongue twisters that his grandmother taught him.
Cultural Context: Many children learning to speak Telugu will visit a speech pathologist to help with their pronunciations, but since Sai was only in Andhra Pradesh every other summer, he never attended one. These speech pathologists help children mainly with the difficulty of pronouncing double letters. Sai said that these particular sounds “can get stuck in the back of your mouth” and the speech pathologists help make their pronunciations more clear.

Item: Sai #4

Transcription/ Translation:

Telugu uses the Brahmi alphabet of ancient India, but Sai transcribed these tongue twisters into the Latin alphabet.

Transcription: Gadi lona Kandipappu gaditano kinda pandikokku

Translation: Redgram in basket and a bandicook under it.

Collector’s Comments:

This particular tongue twister when translated to English did not make sense. Also, similar to the twisters described before in the Telugu language double letters are difficult to pronounce.

Tags/Keywords:

Indian
Telugu
Tongue Twister

Title: Indian Tongue Twisters

General Information about the Item:

Oral Tradition: Tongue Twister
Language: Telugu
Country of Origin: India
Informant: Sai Davuluri
Date Collected: October 15, 2018
Collected By: Logan Adams and Jack Schmidt

Informant Data:

Contextual Data:

Social Context: We spoke with Sai on October 15, 2018 in Berry Library at Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH. He said that he heard these tongue twisters from his grandmother when he would visit Andhra Pradesh in the summer. Sai’s grandmother would make him repeat the tongue twisters in order to better improve his pronunciation of tough sounds. Sai also has a brother that is two years younger than him and he taught his brother the same tongue twisters that his grandmother taught him.
Cultural Context: Many children learning to speak Telugu will visit a speech pathologist to help with their pronunciations, but since Sai was only in Andhra Pradesh every other summer, he never attended one. These speech pathologists help children mainly with the difficulty of pronouncing double letters. Sai said that these particular sounds “can get stuck in the back of your mouth” and the speech pathologists help make their pronunciations more clear.

Item: Sai #5

Transcription/ Translation:

Telugu uses the Brahmi alphabet of ancient India, but Sai transcribed these tongue twisters into the Latin alphabet.

Transcription: Bujjigadu Bajjilu tini Bujjiga bajjonnadu

Translation: A small boy named Bujjigadu ate Bajji’s and slept in a small form

Collectors Comments:

This tongue twister was difficult for Sai to pronounce due to every word beginning with the same letter. It was a translation however, that made sense when translated to English.

Tags/Keywords:

Indian
Telugu
Tongue Twister

Title: Indian Tongue Twisters

General Information about the Item:

Oral Tradition: Tongue Twister
Language: Telugu
Country of Origin: India
Informant: Sai Davuluri
Date Collected: October 15, 2018
Collected By: Logan Adams and Jack Schmidt

Informant Data:

Contextual Data:

Social Context: We spoke with Sai on October 15, 2018 in Berry Library at Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH. He said that he heard these tongue twisters from his grandmother when he would visit Andhra Pradesh in the summer. Sai’s grandmother would make him repeat the tongue twisters in order to better improve his pronunciation of tough sounds. Sai also has a brother that is two years younger than him and taught his brother the same tongue twisters that his grandmother taught him.
Cultural Context: Many children learning to speak Telugu will visit a speech pathologist to help with their pronunciations, but since Sai was only in Andhra Pradesh every other summer, he never attended one. These speech pathologists help children mainly with the difficulty of pronouncing double letters. Sai said that these particular sounds “can get stuck in the back of your mouth” and the speech pathologists help make their pronunciations more clear.

Item: Sai #6

Transcription/ Translation:

Telugu uses the Brahmi alphabet of ancient India, but Sai transcribed these tongue twisters into the Latin alphabet.

Transcription: Premanu Preminchina Prema Premakai Preminchina Premanu Premaga Premistundi

Translation: Love loves love lovingly which loves love and loves love for love

Additional Comments

This tongue twister when translated to English is also a tongue twister, that we would challenge anyone who can speak English to try and pronounce. This tongue twister is predominantly used to help teach children how to pronounce the letter P.

Tags/Keywords:

Indian
Telugu
Tongue Twister

Title: Indian Tongue Twisters

General Information about the Item:

Oral Tradition: Tongue Twister
Language: Gujarati
Country of Origin: India
Informant: Anish Patel
Date Collected: October 20, 2018

Informant Data: Anish Patel was born on August 12, 1999 in Gujarat India. Both of his parents were born and raised in Gujarat. Shortly after his birth, Anish moved to Yonkers, New York, and his family still lives there. Anish speaks Gujarati fluently because his parents would often speak it around the house, and he would often visit Gujarat in the summers. Anish is a Sophomore at Dartmouth College and is pursuing a degree in Engineering Sciences.

Contextual Data:

Social Context: We spoke to Anish on October 20, 2018 in Berry Library at Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH. Anish learned these tongue twisters from his parents when he was in elementary school. He said that he would play a game with his mom where he would build a fort out of couch cushions and he would only let his mom inside if she recited a tongue twister.
Cultural Context: Just like Sai, Anish said that he would often recite tongue twisters with his family members and other friends back in Gujarat. According to Anish, it is not as prevalent for children to attend a speech pathologist in Gujarat as Sai said it was in Andhra Pradesh.

Item: Anish #1

Transcription/Translation:

Gujarati is written in the Gujarati script, but Anish transcribed these tongue twisters into the standard Latin alphabet.

Transcription: Shruti ni putri Kruti.

Translation: Shruti’s daughter’s name is Kruti.

Additional Comments:

Anish said this tongue twister with ease, but he said that this was one that gave him a lot of difficulty when he was younger.

Tags/Keywords:

· Indian

· Gujarati

· Tongue Twister

Title: Indian Tongue Twisters

General Information about the Item:

Oral Tradition: Tongue Twister
Language: Gujarati
Country of Origin: India
Informant: Anish Patel
Date Collected: October 20, 2018

Contextual Data:

Social Context: We spoke to Anish on October 20, 2018 in Berry Library at Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH. Anish learned these tongue twisters from his parents when he was in elementary school. He said that he would play a game with his mom where he would build a fort out of couch cushions and he would only let his mom inside if she recited a tongue twister.
Cultural Context: Just like Sai, Anish said that he would often recite tongue twisters with his family members and other friends back in Gujarat. According to Anish, it is not as prevalent for children to attend a speech pathologist in Gujarat as Sai said it was in Andhra Pradesh.

Item: Anish #2

Transcription/Translation:

Gujarati is written in the Gujarati script, but Anish transcribed these tongue twisters into the standard Latin alphabet.

Transcription: Gaay gaas khay, bhens bhaat khay.

Translation: The cow eats grass and the buffalo eats rice.

Additional Comments:

Anish did not remember this tongue twister off of the top of his head, but he called his mom and she told it to him. Similar to some of the Telugu tongue twisters, this tongue twister is difficult because of the double “aa’s”‘

Tags/Keywords:

· Indian

· Gujarati

· Tongue Twister

Title: Indian Tongue Twisters

General Information about the Item:

Oral Tradition: Tongue Twister
Language: Gujarati
Country of Origin: India
Informant: Anish Patel
Date Collected: October 20, 2018

Contextual Data:

Social Context: We spoke to Anish on October 20, 2018 in Berry Library at Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH. Anish learned these tongue twisters from his parents when he was in elementary school. He said that he would play a game with his mom where he would build a fort out of couch cushions and he would only let his mom inside if she recited a tongue twister.
Cultural Context: Just like Sai, Anish said that he would often recite tongue twisters with his family members and other friends back in Gujarat. According to Anish, it is not as prevalent for children to attend a speech pathologist in Gujarat as Sai said it was in Andhra Pradesh.

Item: Anish #3

Transcription/Translation:

Gujarati is written in the Gujarati script, but Anish transcribed these tongue twisters into the standard Latin alphabet.

Transcription: Kaacho Papad, Paako Papad

Translation: Unripe Papad, ripe Papad.

Additional Comments:

Anish said that this is a very popular tongue twister and that Papad is kind of like a tortilla.

Title: Spanish Tongue Twisters (also known as tongue locks in Spanish)

General Information about Item:

Oral Tradition: tongue twister
Language: Spanish
Country of Origin: United States
Informant: Joseph Estrada
Date Collected: October 15, 2018

Informant Data:

Joseph Estrada was born in Austin, Texas in 1998. His mother’s family has lived in Texas for many generations, and his father’s family immigrated to America from Cuba after the Cuban Revolution. Growing up, Joseph spent much time with his grandparents in Miami, but rarely spoke Spanish. Although his grandparents pushed for him and his cousins to learn Spanish, it wasn’t until Joseph developed an interest in Latin America literature in high school that he began exclusively speaking Spanish with his grandparents. At Dartmouth, he is studying French Literature and often takes courses on Spanish Literature.

Contextual Data:

Cultural Context: This is a very common Spanish tongue twister found in Central and Latin American countries, though it is not specifically limited to these countries. In the Spanish language, tongue twisters are often used as fun verbal drills that help young children learn more difficult pronunciation practices – this case deals specifically with the Spanish letter “rr.”
Social Context: Joseph described how this tongue twister was taught to him at a young age by his grandmother. The purpose of this tongue twister was to help interviewee learn to practice rolling his r’s, a very important aspect of the Spanish language. The tongue twister itself does not have very much significance outside of its educational function.

Item:

Spanish transcription: “Erre con erre cigarro, erre con erre barril. Rápido corren los carros, cargados de azúcar del ferrocarril.”
English translation: “An R with an R cigar, an R with an R barrel; rapidly run the cars loaded with sugar off to the railroad.”

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file): Audio

Informant’s Comments:

“Once mastered, this was a very fun tongue twister to say over and over again.”

Collector’s Comments:

Though difficult to say, this tongue twister seems very useful in helping to learn a sound that is crucial in the Spanish language.

Collector’s Name: Karam Sandhu

Tags/Keywords:

Verbal Lore
Tongue Twister
Spanish

Title: Spanish Tongue Twisters

General Information about Item:

Oral Tradition: tongue twister
Language: Spanish
Country of Origin: United States
Informant: Joseph Estrada
Date Collected: October 15, 2018

Informant Data:

Joseph Estrada was born in Austin, Texas in 1998. His mother’s family has lived in Texas for many generations, and his father’s family immigrated to America from Cuba after the Cuban Revolution. Growing up, Joseph spent much time with his grandparents in Miami, but rarely spoke Spanish. Although his grandparents pushed for him and his cousins to learn Spanish, it wasn’t until Joseph developed an interest in Latin America literature in high school that he began exclusively speaking Spanish with his grandparents. At Dartmouth, he is studying French Literature and often takes courses on Spanish Literature.

Contextual Data:

Cultural Context: This is a very common Spanish tongue twister found in Central and Latin American countries, though it is not specifically limited to these countries. In the Spanish language, tongue twisters are often used as fun verbal drills that help young children learn more difficult pronunciation practices – this case deals with the three different pronunciations of the letter “y.” Furthermore, this tongue twister can help differentiate between time periods, specifically past and present.
Social Context: Joseph described how this tongue twister was introduced to him in during an introductory Spanish class at school with the primary purpose of helping differentiate between dates, specifically “yesterday” and “today.” It’s catchy rhythm in combination with it’s brevity (helps with making it easily memorizable) allowed the Joseph to quickly recite it in his head and clarify dates whenever he was mixed up between “hoy” and “ayer.”

Item:

Spanish transcription: “Hoy ya es ayer y ayer ya es hoy, ya llegó el día, y hoy es hoy.”
English translation: “Today is yesterday and yesterday is today, the day is here, and today is today.”

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file): Audio

Informant’s Comments:

“This one took a very long time to learn since the different pronunciations of ‘y’ all crammed together is very tricky to say.”

Collector’s Comments:

The informant struggled a few times with this one before finally getting it in smoothly in one take. This shows that without constant practice, these tongue twisters can be tricky even for experienced speakers.

Collector’s Name: Karam Sandhu

Tags/Keywords:

Verbal Lore
Tongue Twister
Spanish

Title: Spanish Tongue Twisters

General Information about Item:

Oral Tradition: tongue twister
Language: Spanish
Country of Origin: United States
Informant: Joseph Estrada
Date Collected: October 15, 2018

Informant Data:

Joseph Estrada was born in Austin, Texas in 1998. His mother’s family has lived in Texas for many generations, and his father’s family immigrated to America from Cuba after the Cuban Revolution. Growing up, Joseph spent much time with his grandparents in Miami, but rarely spoke Spanish. Although his grandparents pushed for him and his cousins to learn Spanish, it wasn’t until Joseph developed an interest in Latin America literature in high school that he began exclusively speaking Spanish with his grandparents. At Dartmouth, he is studying French Literature and often takes courses on Spanish Literature.

Contextual Data:

Cultural Context: This is a very common Spanish tongue twister is different from other tongue twisters in that it has no real educational function. Instead it is used as more of a competition between young children, who may challenge each other to see who can recite the whole phrase flawlessly the fastest.
Social Context: Joseph described how this tongue twister was introduced to him by his cousins during a family get together. He remembers how the difficulty of this tongue twister could cause even the most fluent of Spanish speakers, such as his grandparents, to stumble over their words and not be able to finish the whole phrase.

Item:

Spanish transcription: “Me han dicho que has dicho un dicho, un dicho que he dicho yo. Ese dicho que te han dicho que yo he dicho, no lo he dicho; y si yo lo hubiera dicho, estaría muy bien dicho por haberlo dicho yo.”
English translation: “They told me that you said a saying, a saying that I said. That saying that you have been told that I said, I have not said; and if I had said it, it would be very well said for having said it myself.”

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file): Audio

Collector’s Comments:

The informant struggled with this tongue twister on the first few attempts because of the unusually long length of the phrase. He said this tongue twister is was less commonly used in his experience.

Collector’s Name: Karam Sandhu

Tags/Keywords:

Verbal Lore
Tongue Twister
Spanish

Title: Spanish Tongue Twisters

General Information about Item:

Oral Tradition: tongue twister
Language: Spanish
Country of Origin: United States
Informant: David Arce
Date Collected: October 23, 2018

Informant Data:

David Arce was born in Walnut Creek California in 1999. Both of his parents are Mexican
immigrants, his mother from Toluca and father from Sinaloa. Both parents as well as his
uncles and aunts only speak Spanish. As a result, he spoke only Spanish at home and did not learn English until he attended Kindergarten. Once there, he was enrolled in speech/English classes to help him catch up to his classmates. David currently studies psychology at Dartmouth.

Contextual Data:

Cultural Context: This is a very common Spanish tongue twister found in Central and Latin American countries, though it is not specifically limited to these countries. In the Spanish language, tongue twisters are often used as fun verbal drills that help young children learn more difficult pronunciation practices – in this case the pronunciation deals with a soft pronunciation of the letter “g.” As such, this tongue twister can be helpful for those speakers who are already fluent in a language such as English and are learning Spanish for the first time.
Social Context: David learned this tongue twister from his parents during his childhood. He described how this tongue twister has two purposes: firstly to help native English speakers transition from pronouncing the letter “g” with a hard pronunciation to a soft pronunciation (as often found in the Spanish language), and also to attempt to prevent younger generations from becoming too “degenerate,” with a “respect your elders” kind of vibe. This fun play on words is one of the few tongue twisters we found to have actual meaning outside its educational function.

Item:

Spanish transcription: “De generación en generación las generaciones se degeneran con mayor degeneración.”
English translation: “From generation to generation the generations degenerate with more degeneracy.”

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file): Audio

Collector’s Comments:

It was interesting to find that this tongue twister not only was used as a verbal exercise, but also to teach a moral lesson. In David’s case, the latter was more applicable to his childhood since he grew up a native Spanish speaker.

Collector’s Name: Karam Sandhu

Tags/Keywords:

Verbal Lore
Tongue Twister
Spanish

Title: Spanish Tongue Twisters

General Information about Item:

Oral Tradition: tongue twister
Language: Spanish
Country of Origin: United States
Informant: David Arce
Date Collected: October 23, 2018

Informant Data:

David Arce was born in Walnut Creek California in 1999. Both of his parents are Mexican
immigrants, his mother from Toluca and father from Sinaloa. Both parents as well as his
uncles and aunts only speak Spanish. As a result, he spoke only Spanish at home and did not learn English until he attended Kindergarten. Once there, he was enrolled in speech/English classes to help him catch up to his classmates. David currently studies psychology at Dartmouth.

Contextual Data:

Cultural Context: This is a very common Spanish tongue twister found in Central and Latin American countries, though it is not specifically limited to these countries. In the Spanish language, tongue twisters are often used as fun verbal drills that help young children learn more difficult pronunciation practices – in this case the tongue twister deals with the case of the letter “p.”
Social Context: David described how this tongue twister has very little meaning outside of its educational function, which is to help with the pronunciation of the “p” sound in the Spanish language. As this sound is among the easier sounds for speakers to pronounce, this tongue twister is often meant for very young children just learning the alphabet. David said that he learned this tongue twister when when he was first learning the Spanish alphabet from his mother.

Item:

Spanish transcription: “Papá pon pan para Pepín, para Pepín pon pan papá.”
English translation: “Dad serves bread for Pepin, for Pepin Dad serves bread.”

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file): Audio

Informant’s Comments:

“This was one of those tongue twisters you say five times fast and race against other kids. Was more for entertainment purposes rather than educational purposes in my experience.”

Collector’s Comments:

Even as a non-native Spanish speaker I was able to learn to say this tongue twister quickly. However, without some more practice I could not come close to matching David’s speed.

Collector’s Name: Karam Sandhu

Tags/Keywords:

Verbal Lore
Tongue Twister
Spanish

Title: Spanish Tongue Twisters

General Information about Item:

Oral Tradition: tongue twister
Language: Spanish
Country of Origin: United States
Informant: David Arce
Date Collected: October 23, 2018

Informant Data:

David Arce was born in Walnut Creek California in 1999. Both of his parents are Mexican
immigrants, his mother from Toluca and father from Sinaloa. Both parents as well as his
uncles and aunts only speak Spanish. As a result, he spoke only Spanish at home and did not learn English until he attended Kindergarten. Once there, he was enrolled in speech/English classes to help him catch up to his classmates. David currently studies psychology at Dartmouth.

Contextual Data:

Cultural Context: This is a fairly basic, common tongue twister found in Central and Latin American countries, though it is not specifically limited to these countries. This tongue twister is primarily introduced at a very young age to teach the pronunciation of the letter “j”. It is one of the simpler tongue twisters.
Social Context: David learned this tongue twister at home from his mom and dad for fun to practice and to see how fast he could say it. The pronunciation of “j” differs between the Spanish and English languages, and so as a result this tongue twister can be more tricky for native English speakers learning Spanish.

Item:

Spanish transcription: “Juan junta juncos junto a la zanja.”
English translation: “Juan is binding reeds by the ditch.”

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file): Audio

Informant’s Comments:

“As a native Spanish speaker this tongue twister was very easy for me to say and a result kind of boring. It was less commonly used in my childhood.”

Collector’s Comments:

Pronouncing the letter “j” in Spanish sounds like an “h” in English, but requires a more guttural pronunciation. For me, this made trying to say this tongue twister difficult due to the lack of familiarity with these pronunciation practices.

Collector’s Name: Karam Sandhu

Tags/Keywords:

Verbal Lore
Tongue Twister
Spanish

Title: Spanish Tongue Twisters

General Information about Item:

Oral Tradition: Tongue Twister
Language: Spanish
Country of Origin: United States
Informant: Brayan Lozano
Date Collected: October 18, 2018

Informant Data:

Brayan Lozano was born in The Bronx in New York, NY in 1998; both of his parents are Ecuadorian. He has lived there his entire life. He is currently a junior at Dartmouth College where he is majoring in Mechanical Engineering. He speaks both English and Spanish fluently. He still feels very connected to the Ecuadorian culture and people through his parents.

Contextual Data:

Cultural Context: This is a very common Spanish tongue twister found in Central and Latin American countries, though it is not specifically limited to these countries. In the Spanish language, tongue twisters are often used as fun verbal drills that help young children learn more difficult pronunciation practices.
Social Context: Brayan described how this tongue twister was introduced to him at a later age, after he was able to pronounce all the letters of the Spanish alphabet. The primary purpose of this tongue twister is to help learning speakers fluently transition between the “r” and “rr” (rolled r’s) letters of the alphabet in conversation. In addition, this tongue twister is meant to instill the value of delayed gratification, as it emphasizes saving now for future rewards.

Item:

Spanish transcription: “Si don Curro ahorra ahora, ahora ahorra don Curro.”
English translation: “If Mr. Curro saves now, now saves Mr. Curro.”

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file): Audio

Informant’s Comments:

“This is a pretty basic tongue twister that mirrors itself. The first half makes sense, but the second half is complete nonsense.”

Collector’s Comments:

This tongue twister was relatively difficult for me, a non-Spanish speaker, to attempt. I tried to learn it from Brayan, but was unable to transition from a soft ‘r’ to a the rolled ‘rr’.

Collector’s Name: Dillon Corwin

Tags/Keywords:

Verbal Lore
Tongue Twister
Spanish

Title: Spanish Tongue Twisters

General Information about Item:

Oral Tradition: Tongue Twister
Language: Spanish
Country of Origin: United States
Informant: Brayan Lozano
Date Collected: October 18, 2018

Informant Data:

Brayan Lozano was born in The Bronx in New York, NY in 1998; both of his parents are Ecuadorian. He has lived there his entire life. He is currently a junior at Dartmouth College where he is majoring in Mechanical Engineering. He speaks both English and Spanish fluently. He still feels very connected to the Ecuadorian culture and people through his parents.

Contextual Data:

Cultural Context: This is a very common Spanish tongue twister found in Central and Latin American countries, though it is not specifically limited to these countries. In the Spanish language, tongue twisters are often used as fun verbal drills that help young children and non-native speakers learn to pronounce more difficult pronunciations. In this specific tongue twister, the letter eñe is stressed as it has an unusual pronunciation that can be difficult for children and new students to grasp.
Social Context: Brayan described how he was introduced to this tongue twister as a child in school because some members of his class were having difficulty pronouncing eñe (énye). This tongue twister allowed for the differentiation of the ‘y’ and ‘n’ sounds as well as their combination in the eñe.

Item:

Spanish transcription: “Ñoño Yáñez come ñame en las mañanas con el niño.”
English translation: “Ñoño Yáñez eats yam in the mornings with the boy.”

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file): Audio

Informant’s Comments:

“This is a really strange tongue twister that stuck with me because of how weird it is to begin a word with eñe and have so many in one sentence.”

Collector’s Comments:

This tongue twister was incredibly strange sounding to me since the eñe is never heard in the English language.

Collector’s Name: Dillon Corwin

Tags/Keywords:

Verbal Lore
Tongue Twister
Spanish

Title: Spanish Tongue Twisters

General Information about Item:

Oral Tradition: Tongue Twister
Language: Spanish
Country of Origin: United States
Informant: Brayan Lozano
Date Collected: October 18, 2018

Informant Data:

Brayan Lozano was born in The Bronx in New York, NY in 1998; both of his parents are Ecuadorian. He has lived there his entire life. He is currently a junior at Dartmouth College where he is majoring in Mechanical Engineering. He speaks both English and Spanish fluently. He still feels very connected to the Ecuadorian culture and people through his parents.

Contextual Data:

Cultural Context: This is a very common Spanish tongue twister found in Central and Latin American countries, though it is not specifically limited to these countries. In the Spanish language, tongue twisters are often used as fun verbal drills that help young children and non-native speakers learn to pronounce more difficult pronunciations. This tongue twister helps to differentiate between cuando, cuenta(s), cuento(s), and cuanto(s) since they are all so similar. It is one of the more difficult tongue twisters due to every word being nearly the same phonetically.
Social Context: Brayan learned this tongue twister in grade school. Being an elementary class, the focus was on developing the language skills of second- and third-year students; one of the many challenges of learning the language was that there are many words that sound similar at first but have incredibly different meanings. This tongue twister was used to learn how to differentiate between the words cuando, cuenta, cuento, and cuanto.

Item:

Spanish transcription: “Cuando cuentes cuentos, cuenta cuantos cuentos cuentas porque, si no cuentas cuantos cuentos cuentas, nunca sabrás cuántos cuentos sabes contar.”
English translation: “When you tell stories, count how many stories you tell because, if you don’t count how many stories you tell, you will never know how many stories you know to tell.”

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

Informant’s Comments:

“This tongue twister is really difficult to say because all the words are so similar, and it was always a competition among the kids in my class over who could say it fastest.”

Collector’s Comments:

This tongue twister was one of the most difficult ones I heard from my interviewees and took more than five tries to get a decent recording.

Collector’s Name: Dillon Corwin

Tags/Keywords:

Verbal Lore
Tongue Twister
Spanish

Title: Spanish Tongue Twisters

General Information about Item:

Oral Tradition: Tongue Twister
Language: Spanish
Country of Origin: United States
Informant: Guillermo Gomez
Date Collected: October 21, 2018

Informant Data:

Guillermo Gomez was born in Tampa, Florida, where his paternal grandmother was also born. Her parents emigrated from the north of Spain to Tampa in the 1910s. His other three grandparents emigrated from Cuba to Florida following the violence and gross injustices of the ill-conceived communist revolution. The murderous leader of this catastrophe is, thankfully, now dead. Guillermo grew up speaking Spanish with his family, although his Spanish-speaking abilities have suffered since attending Dartmouth, where he is now a senior and studies philosophy and cognitive science. Guillermo feels ties to the Cuba of his grandparents’ generation and the latino community that followed in Tampa, though he feels only distantly tied to the contemporary Latino community at large.

Contextual Data:

Cultural Context: This is a very common Spanish tongue twister found in Central and Latin American countries, though it is not specifically limited to these countries. In the Spanish language, tongue twisters are often used as fun verbal drills that help young children and non-native speakers learn to pronounce more difficult pronunciations. This specific tongue twister differentiates between ere and doble ere and is much shorter than other tongue twisters.
Social Context: Guillermo learned this tongue twister as a young child from his grandmother but cannot remember the exact time. Guillermo mostly remembered how he and his brother would see who could say this tongue twister faster in repetition as a competition since it was short but difficult to say over and over again.

Item:

Spanish transcription: “Yo vi en un huerto un cuervo cruento comerse el cuero del cuerpo del puerco muerto.”
English translation: “I saw in a garden a bloody raven eating the hide of the body of the dead pig.”

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file): Audio

Informant’s Comments:

“This tongue twister is kind of strange, humorous, and dark while being pretty difficult to say, even slowly.”

Collector’s Comments:

This was one of the few tongue twisters that actually makes a cohesive thought, but it’s still essentially nonsense.

Collector’s Name: Dillon Corwin

Tags/Keywords:

Verbal Lore
Tongue Twister
Spanish

Title: Spanish Tongue Twisters

General Information about Item:

Oral Tradition: Tongue Twister
Language: Spanish
Country of Origin: United States
Informant: Guillermo Gomez
Date Collected: October 21, 2018

Informant Data:

Guillermo Gomez was born in Tampa, Florida, where his paternal grandmother was also born. Her parents emigrated from the north of Spain to Tampa in the 1910s. His other three grandparents emigrated from Cuba to Florida following the violence and gross injustices of the ill-conceived communist revolution. The murderous leader of this catastrophe is, thankfully, now dead. Guillermo grew up speaking Spanish with his family, although his Spanish-speaking abilities have suffered since attending Dartmouth, where he is now a senior and studies philosophy and cognitive science. Guillermo feels ties to the Cuba of his grandparents’ generation and the latino community that followed in Tampa, though he feels only distantly tied to the contemporary Latino community at large.

Contextual Data:

Cultural Context: This is a fairly common tongue twister found in Central and Latin American countries, though it is not specifically limited to these countries. This tongue twister is primarily introduced at a very young age to teach switching sounds from the front to the back of the mouth and vice versa.
Social Context: Guillermo learned this tongue twister from his paternal grandmother when he was in third grade. At the time, it was a relatively challenging tongue twister for him and stuck with him ever since.

Item:

Spanish transcription: “Compro pocas copas, pocas copas compro y como compro pocas copas, pocas copas pagó.”
English translation: “I buy few glasses, few glasses I buy, as I only buy a few glasses I only pay for a few glasses.”

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file): Audio

Informant’s Comments:

“This tongue twister is really difficult for me to say, but for my brother it was actually incredibly easy and he could always do it better than I could.”

Collector’s Comments:

This tongue twister took several attempts to get a good recording but by the end it seemed relatively effortless for Guillermo.

Collector’s Name: Dillon Corwin

Tags/Keywords:

Verbal Lore
Tongue Twister
Spanish

Title: Spanish Tongue Twisters

General Information about Item:

Oral Tradition: Tongue Twister
Language: Spanish
Country of Origin: United States
Informant: Guillermo Gomez
Date Collected: October 21, 2018

Informant Data:

Guillermo Gomez was born in Tampa, Florida, where his paternal grandmother was also born. Her parents emigrated from the north of Spain to Tampa in the 1910s. His other three grandparents emigrated from Cuba to Florida following the violence and gross injustices of the ill-conceived communist revolution. The murderous leader of this catastrophe is, thankfully, now dead. Guillermo grew up speaking Spanish with his family, although his Spanish-speaking abilities have suffered since attending Dartmouth, where he is now a senior and studies philosophy and cognitive science. Guillermo feels ties to the Cuba of his grandparents’ generation and the latino community that followed in Tampa, though he feels only distantly tied to the contemporary Latino community at large.

Contextual Data:

Cultural Context: This is a fairly, simple common tongue twister found in Central and Latin American countries, though it is not specifically limited to these countries. This tongue twister is primarily introduced at a very young age to teach switching sounds from the front to the back of the mouth (p to c and back to p again). This is one of the more basic tongue twisters.
Social Context: Guillermo learned this tongue twister from his older brother when he was a child. It was one of the more memorable tongue twisters because it was both relatively easy to learn but difficult to repeat quickly.

Item:

Spanish transcription: “Como poco coco como, poco coco compro.”
English translation: “ Since I eat little coconut, little coconut I buy.”

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file): Audio

Informant’s Comments:

“This tongue twister is really simple and kind of silly, it’s pretty common among young kids.”

Collector’s Comments:

This tongue twister was one of the simpler ones I heard across interviews. It seemed to stick with Guillermo mostly because it was nonsensical.

Collector’s Name: Dillon Corwin

Tags/Keywords:

Verbal Lore
Tongue Twister
Spanish

Title: Serbian Tongue Twisters

General Information about the Item:

Tongue Twister
Language: Serbian
Informant: Katarina Nesic
Date Collected: 10/24/18

Informant Data:

Katarina Nesic was born in Serbia. She spent most of her high school years at a boarding school in Sweden.
She is currently double majoring in Government and Russian at Dartmouth College and aspires to go to graduate school for public policy.

Contextual Data:

Cultural context: I spoke with Katarina on October 24, 2018 in lobby of Baker Library. Katarina shared tongue twisters were a part of the Slovak culture and he learned most of them from her school teachers.
Social context: In Serbia, tongue twisters are used to teach school children how to pronounce words correctly. The children often have competitions amongst themselves to see who can perform the best at saying the tongue twisters.

Transcriptions/Translations:

The following tongue twister were both translated from Serbian into Latin, and then into English by Katarina Nesic. To my knowledge, these transcriptions and translations are taken verbatim from the tongue twisters spoken in the recording.

Serbian Translation: “Stala mala Mara na kraj stara hana sarna.”
English Translation: “Little Mary stood at the end of the old inn alone.”

Informant’s Comments:

Hana is actually a Turkish word for place where traders would stay over for the night.

Collector’s Name: Ryan Spence – NH

Tags/Keywords:

Slavak
Serbia
Tongue-twister

Title: Serbian Tongue Twisters

General Information about the Item:

Tongue Twister
Language: Serbian
Informant: Katarina Nesic
Date Collected: 10/24/18

Informant Data:

Katarina Nesic was born in Serbia. She spent most of her high school years at a boarding school in Sweden.
She is currently double majoring in Government and Russian at Dartmouth College and aspires to go to graduate school for public policy.

Contextual Data:

Cultural context: I spoke with Katarina on October 24, 2018 in lobby of Baker Library. Katarina shared tongue twisters were a part of the Slovak culture and he learned most of them from her school teachers.
Social context: In Serbia, tongue twisters are used to teach school children how to pronounce words correctly. The children often have competitions amongst themselves to see who can perform the best at saying the tongue twisters.

Transcriptions/Translations:

Serbian Translation :”Mis uz pusku, mis niz pusku.”
English Translation : “A mouse went up against the rifle and down the rifle.”

Collector’s Comments:

Sh and Ch are very similar sounds in english, and therefore are hard to pronounce
Very similar to the English tongue twister “She sees Cheese 3x”

Collector’s Name: Ryan Spence – NH

Tags/Keywords:

Slavak
Serbia
Tongue-twister

Title: Serbian Tongue Twisters

General Information about the Item:

Tongue Twister
Language: Serbian
Informant: Katarina Nesic
Date Collected: 10/24/18

Informant Data:

Katarina Nesic was born in Serbia. She spent most of her high school years at a boarding school in Sweden.
She is currently double majoring in Government and Russian at Dartmouth College and aspires to go to graduate school for public policy.

Contextual Data:

Cultural context: I spoke with Katarina on October 24, 2018 in lobby of Baker Library. Katarina shared tongue twisters were a part of the Slovak culture and he learned most of them from her school teachers.
Social context: In Serbia, tongue twisters are used to teach school children how to pronounce words correctly. The children often have competitions amongst themselves to see who can perform the best at saying the tongue twisters.

Transcriptions/Translations:

Serbian Translation: “Na vrh brda, vrba mrda.”
English Translation :“At the top of a hill a willow is moving.”

Informant’s Comments:

Many Serbian tongue twisters are non-sensical and are actually used for educational purposes.

Collector’s Name: Ryan Spence – NH

Tags/Keywords:

Slavak
Serbia
Tongue-twister

Title: Serbian Tongue Twisters

General Information about the Item:

Tongue Twister
Language: Serbian
Informant: Katarina Nesic
Date Collected: 10/24/18

Informant Data:

Katarina Nesic was born in Serbia. She spent most of her high school years at a boarding school in Sweden.
She is currently double majoring in Government and Russian at Dartmouth College and aspires to go to graduate school for public policy.

Contextual Data:

Cultural context: I spoke with Katarina on October 24, 2018 in lobby of Baker Library. Katarina shared tongue twisters were a part of the Slovak culture and he learned most of them from her school teachers.
Social context: In Serbia, tongue twisters are used to teach school children how to pronounce words correctly. The children often have competitions amongst themselves to see who can perform the best at saying the tongue twisters.

Transcriptions/Translations:

Serbian Translation:”Nevesele snene zene, plele tesle mreze.”
English Translation: “Unhappy, sleepy women were weaving heavy nets.”

Informant’s Comments:

This tongue twister is actually considered to be Serbian, Croatian, and Bosnian.

Collector’s Name: Ryan Spence – NH

Tags/Keywords:

Slavak
Serbia
Tongue-twister

Title: Serbian Tongue Twisters

General Information about the Item:

Tongue Twister
Language: Serbian
Informant: Katarina Nesic
Date Collected: 10/24/18

Informant Data:

Katarina Nesic was born in Serbia. She spent most of her high school years at a boarding school in Sweden.
She is currently double majoring in Government and Russian at Dartmouth College and aspires to go to graduate school for public policy.

Contextual Data:

Cultural context: I spoke with Katarina on October 24, 2018 in lobby of Baker Library. Katarina shared tongue twisters were a part of the Slovak culture and he learned most of them from her school teachers.
Social context: In Serbia, tongue twisters are used to teach school children how to pronounce words correctly. The children often have competitions amongst themselves to see who can perform the best at saying the tongue twisters.

Transcriptions/Translations:

Serbian Translation:”Kuja je zajalaja i prolajala.”
English Translation: “A female dog began barking and barked.”

Informant’s Comments:

It is very hard to pronounce words with S’s and N’s in the Serbian language.

Collector’s Name: Ryan Spence – NH

Tags/Keywords:

Slavak
Serbia
Tongue-twister

Title: Chinese Tongue Twisters

General Information about the Item:

Tongue Twister
Language: Chinese
Country of Origin: Hong Kong
Informant: Anonymous
Date Collected: 10/13/18

Informant Data:

The informant is a 19-year-old male who was born in Hong Kong and moved around the globe several times throughout his life before ending up in Hanover, NH. The informant is a sophomore at Dartmouth College who is studying biology with the hopes of pursuing a career in medicine after graduation.

Contextual Data:

Social context: I spoke with the informant on October 13, 2018 in the library at Phi Delta Alpha. The informant first learned this tongue twister from his friends while living in China. It was common for the children to compete against one another to see who could complete the tongue twister faster.
Cultural context: This tongue twister wasn’t used in the classroom as much as it was the playground. Repeating the same “zh” sound over and over again becomes very difficult, and can turn into a fun competition for children who want to race to see who can repeat the phrase without stumbling over their words.

Item:

Transcriptions/Translations:

The tongue twister was written down originally using Chinese characters and then translated to Pinyin and English by the informant. To my knowledge, these transcriptions and translations are taken verbatim from the tongue twisters spoken in the recording.

Chinese Translation: ”如果你知道，你知道，不知道，你知道，你不知道”
Pinyin Translation: “Rúguǒ nǐ zhīdào, nǐ zhīdào, bù zhīdào, nǐ zhīdào, nǐ bù zhīdào”
English Translation: “If you know, you know, don’t know, you know, you don’t know”

Informant’s Comments:

This tongue twister can be made longer or shorter by adding more of the “nǐ zhīdào, bù zhīdào” phrases. This was often done on the playground to increase the challenge

Collector’s Name: Jason Ceto

Tags/Keywords:

Chinese
Hong Kong
Tongue-twister

Title: Chinese Tongue Twisters

General Information about the Item:

Tongue Twister
Language: Chinese
Country of Origin: Hong Kong
Informant: Anonymous
Date Collected: 10/13/18

Informant Data:

The informant is a 19-year-old male who was born in Hong Kong and moved around the globe several times throughout his life before ending up in Hanover, NH. The informant is a sophomore at Dartmouth College who is studying biology with the hopes of pursuing a career in medicine after graduation.

Contextual Data:

Social context: I spoke with the informant on October 13, 2018 in the library at Phi Delta Alpha. The informant first learned this tongue twister while he was learning Chinese in Hong Kong, but it was also common to hear it spoken between friends who wanted to compete and see how quickly and clearly they could say the phrase.
Cultural context: This tongue twister, or some variation of it, is very common in Chinese culture because it utilizes the retroflexive “sh” sound that is very difficult to get used to when first learning the language. Since it is often used in the classroom to teach the sound to children, it is very popular.

Item:

Transcriptions/Translations:

Chinese Translation: ”西施死時四十四”
Pinyin Translation: “Xīshī sǐ shí sìshísì“
English Translation: “Xi Shi died at the time of forty-four”

Collector’s Comments:

This seemed relatively easy for the informant to say, getting it on his first try. If I had to guess it is probably because the informant is familiar with the language whereas the children who are typically using this tongue twister are still learning.

Collector’s Name: Jason Ceto

Tags/Keywords:

Chinese
Hong Kong
Tongue-twister

Title: Chinese Tongue Twisters

General Information about the Item:

Tongue Twister
Language: Chinese
Country of Origin: China
Informant: Anonymous
Date Collected: 10/10/18

Informant Data:

The informant was born in China and has lived there for their entire life. They are currently a professor at the Fudan University in Shanghai where they focus on teaching the Chinese language and culture to American students studying abroad.

Contextual Data:

Social context: I spoke with the informant on October 10, 2018 on a Skype chat. I was introduced to this individual by a friend of mine from the United States who is currently studying abroad in Beijing. The informant uses this tongue twister with their students to help them better learn the Chinese language.
Cultural context: This tongue twister tackles the difficult exchange between the “T”, “B”, and “P” sounds. These are difficult to quickly switch between based on how the sounds are formed within your mouth, so tongue twisters such as this one help train students to make that transition. While the phrase itself is clearly nonsensical, the tongue twister exists for the sounds instead of the meaning.

Item:

Transcriptions/Translations:

The tongue twister was written down originally using Chinese characters and then translated to pinyin and English by the informant. To my knowledge, these transcriptions and translations are taken verbatim from the tongue twisters spoken in the recording.

Chinese Translation: ”吃葡萄不吐葡萄皮，不吃葡萄倒吐葡萄皮”
Pinyin Translation: “Chī pútáo bù tǔ pútáo pí, bù chī pútáo dào tǔ pútáo pí“
English Translation: “Eat grape but do not spit out grape skin, do not eat grape but spit out grape skin”

Collector’s Comments:

This tongue twister appears to be incredibly common as it was often the first one to come to mind from many of our informants

Collector’s Name: Jason Ceto

Tags/Keywords:

Chinese
China
Tongue-twister

Title: Chinese Tongue Twisters

General Information about the Item:

Oral Tradition: tongue twister
Language: Mandarin Chinese
Country of Origin: United States
Informant: Raymond Hsu
Date Collected: October 18, 2018

Informant Data:

Raymond Hsu is 19 years old and a Dartmouth ‘21. He was born and raised and still lives in Seattle, Washington. He is of Taiwanese descent, as his parents moved to the United States before his birth. At Dartmouth, he is a violinist of the symphony orchestra and a member of the club fencing team.

Contextual Data:

Social Context: I interviewed Raymond on October 18, 2018 in Novack at Dartmouth. Raymond recalled learning the tongue twister from his Chinese school teacher in Seattle at the age of eight. He was not exactly sure in what context it came up, and remarked, “that’s the thing about tongue twisters – you just sort of know them.”
Cultural context: It is very common for Chinese-Americans to attend after school or weekend Chinese classes in the United States. In this context, tongue twisters are often viewed as fun pronunciation drills used for practicing a difficult part of the language, since most of the students do not speak Chinese anywhere outside of the home. Chinese is a tonal language with four tones and one neutral tone. This tongue twister in particular is used to practice switching between the different tones in Chinese, something English speakers do not have much exposure to.

Item: Audio

Transcriptions/Translations:

The exact written version of this tongue twister was found on the internet and confirmed for accuracy by the informant because he didn’t know how to type the characters, but the translation is his own.

Chinese: 妈妈骑马 , 马慢,，妈妈骂马。
Pinyin: Māma qí mǎ, mǎ màn, māma mà mǎ.
English translation: “Mom rides horse, horse is slow, mom gets mad at horse.”

Collector’s Comments:

While most informants had heard of this tongue twister, those who had attended Chinese schools in the United States were more familiar with it. I had been old this tongue twister once before by a friend in fifth grade who had learned it in an after school Chinese class. She remarked that is was particularly funny because if you’re bad at it, you might accidentally call you mom a horse.

Collector’s Name: Summer Christensen

Tags/Keywords:

Chinese
Mandarin
Tongue twister
Verbal lore

Title: Chinese Tongue Twisters

General Information about the Item:

Oral Tradition: tongue twister
Language: Mandarin Chinese
Country of Origin: United States
Informant: Katie Shi
Date Collected: October 18, 2018

Informant Data:

Katie Shi is 19 years old and is a member of the class of 2021 at Dartmouth College. She was born in New York but was raised and currently lives in Austin, Texas. Her parents are from the Guangdong in southern China. She spent time in China over several visits between the ages of five and eleven, which she remarked are “formative language years.” Though Katie’s first language is English, she has been speaking Chinese at home since the age of three. At Dartmouth, Katie is a member of the club fencing team and enjoys studying quantitative social science, economics, and linguistics.

Contextual Data:

Social Context: I interviewed Katie on October 18, 2018 in Novack at Dartmouth. Katie learned this tongue twister at the age of seven or eight during her Sunday Chinese classes. She recalls it being used as a fun way to drill pronunciation for children.
Cultural context: Many Chinese-Americans attend weekend Chinese schools to aid in the proper education of Chinese. As most of these students do not speak Chinese frequently outside of the home, they may struggle with the sounds that are not analogous to anything in English. This tongue twister focuses both on tones as well as the retroflexed “sh” sound, neither of which are present in English. Katie remarked that “retroflex is important. Curling the tongue is even a challenge for people from certain regions [in China].”

Item: Audio

Transcriptions/Translations:

The exact written version of this tongue twister was found on the internet and confirmed for accuracy by the informant because she also didn’t know how to type the characters, but the translation is her own.

Chinese: 四是四，十是十，十四是十四，四十是四十
Pinyin: sì shì sì, shí shì shí, shí sì shì shí sì, sì shí shì sì shí
English translation: Four is four, ten is ten, fourteen is fourteen, forty is forty.

Collector’s Comments:

All my informants were familiar with this tongue twister, though some knew longer or shorter versions. This could be due to the importance of learning these simple numbers and being able to pronounce the correct one.

Collector’s Name: Summer Christensen

Tags/Keywords:

Chinese
Mandarin
Tongue twister
Verbal lore

Title: Chinese Tongue Twisters

General Information about the Item:

Oral Tradition: tongue twister
Language: Mandarin Chinese
Country of Origin: China
Informant: Xinai “Cathy” Wu
Date Collected: October 18, 2018

Informant Data:

Cathy Wu is 18 and is a Dartmouth ’21 studying cognitive science. She was born in Singapore, Singapore and then moved to Yantai, China at the age of three. She attended kindergarten in Vancouver, Canada, before moving to Rhode Island, where she has lived through the present. Both her parents are from China, and she learned Chinese at home from them.

Contextual Data:

Social Context: I interviewed Cathy on October 18, 2018 in Novack at Dartmouth. Cathy’s mother taught her the tongue twister when Cathy was somewhere between the ages of five and seven. Cathy said that her mom taught it to her “because it’s cool and fun” but that her mom might have been secretly teaching her something, as she is an adjunct Chinese professor.
Cultural context: As in many cultures, tongue twisters are often just learned for fun in a completely nonacademic setting, as this one was. The meaning of this tongue twister does not make much sense, as the sounds are more important than the meaning. However, Cathy stated, “I think it’s philosophical on a deep level.” This tongue twister is challenging due to the similarity of the “p”, “b”, and “t” sounds as well as the frequently shifting tones of short words.

Item: Audio

Transcriptions/Translations:

Cathy’s brother Julian helped with the writing and translation of this tongue twister.

Chinese: 吃葡萄不吐葡萄皮 ,不吃葡萄倒吐葡萄皮。
Pinyin: Chī pú táo bù tǔ pú táo pí, bù chī pú táo dào tǔ pú táo pí
English translation: Eat grape but do not spit out grape skin, do not eat grape but spit out grape skin.

Collector’s Comments:

The majority of my informants had also heard this tongue twister, but it was more commonly known by those who learned Chinese at home rather than in a classroom setting.

Collector’s Name: Summer Christensen

Tags/Keywords:

Chinese
Mandarin
Tongue twister
Verbal lore

Title: Chinese Tongue Twisters

General Information about the Item:

Oral Tradition: tongue twister
Language: Mandarin Chinese
Country of Origin: United States
Informant: Angela Yang
Date Collected: November 2, 2018

Informant Data:

Angela Yang is 18 years old and a Dartmouth ’21. She was born and raised and currently lives in Los Angeles, California. Her parents are from China, and she learned Chinese through a combination of speaking at home, attending after school classes, and taking language classes in high school. Angela says she is fluent at speaking and texting but not quite in writing. At Dartmouth, Angela is a member of the club basketball team.

Contextual Data:

Social Context: I interviewed Angela on November 2, 2018 in the Baker Library lobby at Dartmouth. Angela learned this tongue twister around the age of five while at a party, but she doesn’t remember more context than that.
Cultural context: This tongue twister also falls into the “just for fun category.” Cathy also gave the same tongue twister, citing it only to be used for fun. Angela described it as “a five-year-old’s party trick,” noting that it was used as something a small child would say to impress others. Its difficulty is due to the fast changes between tones and the similar “b”/”p”/”t” sounds.

Item: Audio

Transcriptions/Translations:

Angela types and translated this tongue twister herself.

Chinese: 吃葡萄不吐葡萄皮，不吃葡萄倒吐葡萄皮。
Pinyin: chī pú táo bù tǔ pú táo pí, bù chī pú táo dǎo tǔ pú táo pí
English translation: “When you eat grapes, you don’t spit out the skin. When you don’t eat grapes, you spit out the skin.”

Collector’s Comments:

As noted with Cathy Wu, this tongue twister was frequently heard outside of classroom environments.

Collector’s Name: Summer Christensen

Tags/Keywords:

Chinese
Mandarin
Tongue twister
Verbal lore

Title: Chinese Tongue Twisters

General Information about the Item:

Oral Tradition: tongue twister
Language: Mandarin Chinese
Country of Origin: United States
Informant: Paige Xu
Date Collected: November 2, 2018

Informant Data:

Paige Xu is 20 years old and a Dartmouth ’21. She was born and raised in Wuhan, China. Chinese is her first language, but she was educated under the British school system in China. Paige describes herself as a “free thinker, single child, likes cooking, afraid of heights.”

Contextual Data:

Social Context: I interviewed Paige on November 2, 2018 in the Baker Library lobby at Dartmouth. Paige learned this tongue twister from both primary school classmates on the playground and primary school teachers. She and her friends found the tongue twister very funny because the sounds would cause the speaker to accidently spit on the person listening.
Cultural context: This tongue twister is a piece of comical, children’s folklore. Paige stated that doesn’t make sense because it was really only made to make people spit.

Item: Audio

Transcriptions/Translations:

Angela Yang, who was present at the time of collection, helped Paige with the translation of this tongue twister.

Chinese: 八百标兵奔北坡，北坡八百炮兵炮。标兵怕碰炮兵炮，炮兵怕把标兵碰
Pinyin: bā bǎi biāo bīng bēn běi pō， běi pō bā bǎi páo bīng páo。biāo bīng pà pèng páo bīng páo，páo bīng pà bǎ biāo bīng pèng
English translation: “Eight hundred soldiers running towards the mountain in the north and there are eight hundred bombers on the northern mountain and they are firing the bomb. Eight hundred soldiers are afraid of running into the bombs from the eight hundred bombers. Now the eight hundred bombers are also afraid of running into the eight hundred soldiers.”

Collector’s Comments:

Paige was the only informant familiar with this tongue twister, thought, notably, she is the only informant who had not lived in the United States prior to coming to Dartmouth College.

Collector’s Name: Summer Christensen

Tags/Keywords:

Chinese
Mandarin
Tongue twister
Verbal lore

Title: Chinese Tongue Twisters

General Information about the Item:

Oral Tradition: tongue twister
Language: Mandarin Chinese
Country of Origin: United States
Informant: Angela Yang
Date Collected: November 4, 2018

Informant Data:

Angela Yang is 18 years old and a Dartmouth ’21. She was born and raised and currently lives in Los Angeles, California. Her parents are from China, and she learned Chinese through a combination of speaking at home, attending after school classes, and taking language classes in high school. Angela says she is fluent at speaking and texting but not quite in writing. At Dartmouth, Angela is a member of the club basketball team.

Contextual Data:

Social Context: I interviewed Angela on November 4, 2018 in the Baker Library lobby at Dartmouth. Angela learned this tongue twister as a child from her mother at home. Her mother treated it purely as fun challenge for entertainment.
Cultural context: Tongue twisters have a dual nature of being both educational and entertainment. Whereas Katie learned this tongue twister to practice tones and retroflexed sounds, Angela was still practicing these same things but instead the purpose was for entertainment.

Item: Audio

Transcriptions/Translations:

Angela types and translated this tongue twister herself.

Chinese: 四是四。十是十，十四是十四，四十是四十，四十四是四十四。
Pinyin: sì shì sì. shí shì shí, shí sì shì shí sì, sì shí shì sì shí, sì shí sì shì sì shí sì.
English translation: “Four is four, ten is ten, fourteen is fourteen, forty is forty, forty-four is forty-four.”

Collector’s Comments:

As noted with Katie Shi, this tongue twister is very common. However, this variation is slightly longer than the one Katie gave, as this one adds the extra “forty-four is forty-four” line.

Collector’s Name: Summer Christensen

Tags/Keywords:

Chinese
Mandarin
Tongue twister
Verbal lore

Title: Chinese Tongue Twisters

General Information about the Item:

Oral Tradition: tongue twister
Language: Mandarin Chinese
Country of Origin: United States
Informant: Angela Yang
Date Collected: November 4, 2018

Informant Data:

Angela Yang is 18 years old and a Dartmouth ’21. She was born and raised and currently lives in Los Angeles, California. Her parents are from China, and she learned Chinese through a combination of speaking at home, attending after school classes, and taking language classes in high school. Angela says she is fluent at speaking and texting but not quite in writing. At Dartmouth, Angela is a member of the club basketball team.

Contextual Data:

Social Context: I interviewed Angela on November 4, 2018 in the Baker Library lobby at Dartmouth. Angela learned this tongue when she was 16 years old while watching a Chinese entertainment channel on TV with her family at home in Los Angeles, California.
Cultural context: This tongue twister is also used for entertainment. It was shown on TV, not on an educational channel, but rather an entertainment channel. Angela noted that the similar “h” and “f” sounds are what make this tongue twister hard, and that “it’s funny because when I read it, it sounds like it’s talking a phoenix, the bird.”

Item: Audio

Transcriptions/Translations:

Angela couldn’t remember the tongue twister perfectly, so she found the following online and confirmed its accuracy.

Chinese: 红凤，凤粉红色，粉红色凤。
Pinyin: hóng fèng huáng, fěn fèng huáng, fěn hóng fèng huáng.
English translation: Red phoenix, pink phoenix, pink-red phoenix

Collector’s Comments:

Similar to many of the other tongue twisters, this one was created solely because of the sounds of the words, not their meanings.

Collector’s Name: Summer Christensen

Tags/Keywords:

Chinese
Mandarin
Tongue twister
Verbal lore

Title: Chinese Tongue Twisters

General Information about the Item:

Oral Tradition: tongue twister
Language: Mandarin Chinese
Country of Origin: United States
Informant: Angela Yang
Date Collected: November 4, 2018

Informant Data:

Angela Yang is 18 years old and a Dartmouth ’21. She was born and raised and currently lives in Los Angeles, California. Her parents are from China, and she learned Chinese through a combination of speaking at home, attending after school classes, and taking language classes in high school. Angela says she is fluent at speaking and texting but not quite in writing. At Dartmouth, Angela is a member of the club basketball team.

Contextual Data:

Social Context: I interviewed Angela on November 4, 2018 in the Baker Library lobby at Dartmouth. Angela learned this tongue when she was 14 years old while watching a gameshow-like TV show on Chinese TV with her family at home in Los Angeles, California. The tongue twister was given as a challenge to the show’s guests.
Cultural context: This tongue twister was used as a challenge for a TV show guest and as entertainment for the viewers. In addition to difficult, repeating sounds, this tongue twister has the added challenge of trying to keep all the words straight and in the right order. Angela described is a “logic” tongue twister. It is analogous to the English tongue twister “how much wood would a woodchuck chuck could chuck wood?”

Item: Audio

Transcriptions/Translations:

Angela couldn’t remember the tongue twister perfectly, so she found the following online and confirmed its accuracy.

Chinese: 知道就说知道，不知道就说不知道，不要知道说不知道，也不要不知道说知道，你知道不知道？
Pinyin: zhī dào jiù shuō zhī dào, bù zhī dào jiù shuō bu zhī dào, bù yào zhī dào shuō bu zhī dào, yě bù yào bù zhī dào shuō zhī dào, nǐ zhī dào bù zhī dào?
English translation: If you know, just say you know. If you don’t know, just say you don’t know. You shouldn’t know and say you don’t know, and you shouldn’t not know and say you do know, you know?

Collector’s Comments:

Unlike most other tongue twisters I collected, the meaning plays a role in this one, as it actually makes sense if you follow it.
As a final note on Chinese tongue twisters, Angela wrote out the characters for tongue twister as 绕口令, where
- 绕 = twist/turn
- 口 = mouth
- 令 = command/statement

Collector’s Name: Summer Christensen

Tags/Keywords:

Chinese
Mandarin
Tongue twister
Verbal lore

Spanish Tongue Twister “Pablito Clavo”

Title: Pablito Clavo

General Information about Item:

Tongue Twister
Language: Spanish
Country of Origin: Mexico
Informant: Juanita Morales
Date Collected: 10-4-18

Informant Data:

The informant is Juanita Morales. She was born April 22, 1999 in Laseigha, Colombia. She came to the United States when she was nine and is now an American citizen. She is currently a sophomore at Dartmouth College. She is a Spanish native speaker and speaks with her family in Spanish. Most of her family still resides in Colombia and she retains a close connection with the culture.

Contextual Data:

Cultural Context: Tongue Twisters in Spanish speaking countries are used in a similar way and in similar places as other cultures. Tongue Twisters are most common with children who are taught them in order to learn difficult sounds and methods of speaking. These tongue twisters can be used as entertainment for children during playtime or be part of a tongue twister contest where students compete be able to speak it the fastest or the best at speaking it are some of the most popular uses. Spanish language has many difficult sounds and words with many consonants that have to be said rather fast.
Social Context: This is an extremely common Spanish language tongue twister. There is no specific group that this is said by, but it is extremely common and known by many people. It is found in numerous Latin American countries, including Colombia and Mexico. -ito/-ita is used as a diminutive in Spanish. It is used in order to show the age of a person being young or little. Pablito is a common Latin American name. -ito can also be used to create another name from an already common name, such as adding -ita to the name Juana to create Juanita or “little Juana”. It is also used as a term of endearment.

Item:

Original Spanish: Pablito clavo un clavito en la calva de un clavito. En la calva de un clavito un clavito clavo Pablito.
Translation: Pablito hammered a little nail on the head of a little nail. In the head of a little nail, a little nail (did) Pablito hammer.

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

Tongue Twister

Full Interview:

Informant’s Comments:

One of the most common Spanish tongue twisters.

Collector’s Comments:

The other person that I interviewed (Yasmin Ochoa) also wanted to tell this tongue twister.

Collector’s Name: Caroline Atwood

Tags/Keywords:

Tongue Twister
Spanish
Colombia

Spanish Tongue Twister “Pancha Plancha”

Title: “Pancha Plancha”

General Information about Item:

Tongue Twister
Language: Spanish
Country of Origin: Colombia
Informant: Juanita Morales
Date Collected: 10-4-18

Informant Data:

The informant is Juanita Morales. She was born April 22, 1999 in Laseigha, Colombia. She came to the United States when she was nine and is now an American citizen. She is currently a sophomore at Dartmouth College. She is a Spanish native speaker and speaks with her family in Spanish. Most of her family still resides in Colombia and she retains a close connection with the culture.

Contextual Data:

Cultural Context: Tongue Twisters in Spanish speaking countries are used in a similar way and in similar places as other cultures. Tongue Twisters are most common with children who are taught them in order to learn difficult sounds and methods of speaking. These tongue twisters can be used as entertainment for children during playtime or be part of a tongue twister contest where students compete be able to speak it the fastest or the best at speaking it are some of the most popular uses. Spanish language has many difficult sounds and words with many consonants that have to be said rather fast.
Social Context: This is an extremely common Spanish language tongue twister. There is no specific group that this is said by, but it is extremely common and known by many people. It is found in numerous Latin American countries, including Colombia and Mexico. “Pancha” is not a common name in Latin America and is most likely only used due to the way it sounds for the tongue twister.

Item:

Original Spanish: Pancha plancha con cuatro planchas. ¿Con cuantas planchas Pancha plancha?
Translation: Pancha irons with four irons. With how many irons (does) Pancha iron (with)?

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

Tongue Twister

Full Interview:

Informant’s Comments:

Some words are left out that are used in English to make it make sense as they are not necessary in Spanish, such as “does” and “with”.

Collector’s Comments:

The other interviewee (Yasmin Ochoa) commented later that this is her favorite tongue twister.

Collector’s Name: Caroline Atwood

Tags/Keywords:

Tongue Twister
Spanish
Colombia

Spanish Tongue Twister “Tres Tristes Tigres”

Title: “Tres Tristes Tigres”

General Information about Item:

Tongue Twister
Language: Spanish
Country of Origin: Colombia
Informant: Juanita Morales
Date Collected: 10-4-18

Informant Data:

The informant is Juanita Morales. She was born April 22, 1999 in Laseigha, Colombia. She came to the United States when she was nine and is now an American citizen. She is currently a sophomore at Dartmouth College. She is a Spanish native speaker and speaks with her family in Spanish. Most of her family still resides in Colombia and she retains a close connection with the culture.

Contextual Data:

Cultural Context: Tongue Twisters in Spanish speaking countries are used in a similar way and in similar places as other cultures. Tongue Twisters are most common with children who are taught them in order to learn difficult sounds and methods of speaking. These tongue twisters can be used as entertainment for children during playtime or be part of a tongue twister contest where students compete be able to speak it the fastest or the best at speaking it are some of the most popular uses. Spanish language has many difficult sounds and words with many consonants that have to be said rather fast.
Social Context: This is an extremely common Spanish language tongue twister. There is no specific group that this is said by, but it is extremely common to hear young children on playgrounds challenging each other to say it to show off to their friends and classmates. It is found in numerous Latin American countries, including Colombia and Mexico.

Item:

Original Spanish: En tres tristes trastos de trigo, tres tristes tigres comían trigo. Comían trigo, tres tristes tigres, en tres tristes trastos de trigo.
Translation: In three sad plates of wheat, three sad tigers ate wheat, (they) ate wheat, three sad tigers, in three sad plates of wheat.

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

Tongue Twister

Full Interview:

Informant’s Comments:

The very similar words make it difficult and enjoyable to say.

Collector’s Comments:

Both of my interviewees knew this tongue twister by heart and they enjoyed saying it faster and faster together after the first interview.

Collector’s Name: Caroline Atwood

Tags/Keywords:

Tongue Twister
Spanish
Colombia

Spanish Tongue Twister “Parangaricutirimícuaro”

Title: Parangaricutirimícuaro

General Information about Item:

Tongue Twister
Language: Spanish
Country of Origin: Mexico
Informant: Yasmin Ochoa
Date Collected: 10-18-18

Informant Data:

The informant is Yasmin Ochoa. She was born in Michoacán, Mexico. She came to the United States when she was a toddler. She is currently a sophomore at Dartmouth College. She is a Spanish native speaker and only speaks with her family in Spanish. A lot of her family still resides in Mexico and she returns there for a month every year. She still feels very connected to the culture and people due to her visits to see her family in Mexico.

Contextual Data:

Cultural Context: Tongue Twisters in Spanish speaking countries are used in a similar way and in similar places as other cultures. Tongue Twisters are most common with children who are taught them in order to learn difficult sounds and methods of speaking. These tongue twisters can be used as entertainment for children during playtime or be part of a tongue twister contest where students compete be able to speak it the fastest or the best at speaking it are some of the most popular uses. Spanish language has many difficult sounds and words with many consonants that have to be said rather fast.
Social Context: This is a common Spanish language tongue twister. Considered an extremely challenging tongue twister that is focuses on the main word Parangaricutirimícuaro and is expanded to a full tongue twister, which makes it even more difficult. Not many people learn the whole tongue twister, but it would be expected that almost every Spanish speaker would know the word. It is a difficult word for non-Spanish speakers to say. Parangaricutirimícuaro is the name of a town in Mexico, but people learn how to say it all over. It is something that as a Spanish speaking child you learn to do, like you would learn the alphabet or count. As a child you must learn how to say it or other children will make fun of you for not being able to say it. It is considered fun to say and it is expected that a native Spanish speaker knows how to say it. The words in the tongue twister that rhyme with Parangaricutirimícuaro are all made up words and have no real meaning, however, one can tell from their endings the first two are treated as verbs and the last as a noun.

Item:

Original Spanish: El volcán de Parangaricutirimícuaro se quiere desparangaricutirimicuarizar y quien lo desparangaricutirimicuarise será un gran desparangaricutirimicuarizador.
Translation: The volcano in Parangaricutirimícuaro wants to desparangaricutirimicuarizar and who desparangaricutirimicuarise will be a great desparangaricutirimicuarizador.

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

Tongue Twister

Full Interview:

Informant’s Comments:

The word was taught to her very young by her father and the entire tongue twister was taught to her in school.

Collector’s Comments:

The informant attempted to teach me this tongue twister for 25 minutes but eventually we gave it. The word is extremely long and difficult to say, especially quickly. For the sake of the recording I allowed her to say it slow because attempting to say it quickly she was unable to say it.

Collector’s Name: Caroline Atwood

Tags/Keywords:

Tongue Twister
Spanish
Mexico

Spanish Tongue Twister “Pepe Pecas”

Title: Pepe Pecas

General Information about Item:

Tongue Twister
Language: Spanish
Country of Origin: Mexico
Informant: Yasmin Ochoa
Date Collected: 10-18-18

Informant Data:

The informant is Yasmin Ochoa. She was born in Michoacán, Mexico. She came to the United States when she was a toddler. She is currently a sophomore at Dartmouth College. She is a Spanish native speaker and only speaks with her family in Spanish. A lot of her family still resides in Mexico and she returns there for a month every year. She still feels very connected to the culture and people due to her visits to see her family in Mexico.

Contextual Data:

Cultural Context: Tongue Twisters in Spanish speaking countries are used in a similar way and in similar places as other cultures. Tongue Twisters are most common with children who are taught them in order to learn difficult sounds and methods of speaking. These tongue twisters can be used as entertainment for children during playtime or be part of a tongue twister contest where students compete be able to speak it the fastest or the best at speaking it are some of the most popular uses. Spanish language has many difficult sounds and words with many consonants that have to be said rather fast
Social Context: This is a common Spanish language tongue twister. There is no specific group that this is said by, but it is extremely common to hear young children on playgrounds challenging each other to say it to show off to their friends and classmates. It is more popular in Mexico than in other Latin American countries. The longer length makes it more difficult to learn.

Item:

Original Spanish: Pepe Pecas pica papas con un pico, con un pico pica papas Pepe Pecas. Si Pepe Pecas pica papas con un pico, ¿Dónde está el pico con pepe pecas pica papas
Translation: Pepe Pecas chops potatoes with a pick, with a pick chops potatoes Pepe Pecas. If Pepe Pecas chops potatoes with a pick, where is the pick with which Pepe Pecas chops potatoes?

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

Tongue Twister

Full Interview:

Informant’s Comments:

Pepe Pecas is the name of a person, but it is not a very common name.

Collector’s Comments:

I had heard this one before the informant told me about it from taking Spanish classes. You are supposed to say it extremely fast while having perfect pronunciation. It is found in other places than Mexico.

Collector’s Name: Caroline Atwood

Tags/Keywords:

Tongue Twister
Spanish
Mexico

Spanish Tongue Twisters “Sucesion Sucesiva”

Title: Sucesion Sucesiva

General Information about Item:

Tongue Twister
Language: Spanish
Country of Origin: Mexico
Informant: Yasmin Ochoa
Date Collected: 10-18-18

Informant Data:

The informant is Yasmin Ochoa. She was born in Michoacán, Mexico. She came to the United States when she was a toddler. She is currently a sophomore at Dartmouth College. She is a Spanish native speaker and only speaks with her family in Spanish. A lot of her family still resides in Mexico and she returns there for a month every year. She still feels very connected to the culture and people due to her visits to see her family in Mexico.

Contextual Data:

Cultural Context: Tongue Twisters in Spanish speaking countries are used in a similar way and in similar places as other cultures. Tongue Twisters are most common with children who are taught them in order to learn difficult sounds and methods of speaking. These tongue twisters can be used as entertainment for children during playtime or be part of a tongue twister contest where students compete be able to speak it the fastest or the best at speaking it are some of the most popular uses. Spanish language has many difficult sounds and words with many consonants that have to be said rather fast.
Social Context: Growing up many Spanish-speaking children have difficulty pronouncing the s sound properly and this tongue twister provides a big challenge as they attempt to learn to say it. Mostly said by children on playgrounds as a challenge.

Item:

Original Spanish: La sucesión sucesiva de sucesos sucede sucesivamente con la sucesión del tiempo.
Translation: The successive succession of events happens successively with the succession of time

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

Tongue Twister:

Full Interview:

Informant’s Comments:

This is mostly said by children all over Latin America, not only in Mexico.

Collector’s Comments:

This was one of the shorter tongue twisters and one of the more easy ones. The informant attempted to teach me all of the tongue twisters and I was able to do this one after a few tries.

Collector’s Name: Caroline Atwood

Tags/Keywords:

Tongue Twister
Spanish
Mexico

Dartmouth Folklore Archive

local and world folklore collected by students in Russian 13

Tongue Twisters

Main Findings

Presentation Link

Collectors:

Tags/Keywords:

Title: Pablito Clavo

Title: “Pancha Plancha”

Title: “Tres Tristes Tigres”

Title: Parangaricutirimícuaro

Title: Pepe Pecas

Title: Sucesion Sucesiva