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Jeringonza – A Spanish Word Game Like Pig Latin, with Portuguese and Italian Versions

Thursday, November 5th, 2009

Jeringonza is played in Spain and throughout Latin America. It’s also found in Portuguese speaking Brazil and even in Italy. It’s a secret language for kids – just like the English word game Pig Latin.

(I’m going to make all the changes to the words in bold below to help you learn how to create the secret languages.)

In Pig Latin, you create a secret language – that adults don’t understand unless they played the games themselves. You do it by taking the first letter off the beginning of each word and add it to the end of the word. Then put “ay” after that. So, the word “tomorrow” becomes “omorrow-tay“. If the first two letters of the word are two consonants making one sound, (like “st”, “sp”, “tr”, etc.) both letters get moved to the end of the word. Thus, “star” becomes “ar-stay“.

There are different ways to play Jeringonza depending on the country. The most common way is to add a “P” after each vowel in a word, and then after the “P” you repeat the vowel again. So “Chile” would become “Chi-pi-le-pe“.

In Puerto Rico, you add “chi” before each syllable of the word. So the word “gato” (cat) becomes chi-ga-chi-to. Say it out loud. It’s very rhythmic!

In Brazil, the game is called Língua do Pê (P language). It’s rules are like the “P” rules for Spanish above – you add a “P” after each vowel in a word, and then after the “P” you repeat the vowel again. So “carro” (car) becomes “car-pa-ro-po“.

In Italy, the game is called Alfabeto Farfallino (Farfallino Alphabet) – because you add “F” to words making them sound like the word “farfallino”. Actually, the rules are again like the “P” rules for Spanish above – but with an “F” instead: The most common way is to add a “F” after each vowel in a word, and then after the “F” you repeat the vowel again. So, “luna” becomes “lu-fu-na-fa“.

Have fun having secret conversations!

Please, feel free to share your word games with us in the comments below.

Cheers!

Mama Lisa

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Posted in Alfabeto Farfallino, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Countries & Cultures, English, Games, Italian, Italy, Jeringonza, Languages, P Language, Pig Latin, Portuguese, Puerto Rico, Spain, Spanish, Uruguay, Venezuela | 3 Comments »

Can Anyone Help with a Portuguese Nursery Rhyme?

Wednesday, February 18th, 2009

Cyndi wrote asking about a rhyme from her grandmother…

Lisa,

My grandmother always said the same nursery rhyme. She has recently passed away and I would love to know what it means.

Words (I am not sure of the spelling), this was not an English rhyme. It is believed to have been Portuguese, but I am not sure.

Bo wo skee wat tin dot tin
wa dot tin chew
isk a diddly, diddly dee
isk a diddly, diddly dee
bo wo skee wat tin dot tin
wa dot tin chew

Any help you can give on this would be much appreciated.

Thanks,

Cyndi

If anyone can help with the original words to the rhyme and/or an English translation, that would be great! Please let us know in the comments below.

Thanks!

Mama Lisa

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Posted in Brazil, Countries & Cultures, Languages, Mama Lisa, Nursery Rhymes, Portugal, Portuguese, Portuguese Nursery Rhymes, Questions, Readers Questions | 5 Comments »

Can Someone Help with a Song Called “Sambalale”?

Sunday, September 28th, 2008

Ellen wrote:

I’m looking for the origin of a song entitled “Sambalale.” It’s about a boy who is a show off and is trying to get a mango out of a tree. Raffi credits it to Brazil but I can’t find anything on this. It’s one of my preschool favorites.

E. Harold-Stein

If anyone can help with the origin of “Sambalale”, and/or the original lyrics and/or an English translation, please comment below.

Thanks!

Mama Lisa

Here’s a YouTube video I found with the name “Sambalelê na Kalimba”. They call it a Brazilian Folk Song (perhaps this is the same song?). Either way it’s great!

UPDATE: You can find the correct Samba Lele lyrics with an MP3 Recording, midi tune score and English, French and Spanish translations on Mama Lisa’s World! It is a Brazilian Folk Song in Portuguese.

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Posted in Brazil, Brazilian Folk Songs, Countries & Cultures, Folk Songs, Languages, Portuguese, Questions | 9 Comments »

Multilingual Kids Books on the Web

Thursday, January 3rd, 2008

I’ve been asked twice in the past week for free multilingual books.

Here’s a link I found called Books in Multiple Languages. They have English children’s books with translations in Spanish, French, Polish, Italian, Romanian, German, Chinese, Finnish, Swedish, Maori, Greek, Dutch, Farsi (Persian), Afrikaans, Croatian, Turkish, Russian, Japanese, Ukrainian, Portuguese, Arabic, Hebrew, Pennsylvania Dutch, Sloven, Indonesian, Malaysian, Hungarian, Dari, Hindi and Filipino.

If anyone knows of any other good multilingual book links, feel free to let us know about it in the comments below.

Someone was also looking for children’s books with animal sounds around the world. There’s one called Who Says a Dog Goes Bow Wow? by Hank de Zutter. You can click the link to see it on Amazon.

-Mama Lisa

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Posted in Afrikaans, Arabic, Bahasa Indonesia, Bahasa Malay, Book Sites, Books, Cantonese, Chinese, Countries & Cultures, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hindi, Hungarian, Japanese, Kids Books, Languages, Languages, Learning, Mandarin, Maori, Pennsylvania Dutch, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Reading, Recommendations, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, USA, Ukrainian | 6 Comments »

Does Anyone Know of a cd with Portuguese Kids Songs? Or would someone like to sing a couple of songs for us?

Saturday, July 14th, 2007

Teresa wrote:

I would love to buy a cd with all those Portuguese nursery rhymes. I have been trying to search on the net and I just can not find anything. Any ideas on how to get the cd with songs featured in your home page.

Thanks
Teresa

I found a couple of Portuguese Children’s cd’s on CD Baby. I’ve never heard them – but you can listen to clips on the site. You can click the link to get there. Or, if anyone would like to recommend a CD or would like to sing some of the songs on my Portuguese children’s song pages, please comment below or email me.

Thanks!

Lisa

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Posted in Brazil, CD's, Children's Songs, Countries & Cultures, Languages, Music, Portugal, Portuguese, Portuguese Children's Songs, Questions, Readers Questions, Recommendations | 3 Comments »

Looking for a Portuguese Saying or Nursery Rhyme for a Baby Shower

Wednesday, January 31st, 2007

I received this note yesterday:

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone could suggest a nursery rhyme, song or quite from a classic children’s book that is in Portuguese. I am doing my sister-in-law’s baby shower invite and would love to put something like this on there, in her language.

Thank you

If anyone can help out, please comment below.

Thanks!

Lisa

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Posted in Brazil, Children's Songs, Countries & Cultures, Languages, Nursery Rhymes, Portugal, Portuguese, Portuguese Children's Songs, Portuguese Nursery Rhymes, Questions, Readers Questions | 2 Comments »

Free Online Language Dictionaries

Friday, December 22nd, 2006

While I have this link at hand, I’d like to recommend www.freedict.com. It’s a site devoted to free online language dictionaries. You can translate between English and the following languages:

Afrikaans
Danish
Dutch
Finnish
French
Hungarian
Indonesian
Italian
Japanese
Latin
Norwegian
Portuguese
Russian
Spanish
Swahili
Swedish

I find that it can usually succeed at translating the words I need.

Feel free to recommend other language dictionaries that you like in the comments below.

-Lisa

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Posted in Argentina, Australia, Bahasa Indonesia, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Countries & Cultures, Danish, Denmark, Dutch, English, Finland, Finnish, France, French, Great Britain, Holland, Hungarian, Hungary, Indonesia, Italian, Italy, Japan, Japanese, Kenya, Language Dictionaries, Languages, Languages, Latin, Learning, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Norwegian, Online Dictionaries, Portugal, Portuguese, Recommendations, Russia, Russian, Spain, Spanish, Swahili, Sweden, Swedish, USA | 1 Comment »

Great Link for Language Learning

Monday, December 4th, 2006

If you’re trying to learn a new language, I’d recommend checking out LanguageGuide.org.

Users visit different theme related pages (i.e. about insects, the family, the farm). Each page has images related to the theme. You place your cursor over the images and hear their names pronounced and see them spelled out in the language you choose.

Because it’s visually based, these pages can be used by anyone in the world, regardless of your native language.

Here are the languages they have:

English (English)
Italian (Italiano)
Arabic (عربي;)
Spanish (Español)
Portuguese (Português)
Mandarin Chinese (普通话)
French (Français)
Russian (Русский)
Japanese (日本語 Nihongo)
German (Deutsch)
Hebrew (עברית)

So if you’re interested in learning any of these languages, or improving your skills, check it out!

-Lisa

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Posted in Arabic, China, Chinese, Countries & Cultures, English, France, French, German, Germany, Hebrew, Israel, Italian, Italy, Japan, Japanese, Language Sites, Languages, Languages, Languages, Learning, Mandarin, Portugal, Portuguese, Recommendations, Russia, Russian, Spanish, Teaching | No Comments »

Portuguese Lullaby – NANA, NENE

Saturday, October 21st, 2006

Here’s a lullaby in Portuguese (possibly from Brazil), with an English translation…

Nana, nenè,
na casa do vovo,
vovô no tien cochão,
o nenè dorme no chão

Sleep, baby
At grandpa’s house
Grandpa doesn’t have a mattress
The baby sleeps on the ground.

If anyone knows the tune and can send me a recording, midi or sheet music, please email me. I also welcome information about the origin of this song.

Thanks!

Lisa

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Posted in Brazil, Children's Songs, Countries & Cultures, Languages, Lullabies, Mama Lisa, Portugal, Portuguese, Portuguese Lullabies | 9 Comments »

Please Send An Endearing Term for Grandma and Grandpa in Your Language

Wednesday, March 15th, 2006

Kathy wrote me…

Dear Mamalisa,

I was delighted to find your website and will be using it in the future. I am researching translations for the word “grandma” in various languages. I am most interested in the familiar, sweet terms children might call this individual. I am aware that in some cultures this would be a different word for the mother or the father’s side of the family. I have spent hours on Internet, through many websites as well as your website and links. I have thus found: Cajun, Hawaiian, Ukrainian, Italian, Scottish, Irish, Portuguese, Danish, Dutch, French, Spanish, and Farsi. I am not clear about Russian or Greek since I am not completely sure of their letters. Now I am certainly not expecting you to do hours of research for my project. But I thought you might be familiar with an easier way for me to accomplish my task.

For example, I happened on a page called “I Love You” in Various Languages and found 18 pages for “I love you”. Wow! Anyway, whatever help you can give me would be much appreciated.

Thank you in advance for your assistance.

Kathy

If anyone knows any endearing terms for “grandma” and “grandpa”, including any in those languages listed, please comment below.

Thanks!

Lisa

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Posted in Cantonese, China, Countries & Cultures, France, French, German, Germany, Grandma, Grandpa, Greece, Greek, Hawaii, Hawaiian, Hong Kong, Hungarian, Hungary, Ireland, Japan, Japanese, Languages, N. Ireland, Occitan, Occitan, Poland, Polish, Portugal, Portuguese, Questions, Scotland, Scottish, Spanish, Sweden, Swedish, Words & Phrases, Yiddish | 114 Comments »

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Archive for the 'Portuguese' Category

Contents

Posts

Jeringonza – A Spanish Word Game Like Pig Latin, with Portuguese and Italian Versions

Can Anyone Help with a Portuguese Nursery Rhyme?

Can Someone Help with a Song Called “Sambalale”?

Multilingual Kids Books on the Web

Does Anyone Know of a cd with Portuguese Kids Songs? Or would someone like to sing a couple of songs for us?

Looking for a Portuguese Saying or Nursery Rhyme for a Baby Shower

Free Online Language Dictionaries

Great Link for Language Learning

Portuguese Lullaby – NANA, NENE

Please Send An Endearing Term for Grandma and Grandpa in Your Language