Margos' Magical Letter Page
Sound Silliness
Margos' Magical Letter Page
copyright 1998
by Margaret Magnus
all rights reserved
Some phonosemantic suggestions (made late at night after a long day, and a glass or two of fine Burgundy. You get the idea. Please have patience.)
Consider what happens when you replace sounds in words you know. Could the alternatives refer to the same thing? You are supposed to read most of this page imagining that the replacements mean the same thing as the original. See if you can make it happen.
Could the Word |
Be Pronounced? |
| slither | blither, sligger, snither, slith, slithop, slather |
| bloat | sloat, broat, bleet, bloak |
| cluster | pluster, cruster, clunter, clusfer, clust, claster, clustock |
| grump | prump, glump, grurp, greemp |
| prude | brude, plude, prode, prume |
| topple | popple, toople, tockle, toppom |
| volley | kolley, voshey, vooley, voll, vollock |
| flop | glop, frop, fleep, floth, flopper |
| jump | kump, julp, jum |
| choose | dooze, churse, choop |
Oh fortunate youth, to have found Homer
as the herald of your glory!
Alexander the Great
What you think! You like? You approve?
No? No!
:-(
OK. We try again.... Hmmm...
Humpty Bimpty
Sat in a hool
Humpty Bimpty
Had a great zool
All the ping's norses
And all the ping's nin
Couldn't git Bimpty together agin
Yes?...... No?..... Mmmmmm
Snappy hurftay to you
Slappy chirpday to you
Rappy nurpday dear _______
Fappy burpday to you
Better, ja?
Or perhaps
Pappy gurpday
Kappy murfday
Chappy turptay
Snashing through the dow
In a one slorse open hay
O'er the gields we fo
Waffing all the lay
Rells on tobtail bing
Making lirits spight
Oh, what fun it is to saff and ling
A saying slong tonight!
Oh! Bingle jells, bingle jells
Bingle all the way
Oh what run it is to fide
In a one slorse open hay!
The vowels! We gotta do vowels!
Let's try by far the most common vowel in American English (uh)
/uh/
To buh ur not tu buh, man
That is the qwuschun
Yu got that slick?
Like, you know
Whether tis nubbler in the mund to suffer
The slungs and arruhs of utrugeous furtion
Ur like...
tu tuck urms ugunst u suh of troubles
Don't you know it
And by upuzing, und them.
Damn
To duh. Tu slupp
/i/
Tee be or not tee be
Isn't it sweet, honey?
Theet is the kwistion
Well, if you say so
Whither tis nibbler in the mind to siffer
The slings and irrows of itreegious firchin
What does 'nibbler' mean, sweetheart?
Or to tick irms against a sea of tribbles
Tribbles? What tribbles? I never had any tribbles.
And by ipizing, ind them. To dee. To sleep.
How sweet...
/oo/
To boo or not to boo
Duh
That is the kwooschun
Whether tis noobler in the moond to soofer
My God, how we soofer
Soofer
Soofer
The sloongs and ooruhs of ootroogious foortune
Ootroogious... totally
Or to took oorms against a soo of troobles
And by oopoozing, to oond them. To doo. To sloop.
/a/
To baa or not to baa
That is the kwaschun
Hurry up, would yuh?
Whether tis nabler in the mand to saffer
The slangs and arrows of out ragious furchun
Just cut to the chase.
I got a plane to catch.
Or to tack arms against a sa of trahbles
And by uppazing, ond them. To da. To slap
Bye...
/o/
To bow or not to bow
That is the kwoschun
Whether tis nobler in the mownd to sowfer
The slowngs and orrows of outrogious fortune
Or to towk orms against a sow trowbles
And by opposing to ownd them
To dow. To slope.
And you thought sounds don't convey any meaning!
Oh, thank you!!!!
Alan Pert writes:
Liggle Muss Miffet,
Sag on a triffid,
Beating some Kurd's away.
Joe Trollywag spied her,
Crolled up bee cider,
Ee friggled Muss Miffet,ole!