<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/JpQqV7l2.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/JpQqV7l2.png" alt="Extract from Jaw Yuanrenn's &quot;Faanchiehyeu Bajoong&quot; 反切語八種" /></a></p>
<p>Yes, 反切 is used to (1) cut Chinese syllables in half; (2) assign each half to a different character: A and B, thereby obscuring C, the original character.
Since the end of the Han Dynasty, a pair of characters (反切上字， 反切下字:AB) has been used to annotate the pronunciation of Chinese characters (C), a technique called 反切 f<em>aa</em>nchie<em>h</em> / fǎnqiè. The usual formula was originally {C, AB 反}, then became {C, AB 切} (changed because the character 反 could suggest rebellion, hence the name 反切 for the technique.</p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/KP0DzfIG.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/KP0DzfIG.png" alt="Initial + Medial (roughly CV) structure of Chinese syllables" /></a></p>
<p>The initial consonant of the first character <strong>{A}</strong> is combined with the final (= medial vowel, main vowel, coda and tone) of the second character <strong>{B}</strong> to indicate the pronunciation of the character to be annotated <strong>{C}</strong>. Bopomofo and GR Tonal Spelling are essentially easier, updated versions of 反切.</p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/Da13ztF4.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/Da13ztF4.png" alt="page 132 of Faanchiehyeu Bajoong 反切語八種" /></a></p>
<p>In 1931, Ja<em>w</em> <em>Y</em>uanre<em>nn</em> wrote a scholarly article detailing eight types of 反切語 used in various Chinese dialects. A small excerpt appears at the top of this post. The article starts by explaining other ways to obfuscate the pronunciation of Chinese words, including riddle-like paraphrases of numbers used in Sujou / Sūzhōu (Ex. 四 = 側目, 4 = sideways eye). However, the bulk of the article is devoted to Faanchieh variants and the tricky rules that they follow.</p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/7olbDGre.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/7olbDGre.png" alt="Second excerpt from Faanchiehyeu Bajoong" /></a></p>
<p>A bit of Chinese phonology background can help readers understand what Jaw is talking about. Mandarin syllables include 聲母 initials, 韻母 finals, and three different medial vowels (or none at all, rendered by a): IPA /a,i,u,y/ (but /a,j,w,ɥ/ is more precise), called 四呼 = 開口呼、齊齒呼、合口呼、撮口呼. These terms can be simplified as Row-a, Row-i, Row-u, and Row-iu (GR uses this digraph to render Mandarin's high front rounded vowel /y/).</p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/TMWFoOHJ.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/TMWFoOHJ.png" alt="四呼 = 開口呼、齊齒呼、合口呼、撮口呼 simplified and translated by Robert Matthews 馬學進" /></a></p>
<p>Note that in ROC Mandarin, 撮 is 4th tone (tsuo<em>h</em> / cuò), but in PRC Mandarin it has been assigned to the 1st tone (tsuo / cuō).</p>
<p>Most dialectal <em>faanchiehyeu</em> are left to right renditions (Initial + Final), but some are right to left (Final + Initial) to further confuse a casual listener
This twist is similar to French <em>Verlan</em> /vɛʁlɑ͂/ (phonetic spelling of à l'envers &quot;backwards&quot;. In <em>Verlan</em>, for example, the word <em>Arabe</em> /aʁab/ drops the initial A-, changes the vowel to /œ/, then reverses the consonants to produce /bœʁ/, which sounds like <em>beurre</em> &quot;butter&quot;. <em>Femme</em> &quot;woman, wife&quot; when reversed becomes <em>meuf</em>:
<em>Arabe --&gt; beur
Femme --&gt; meuf</em></p>
<p>Some Chinese dialects (such as 蘇州, type 6) perform syllable reversals similar to Verlan : BA = C.</p>
<p>In 蘇州：
夫 fu = 烏 u + 分 fən
房 vɒŋ = 王 wɒŋ + 文 vən
牛 ɲʏ = 由 jʏ + 銀 ɲən</p>
<p>趙元任 discusses the tricky cases and exceptions necessary to master each type of 反切語.</p>
<p>Interested readers can download the original paper from Academia Sinica in Taipei:</p>
<p><a href="https://www11.ihp.sinica.edu.tw/storage/w2_file/5049FkzPdJV.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www11.ihp.sinica.edu.tw/storage/w2_file/5049FkzPdJV.pdf</a></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-12-24T15:46:16.750Z
2024-12-25T04:38:56.460Z
2024-12-25T04:38:56.460Z
Robert MATTHEWS 馬學進
<p>No, as far as I know.
In some meme videos, some may drop the vowels and perform memes to make them even more hilarious, but not in daily conversations.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-03-22T12:05:15.303Z
2024-03-22T12:05:15.303Z
Vincent
<p>In English, Pig Latin is a way of speaking (or less commonly writing) to disguise the content in a simple way to make it difficult for outsiders or people not familiar with Pig Latin to understand what is being said.</p>
<p>E.g in Pig Latin one takes the first consonant sound of a word, moves it to the end and adds the phoneme -ay. Words starting with a vowel gain the suffix &quot;way&quot;.</p>
<p>cat -&gt; atcay,
dog -&gt; ogcay,
fish -&gt; ishfay,
otter -&gt; otterway.</p>
<p>I am vegan; I don't eat meat -&gt; Iway amway eganvay; Iway ontday eatway eatmay.</p>
<p>Does Chinese (specifically Mandarin) have anything like this?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-03-18T16:33:00.630Z
Any suitable answers here: https://chinese.stackexchange.com/q/54904/4136?
Mou某
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-03-19T01:27:51.140Z
Those look interesting, but they seem to be for calculation by a computer rather than in real-time by a human.
mattp
<games>
Does Mandarin have any argots/cants like Pig Latin in English or Šatrovački in Serbian?
# Does Mandarin have any argots/cants like Pig Latin in English or Šatrovački in Serbian?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2024-03-18)

In English, Pig Latin is a way of speaking (or less commonly writing) to disguise the content in a simple way to make it difficult for outsiders or people not familiar with Pig Latin to understand what is being said.

E.g in Pig Latin one takes the first consonant sound of a word, moves it to the end and adds the phoneme -ay. Words starting with a vowel gain the suffix "way".

cat -> atcay,
dog -> ogcay,
fish -> ishfay,
otter -> otterway.

I am vegan; I don't eat meat -> Iway amway eganvay; Iway ontday eatway eatmay.

Does Chinese (specifically Mandarin) have anything like this?

**Tags:** games

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Any suitable answers here: https://chinese.stackexchange.com/q/54904/4136?  
> **username_0**: Those look interesting, but they seem to be for calculation by a computer rather than in real-time by a human.  

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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2024-12-24. Score: 1

[![Extract from Jaw Yuanrenn's ](https://i.sstatic.net/JpQqV7l2.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/JpQqV7l2.png)

Yes, 反切 is used to (1) cut Chinese syllables in half; (2) assign each half to a different character: A and B, thereby obscuring C, the original character.
Since the end of the Han Dynasty, a pair of characters (反切上字， 反切下字:AB) has been used to annotate the pronunciation of Chinese characters (C), a technique called 反切 f*aa*nchie*h* / fǎnqiè. The usual formula was originally {C, AB 反}, then became {C, AB 切} (changed because the character 反 could suggest rebellion, hence the name 反切 for the technique.

[![Initial + Medial (roughly CV) structure of Chinese syllables](https://i.sstatic.net/KP0DzfIG.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/KP0DzfIG.png)

The initial consonant of the first character **{A}** is combined with the final (= medial vowel, main vowel, coda and tone) of the second character **{B}** to indicate the pronunciation of the character to be annotated **{C}**. Bopomofo and GR Tonal Spelling are essentially easier, updated versions of 反切.

[![page 132 of Faanchiehyeu Bajoong 反切語八種](https://i.sstatic.net/Da13ztF4.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/Da13ztF4.png)

In 1931, Ja*w* *Y*uanre*nn* wrote a scholarly article detailing eight types of 反切語 used in various Chinese dialects. A small excerpt appears at the top of this post. The article starts by explaining other ways to obfuscate the pronunciation of Chinese words, including riddle-like paraphrases of numbers used in Sujou / Sūzhōu (Ex. 四 = 側目, 4 = sideways eye). However, the bulk of the article is devoted to Faanchieh variants and the tricky rules that they follow.

[![Second excerpt from Faanchiehyeu Bajoong](https://i.sstatic.net/7olbDGre.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/7olbDGre.png)

A bit of Chinese phonology background can help readers understand what Jaw is talking about. Mandarin syllables include 聲母 initials, 韻母 finals, and three different medial vowels (or none at all, rendered by a): IPA /a,i,u,y/ (but /a,j,w,ɥ/ is more precise), called 四呼 = 開口呼、齊齒呼、合口呼、撮口呼. These terms can be simplified as Row-a, Row-i, Row-u, and Row-iu (GR uses this digraph to render Mandarin's high front rounded vowel /y/).

[![四呼 = 開口呼、齊齒呼、合口呼、撮口呼 simplified and translated by Robert Matthews 馬學進](https://i.sstatic.net/TMWFoOHJ.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/TMWFoOHJ.png)

Note that in ROC Mandarin, 撮 is 4th tone (tsuo*h* / cuò), but in PRC Mandarin it has been assigned to the 1st tone (tsuo / cuō).

Most dialectal *faanchiehyeu* are left to right renditions (Initial + Final), but some are right to left (Final + Initial) to further confuse a casual listener
This twist is similar to French *Verlan* /vɛʁlɑ͂/ (phonetic spelling of à l'envers "backwards". In *Verlan*, for example, the word *Arabe* /aʁab/ drops the initial A-, changes the vowel to /œ/, then reverses the consonants to produce /bœʁ/, which sounds like *beurre* "butter". *Femme* "woman, wife" when reversed becomes *meuf*:
*Arabe --> beur
Femme --> meuf*

Some Chinese dialects (such as 蘇州, type 6) perform syllable reversals similar to Verlan : BA = C.

In 蘇州：
夫 fu = 烏 u + 分 fən
房 vɒŋ = 王 wɒŋ + 文 vən
牛 ɲʏ = 由 jʏ + 銀 ɲən

趙元任 discusses the tricky cases and exceptions necessary to master each type of 反切語.

Interested readers can download the original paper from Academia Sinica in Taipei:

<https://www11.ihp.sinica.edu.tw/storage/w2_file/5049FkzPdJV.pdf>


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### Answer by username_3 on 2024-03-22. Score: 0

No, as far as I know.
In some meme videos, some may drop the vowels and perform memes to make them even more hilarious, but not in daily conversations.


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