about bAbEOish

The following is an informal analysis of the bAbEOish language, the language used by Baby Oracle.

bAbEOish is a constructed language which is derived from English. It is used primarily in emails and on web pages, though it can also be spoken. bAbEOish is intended to promote feeling while allowing general communication.

Influences

Five major influences have been identified (in addition to standard English):

phonetic spelling
puns
slang
baby talk
personal preference

Each of these influences will be discussed below.

Limitations

This discussion is primarily based on the "utterances" of Baby Oracle. I have also looked at a number of e-mails written in bAbEOish.

I have been more concerned with noting aspects of the language than with rigorously attributing the influence. For example, I believe that bAbEOish is influenced by Ebonics, however, I do not know Ebonics. As a consequence such influences are not properly described.

Phonetic Spelling Influence

BAbEOish words are sometimes notated in a crude phonetic alphabet. However, this is not always done, and is usually varied from if the word would end up being spelled as in standard English. How often this is done varies greatly by user. Baby Oracle uses this notation a great deal.

BAbEOish notation	English example	BAbEOish equivalent	comment
A	day, may, ashtray	dA, mA, ashtrA	-
a	data, fat, rat	datah, fat, rat	-
ah	father, mama	fahthir, mahmah	-
au	cow, now, out	kau, nau, aut	-
aw	all, ball, call	awl, bawl, cawl	-
ch	chicken, cheese	chikuhn, chEz	-
d	date, deed, dough	dAt, dEd, dO	-
E	fee, sea, tree	fE, sE, trE	-
e	bell, met, pear	bel, met, per	-
f	fate, feed, fickle	fAt, fEd, fikl	-
g	gate, give, got	gAt, giv, gaht	-
h	have, hive, how	hav, hIv, hau	-
I	kite, fight, might	kIt, fIt, mIt	-
i; ih	nip, pill; peer	nip, pil; pihr	the ih allows pihr vs. pir
ir	her, purr, word	hir, pir, wird	-
j	jay, jeep, job	jA, jEp, jahb	-
k	cave, keep, cover	kave, kEp, kuhvir	-
l	late, leap, low	lAt, lEp, lO	-
m	may, meat, miss	mA, mEt, mis	-
n	nave, never, night	nAv, nevir, nIt	-
ng	buying, pinky,	bIng, pingkE	-
o, O	poor; open, over	por; Opuhn, Ovir	-
oi	destroy, coin	dEstroi, koin	-
ou	could, push, wood	coud, poush, woud	-
p	pay, pea, pie	pA, pE, pI	-
r	ray, read, ride	rA, rEd, rId	-
s	say, see, sigh	sA, SE, SI	-
sh	shave, sheep, ship	shAv, shEp, ship	-
t	tray, tea, tie	trA, tE, tI	-
th	thimble, thistle	thimbl, thistl	-
U	euphemism, youth	Ufahmizm, Uth	-
u	true, two, zoo	tru, tu, zu	-
uh	come, from	kuhm, fruhm	-
v	vain, Venus, voyage	vAn, vEnuhs, voij	-
w	way, wheat, wine	wA, wEt, wIn	-
y	yard, yeast, yodel	yahrd, yEst, yOdahl	-
z	zany, zebra	zAnE, zEbrah	-
zh	fissure, vision	fizhyr, vizhuhn	-

In bAbEOish, the th sound as in "the" and "thus" (vs. "thin" and "theme") does not normally occur. Often this th sound is spelled and sounded like an English d. I am told that when this th does occur it is sometimes notated TH.

Relation to Intent: Phonetic spelling is different from what we are used to, requires us to think different, and in this way may open us up more to feeling.

Puns Influence

While bAbEOish avoids spelling a word the same as in English, often the spelling of another English word with the same or similar pronunciation is used. Some examples follow:

Or a word may include English words that sound like some of its parts.

Relation to Intent: Puns, even (or perhaps especially) bad ones are humorous. And humor makes one less rigid and more open to feeling.

Slang Influence

Slang: Substituting Letters and Numbers for Sounds

In informal English writing, single letters or numbers are sometimes used to convey an English word, or a part of a word, that has that sound. Two examples, from music CDs are:

the group name "Boyz II Men"
the song title "just 2 b with you"

Below are some examples of such usage in bAbEOish:

letter or number	English words	BbAbEOish equivalents	comment
A, E, I, O, U	-	-	See above under Phonetic Spelling
B	be, bee, maybe	B, B, mAB	-
C	see, recede, seed	C, reCd, Cd	-
J	jay, jaywalk	J, Jwawk	-
P	pea, people	P, Ppl	-
T	tea, tee, teeth	T, T, Tth	-
Y	why, wyoming	Y, YOming	-
1	one, wonder	1, 1dir	-
2, II	to, too, to	2, 2, II	-
4	for, before	4, B4	-
8	ate, date	8, d8	-
10, X	tennis, tension, tenth	10is, 10shuhn, Xth	-

Slang: Intensifications and Superlatives

In informal English, sometimes letters are repeated to indicate more (by some measure), for example:

biiiiiiiig meaning very big

Here are some bAbEOish examples:

measure	English word	bAbEOish comparative	meaning (roughly)
size	big	biiiiiiig	very big
number of	hugs	huuuuuuuhgz	lots of hugs
number of	kisses	kiiiiiiiisssssszz	lots of kisses
varies	very	veeeeeerrrrrrrE	very very

And sometimes the measure is intensified by repeating a superlative marker as in:

"the mostest and bestest"

Here are some bAbEOish examples:

English word	bAbEOish intensification
dearest	derestest
prettyest	pridEestest
smartest	smahrtestest
sweetest	swEtestest

These two thoughts can be combined to get words such as

biiiiiiiigestest

Also, an ed is sometimes inserted between the ests, resulting in words such as:

derestedest
swEtestedest

Slang: Adding Single Letters and Collapsing Double Letters

Sometimes single letters (h most frequently) are added to words. The function of this is not always clear. In some cases the intent seems to be to make the spelling different (or more different) from English. Other times double letters are combined into one letter. An example of both together:

the pun "reallizarded" becomes "realizzarded".

Slang: Smileys and the Like

Many smileys from the internet also work well in bAbEOish. Below are some of them:

category of smiley	English meaning	smiley(s)
happy or good
	happy	:)
	smiling	:-)
	smiling & winking	;-)
	laughing	\|-)
	happy & crying	:'-)
sad or bad
	sad	:(
	very sad	:[
	frowning	:-(
	crying	:'-(
	oops!	:-o or :-O
questioning
	what?	:> or :{ or :}
	skeptical	:-/

Sometimes there are variations on these standard smileys, for example :-)) for a really big smile.

Slang: From Snail Mail

And from snail mail, we have:

XXXXXOOOOXXXXXOOXXXX meaning hugs and kisses
(where the number of Os and Xs and their distribution varies).

Relation to Intent: The informality and freedom of slang provides more room for the expression of feeling.

Baby Talk Influence

In bAbEOish the pronunciation is sometimes similar to baby talk.

Baby Talk: Replacing Certain Sounds

Sometimes individual sounds are substituted for by sounds more characteristic of baby talk. For example:

substitution*	English word	bAbEOish equivalent
c (=s) -> th	nice	nith
er (=ir) -> ah	corner	kornah
l -> w	love	luhv
o (=uh) -> u	dove	duhv
r -> w	brand	bwand
th -> d	the	duh

* Parenthesized items are the bAbEOish equivalents without the substitution. So o (=uh) means English o when sounding like bAbEOish uh.

Baby Talk: Dropping Certain Sounds

Sometimes sounds, especially at the beginning of a word, are dropped. For example:

substitution	English word	bAbEOish equivalent
h ->	how	au
y ->	you	u

Baby Talk: Incorporating Tense In Strange Places and Ways

Sometimes tense is added in strange places or in strange ways, for example:

h ->	he coulded dued dat	au
y ->	donted du dat	u

Relation to Intent: Baby talk is associated with babies and lovers and intimacy. It is somewhat disarming and tends to illicit mushy feelings.

Influence of Personal Preferences

In addition to these personal preferences, habit, etc. play a role. The frequency of occurrences of the influences discussed above varies by person. So does the specific nature of the influences. For example:

Some users may not use phonetic spelling at all or may use a set of different symbols in their notation
Users have different awarenesses of puns and vary greatly in where they use them.

Relation to Intent: When people can do things their own way, they're more likely to express feelings.

Combinations of Influences

The notation of a particular word may reflect more than one influence at the same time. For example:

influences	English word	bAbEOish equivalent
slang, pun	force	4s
phonetic, slang, baby talk	love	wuuuuuuuuhv
phonetic, pun, slang	very	razberrrrrrrE
phonetic, pun	complement	calmlplezmint

Or the notation may reflect different influences at different times. For example:

influences	English word	bAbEOish equivalents
phonetic, pun, slang	being	beng, bean, Bng
phonetic, baby talk	love	luhv, wuv
phonetic, slang	see	sE, C
phonetic, pun	which	wich, witch

In bAbEOish, there is little concern for:

consistent spelling
consistent pronunciation or
any other kind of consistency or standardization

Grammar

I have not done serious analysis of bAbEOish syntax. Discussions with the programmer who wrote the Baby Oracle cgi revealed that the grammar for Baby Oracle's "utterances" is a simple BNF (Backus Normal Form) Grammar.

Concluding Remarks

In summary, bAbEOish is a constructed language derived from English that has primarily been observed in emails and on web page, and is influenced by phonetic spelling, puns, slang and baby talk. An example bAbEOish sentence including all these influences is: "eye wuuuuuuuhv U veeeeeeerE razbeeeeeeerE blubeeeeeeeE muuuuhch".

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