Editing Ubbi dubbi

{{Short description|Language game based on English}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2021}}
{{Infobox language game
|nativename     = Ububbubi Dububbubi
|classification = [[Gibberish (language game)|Gibberish]] family
|hostlanguage   = English
|region         = United States}}
'''Ubbi dubbi''' is a [[Language game (linguistics)|language game]] spoken with the English language. After decades of history and predecessors, it was widely popularized by the 1972–1978 [[Public Broadcasting Service|PBS]] children's show ''[[Zoom (1972 TV series)|Zoom]]''.<ref>{{cite news |last=Belkin |first=Douglas |title=Mouthing Off |url=http://www.boston.com/news/globe/magazine/articles/2005/05/01/mouthing_off/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050503200907/http://www.boston.com/news/globe/magazine/articles/2005/05/01/mouthing_off/ |archive-date=3 May 2005 |work=[[Boston Globe]] |date=1 May 2005 |page=318}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |chapter=Language Games |first=Bert |last=Vaux |title=The Handbook of Phonological Theory |edition=2nd |editor1-first=John |editor1-last=Goldsmith |editor2-first=Jason |editor2-last=Riggle |editor3-first=Alan C. L. |editor3-last=Yu |publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |date=2011 |isbn=978-1444343069 |doi=10.1002/9781444343069 |page=746}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Cooper |first1=Gael Fashingbauer |last2=Bellmont |first2=Brian |title=Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops?: The Lost Toys, Tastes, and Trends of the 70s and 80s |date=2011 |publisher=Tarcher-Peringee |isbn=978-0399536717 |pages=216–217}}</ref> When ''Zoom'' was [[Zoom (1999 TV series)|revived in 1999]] on PBS, Ubbi dubbi was again a feature of the show.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Newton |first1=Catherine |title=It's Ubbi-Dubbi all over again: "Zoom" zooms back to TV |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/136389959/?terms=%22ubbi%2Bdubbi%22 |access-date=13 June 2020 |work=Fort Worth Star-Telegram |date=20 January 1999}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Yuen |first1=Laura |title=Zoom Zoom Zoom-a Zoom: Ubbi Dubbi Is Back with Revitalized TV Show |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/535643786/?terms=%22ubbi%2Bdubbi%22 |access-date=13 June 2020 |work=[[Boston Globe]] |date=14 July 1998}}</ref>

==Rules==
Ubbi dubbi works by adding ''-ub-'' {{IPAc-en|ʌ|b}} before each vowel sound in a syllable<ref name=rogers>{{cite book|last1=Rogers|first1=Stephen D.|title=A Dictionary of Made-up Languages|date=2011|publisher=Adams Media|location=Avon, Mass.|isbn=978-1440530401|page=271|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GTXrDQAAQBAJ&dq=%22ubbi+dubbi%22&pg=PT411|access-date=23 December 2015}}</ref> (or, as a linguist might put it, "insert [ˈʌb] after each syllable onset").<ref name=byrd>{{cite book|last1=Byrd|first1=Dani|last2=Mintz|first2=Toben H.|title=Discovering Speech, Words, and Mind|date=2010|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|location=Malden, Mass.|isbn=9781405157988|page=197|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eHoY3t6AsywC&q=ubbi+dubbi&pg=PA197|access-date=23 December 2015|language=en}}</ref> The stress falls on the "ub" of the syllable that is stressed in the original word. In the word "hello" for example, which is stressed on the "-lo" syllable, the stress falls on the "lub" in "hubellubo".

The method of adding "ub" before each vowel sound has been described as "iterative [[infixation]]".<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Yu |first1=Alan C. L. |editor1-last=Chang |editor1-first=Charles B. |editor2-last=Haynie |editor2-first=Hannah J. |title=On Iterative Infixation |journal=Proceedings of the 26th West Coast Conference on Formal Linguistics |date=2008 |page=516 |url=http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.655.8157&rep=rep1&type=pdf |access-date=13 June 2020 |publisher=Cascadilla Proceedings Project |location=Somerville, Mass.|citeseerx=10.1.1.655.8157 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Nevins |first1=Andrew |last2=Endress |first2=Ansgar |title=The edge of order: analytic biases in ludlings |journal=Harvard Working Papers in Linguistics |date=2007 |volume=12 |page=43 |url=http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:3425913 |access-date=13 June 2020}}</ref>

== In popular culture ==
A variant of Ubbi Dubbi was popularized as the signature speech pattern of the cartoon character Mushmouth from the animated series ''[[Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids]]'' (1972), voiced by [[Bill Cosby]]. Cosby also used this speech variation in his "Dentist" monologue to illustrate the effects of [[Novocaine]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Haug |first=Kawehi |title=Everything's obee kaybee!: There's no rushing a good time of laughs, talk with Bill Cosby |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/258371537/?terms=%22ubbi%2Bdubbi%22 |access-date=13 June 2020 |work=The Honolulu Advertiser |pages=4–5 |date=15 January 2010}}</ref>

It was used in the episode "Mentalo Case" from the TV series ''[[The King of Queens]]'', between character Spence Olchin ([[Patton Oswalt]]) and a salesman at a toy convention.

It was also used between Penny and Amy in  the episode "The Veracity Elasticity" of ''[[The Big Bang Theory]]'' as a means of having a secret conversation, to counter Sheldon and Leonard's use of [[Klingon language|Klingon]].

In the video game ''[[Rayman Origins]]'', the Bubble Dreamer speaks Ubbi Dubbi.

Since 2019, the "Ubbi Dubbi Festival" in Texas has been a major [[electronic dance music]] event, whose founder named it after the language game.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://edm.com/interviews/disco-donnie-estopinal-ubbi-dubbi-interview |title="Disco Donnie" Estopinal Talks Ubbi Dubbi and DDP's 25-Year Anniversary |work=EDM.com |date=6 April 2019 |access-date=21 April 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://thedailycougar.com/2024/05/30/festival-review-ubbi-dubbi/ |title=Festival Review: Ubbi Dubbi |first=Regan |last=Grant |work=The Daily Cougar |publisher=University of Houston |date=30 May 2024 |access-date=21 April 2025}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Pig Latin]]
* [[:wiktionary:-izzle|-izzle]] / [[Double Dutch Bus|Dizzouble Dizzutch]] (a.k.a. "shizzolation")
* [[Javanais]], a similar slang version of French
* [[Jeringonza]], a similar language game in Spanish and Portuguese
* [[Língua_do_Pê|Língua do Pê / p-taal]] in Portuguese, Dutch and Estonian
* [[Rövarspråket]]
* [[Tutnese]] (language game)
* [[Farfallino alphabet]]
* [[A-Ba-Ni-Bi]] - a Eurovision winning Hebrew-language song based on a similar /b/ based language game

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://funtranslations.com/ubbi-dubbi Ubbi Dubbi Translator]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsU-wZInapA A how to speak tutorial on YouTube]

[[Category:Language games]]
[[Category:English-based argots]]