Ubbi dubbi
Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox language game Ubbi dubbi is a language game spoken with the English language. After decades of history and predecessors, it was widely popularized by the 1972–1978 PBS children's show Zoom.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> When Zoom was revived in 1999 on PBS, Ubbi dubbi was again a feature of the show.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Rules
[edit]Ubbi dubbi works by adding -ub- Template:IPAc-en before each vowel sound in a syllable<ref name=rogers>Template:Cite book</ref> (or, as a linguist might put it, "insert [ˈʌb] after each syllable onset").<ref name=byrd>Template:Cite book</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>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
In popular culture
[edit]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>Template:Cite news</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.
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>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
See also
[edit]- Pig Latin
- -izzle / 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 / 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