Tutnese: The History Of The Mysterious Language Game

“Tuthushe lulanunguguaguge off tututut isus easusyug tuto lulearugnun!”

After reading this for a few minutes, you will see that it says “Tutnese language of tut is easy to learn.” Growing up in Black communities back in the days, mothers and peer groups used to speak Tutnese privately or just for fun.

Tutunese, also known as Tut, is quite a unique language that grew in the Black community during slavery. 

It is believed that Tut was also formed to replace the language slaves spoke. When they were taken away from Africa, slaves needed a universal language, and some reports claim that Tut was created to serve as the universal language of slaves.

Is Tut a real Language?

Tut is a form of English language that was invented in the 18th century by slaves in the southern states of America. It is also known as Double Dutch. It is a language that sounds bizarre and incomprehensible to anyone who doesn’t understand its rules or the logic behind it.

It sounds a lot like English, but its peculiarities make it difficult to understand, and it may sound confusing to listeners who do not understand the language.

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Learning the History of Tut

Tut is a language developed around 250 years ago by enslaved African Americans in the American South to teach spelling and communicate secretly.

At that time, literacy was forbidden among Blacks, so they needed a way to spell but by breaking the rules of standard English.

In spite of the risk, mothers taught their children how to read and speak it, who then taught their children, and the language was passed from one generation to the next. In most cases, Tut was learned at a very young age when children hear their mothers speak it with their older relatives.

Today, Tut, is classified as a dead language, but a good number of African American families still speak and teach it as a way to stay connected to their past.

In Tut, every vowel is said as it is named, while every consonant has its own word. There are slight differences in the way each consonant is pronounced in different regions of the United States.

In some families, the consonant W is pronounced “wax”, while in other regions, it is pronounced as “wug.” We see a similar case in the consonant H. in certain places; it is pronounced as “hug” or “hush,” depending on the region.

Slaves who had already learned to read used Tut to teach other slaves to read and tell them things that were written.

The Tutnese language only recently received public recognition. Many Americans weren’t even aware of its existence.

In Tut, every letter in the English alphabet becomes a sound. It is believed that its name “Tut” was derived from the English word talk.

Learning to speak Tutnese

As we’ve mentioned, it is a system of speaking that was secretly developed by slaves in a time where they weren’t allowed to read, and if caught, the punishments were severe.

In Tut, you sound the consonants and speak the vowels, which is the secret to encoding and decoding this language. You are practically spelling the English word but with a twist. Instead of spelling the English word with its alphabets, in Tut, you spell those words with their actual phonetic sound.

Understanding Tut made it possible for slaves to communicate freely and secretly, even in the midst of their masters.

It is generally easy to learn, but there are three distinct dialects that may confuse speakers who choose to learn all the varieties of Tut.

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An example of the Tut language

Aylullul hushyumumaynun bubeeenungugsush ayrure bubohrurnun fufruree aynundud ekeeyuaylul eenun dudeegugnuneetutyuk aynundud rureegughushtutsush. Tuthusheyuk ayrure enundudohwowedud woweetuthush rureaysushohnun aynundud cucohnunsushcuceeenuncuce aynundud sushhushohyululdud aycuctut tutohwowayrurdudsush ohnune aynunohtuthusherur eenun ay sushpupeerureetut ohfuf bubrurohtuthusherurhushohohdud.

 

Translation

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Tutnese Language Rules

In Tutnese, vowels must be pronounced normally while each consonant is replaced with a syllable that matches the consonant.

In cases where the word has double letters, the letters are predicated by the syllable Squa to indicate doubling rather than repeating the vowel or syllable. So KK would be spoken as squat-oh.

The spaces between words are always ignored. In a particular dialect, the rules of the language require that the first syllable of the name of any punctuation mark should be spoken.

So, when there’s a full stop, the speaker says per, and a question mark is either que, kway, or it depends on the dialect and comma is com.

Tutnese and Pig Latin

Pig Latin or Igpay Atinlay is a language game or argot in which the speaker or writer alters English words by adding a fabricated suffix or by moving the initial consonant or consonant cluster to the end of the word. Sometimes, these alterations are made by adding a vocalic syllable to create a suffix.

What does AAVE stand for?

African American Vernacular English (AAVE) is a variety of Black English. Popularly known as vernacular Black English among sociolinguistics. Outside the academic setting, it is called Ebonics.