Tongue Twister (Meaning and Explanation)

We explain what a tongue twister is, its characteristics and educational benefits. Also, examples of short and difficult tongue twisters.

What is a tongue twister?

It is known as tongue twisters or tongue twisters to certain word games that consist of one or several sentences that are difficult to pronounce because they present internal rhymes or alliterations that require greater effort in speech. They usually deal with humorous or imaginative topics, and exist in practically all languages.

The tongue twisters are part of the oral tradition and are generally passed down from generation to generation. On the other hand, they have also been extensively studied by linguists and teachers, since they are often understood as a good exercise to improve diction, especially in children's ages.

Generally, tongue twisters are inherited anonymously from previous generations. Their history is more or less uncertain, although it is known that they existed in Ancient Greece, as part of exercises aimed at improving the abilities of politicians and orators, a tradition that was later inherited by Roman culture.

Characteristics of tongue twisters

Broadly speaking, a tongue twister is characterized by the following:

They consist of short sentences, composed of very similar phonemes (sounds) repeated in different words, according to the pattern of a sound order or a rhyme.
Although it may seem obvious, they are difficult to pronounce r, especially for the first time.
They are anonymous, they don't have an author and are transmitted by oral tradition.
exist in all languages and its content usually reflects local culture.

Benefits of tongue twisters

Tongue twisters are widely used in books and classes during the initial stages of educational training, when children are still acquiring and perfecting their grasp of the language.

In that sense, are ideal for exercising the speech apparatus and, precisely, “unlock” the language to facilitate speech. That is the reason why are also convenient when learning new languages as an exercise in pronunciation and fluency, and for which they are a common instrument of language therapists.

Short tongue twisters

Below are some examples of short tongue twisters, as an example:

Three sad tigers swallow wheat in a wheat field.
When I say Diego, I say I say, and when I say I say, I say Diego.
Pablito drove a nail into the bald man's bald head.
Go outside and put the bag of salt out in the sun to dry.
Give rice to the fox, the abbot.
On a carriage ride, a page came and lost his luggage.
The pícara pájara bites the typical gourd.

difficult tongue twisters

The following are tongue twisters considered particularly complex:

Compadre, buy me a coconut! Dude, I don't buy coco! Because he who eats little coconut buys little coconut, and eats little coconut and buys little coconut.
When you tell stories, count how many stories you tell, because without knowing how many stories you told, you will not know how many stories you have to tell.
Pedro Pablo Pérez Pereira, poor Portuguese painter, paints beautiful landscapes for walking around Paris for little money.
Erre with err cigar, err with err barrel, the cars run fast on the railroad rails.
The bishop of Constantinople wants to deconstantinopoliticize. Whoever deconstantinopolizes it well, will be a good deconstantinopolizer.

References

“Tongue Twister” on Wikipedia.
“Tongue twisters” in the Dictionary of the language of the Royal Spanish Academy.
“What are tongue twisters?” on Argentine Public Television (TPV).
“Rediscovering tongue twisters and their benefits” in Vitamina (Chile).
“Language and literature games. Riddles and tongue twisters” by Pascuala Morote Magán at Centro Virtual Cervantes (Spain).
“Origin and celebration of World Tongue Twister Day” in Poblanerías (Mexico).