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From: iad@cogsci.ed.ac.uk (Ivan A Derzhanski)
Subject: Re: Yet Another "Which language is this?"
Message-ID: <CzJCFI.1ut@cogsci.ed.ac.uk>
Organization: Centre for Cognitive Science, Edinburgh, UK
References: <3a3jbg$dg5@gordon.enea.se> <1994Nov17.220117.23760@vitro.com>
Date: Sat, 19 Nov 1994 22:14:04 GMT
Lines: 48

It seems that every language we're asked to identify turns out to be
either Hmong or a hoax.

In article <1994Nov17.220117.23760@vitro.com>
jkelly@ms_unix1.vitro.com (Charles J. Kelly) writes:
[re Erland Sommarskog's rock'n'roll *lyrics -- and no, Erland, that's
 not even close to what Zulu and Swahili look like, no closer than it
 is to Swedish, and it's not Hmong either:]

>Well, I'm not a linguist, but it might be a pidkin or creole of English
>with the word spacing messed up.

I don't think it can be an actual pidgin or creole, but you're right
about the spacing.  There are several sequences of 4 or 5 letters --
thus conceivably words -- that can be obtained by joining some words
and breaking up others.  I'm thinking of _bombo_, _combo_, _gongo_,
_hanna_, _tunda_, _zumba_.  And I seem to see some English and some
Spanish words.  But nothing that would make sense.

Here's how far I got:

>:     Hanna marimba combo afro
>:     Combo par ti'sta            (?como ?partiste)
>:     Gongo vemo via han'a
>:     Pro n'to gongo fal linlo'v  (pronto ... fall in love)
>
>:     Oh hanna, tunda ka cse tewe (??hosanna)
>
>:     Bo daam bosin nou em'ber    (?ambos in November)
>:     Hap pycin kowee ksno-mas    (happy cinco weeks, no ma's)
>:     Gov gosacau vachun ga
>:     Zumba' hanna node har       (?no dejar)
>
>:     Gongo chun go zumba hanna
>:     Tunda ven ga tunda va       (?donde ?venga ?donde ?va)
>:     Kaia ha na zumba gongo
>:     Ko mo bombo hanna ia        (?como)
>
>:     Undi a bombo ie nohon'go    (un di'a)
>:     Hanna macsete hai ar'       (?machete)
>:     hartahunde la macsete      ditto
>:     Fondotum bagin gova

-- 
`That's yer oan problem, Judas', they telt him.  `It's nae concern tae us.'
Ivan A Derzhanski (iad@cogsci.ed.ac.uk/chaos.cs.brandeis.edu)  (The G-- G--)
* Centre for Cognitive Science,  2 Buccleuch Place,   Edinburgh EH8 9LW,  UK
* Cowan House E113, Pollock Halls, 18 Holyrood Pk Rd, Edinburgh EH16 5BD, UK
