Chickenese

(Please note, this is just for fun)

Chickenese - the Background

Chickenese was originally created and documented as a joke in 1996 for a comedy/horror story I wrote called War of the Chickens, and was published in a zine called Basically Insane. It remained un-webified (is this a real word? It is now!) until 2004 when I discovered a reference online to another humorous and wonderful conlang (constructed language) called Chicken (click for the conlang profile; click for the original page of Chicken itself). In response to this, I decided to launch the Chickenese website. These two conceptually similar languages were developed independently at probably the same time for the same aim: just for fun. And by the way, the chicken pictures are from www.freefoto.com with modifications. The Paxo picture is my own.

And now on with the real Chickenese stuff.

Chickenese - Introduction

Many linguists and animal psychologists have sought to discover if mankind is the sole species to have developed language. Recent experiments with chickens in Foxchester University, in Foxchester, England, have discovered that mankind is no longer alone.

The language discovered has been dubbed Chickenese by linguists. All attempts to quantify grammar have failed; linguists believe Chickenese has little (if any) grammar. The current theory is that, due to the small size of the brain of the domesticated chicken and the limited vocabulary of the chicken species, thought processes are not developed enough to develop grammar, although repetition has been observed. Repetition is believed to have no significance grammatically by most chickenists.

Semantically Chickenese is also a curiosity, due to each word taking on such a variety of meanings that it is almost impossible to tie each Chickenese word to an equating idea or concept in a human language. On the other hand Chickenese, although a lexicographer’s nightmare, provides an excellent foundation for further study of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, which states that thought processes are influenced by language and vice versa. With the limited and minimalist vocabulary in Chickenese, there is much leeway for further study.

paxo The only exception to semantic vagaries is the pejorative Chickenese word paxo. With no direct equivilent in a human language, apart from a cultural reference to a brand of stuffing sold in the UK, paxo is extremely pejorative in Chickenese. It should be avoided at all costs when talking to a chicken. Use of the word paxo has, on occasion, caused linguists to receive a peck to the ankle from an infuriated chicken.

Chickenese - English Dictionary

Due to the vagaries of Chickenese, the English definitions are to be taken as approximations only.

Chickenese	English
b'k	General, all-purpose word
bok	General, all-purpose word, negative meaning
bwark	General, all-purpose word, positive meaning
paxo	Pejorative

Chickenese Babel Text

It is common to translate the Babel text from the Bible, Genesis 11:1-9 as an example of a language.

Further Babel texts in various languages (both natural and constructed) can be found here.

Book The Chickenese Babel text is as follows:

B’k
B’k b’k.
B’k b’k bwark.
B’k.
B’k.
Bwark b’k bwark.
Bok b’k bok.
B’k bok.
B’k bok bok.

Teach Yourself Chickenese

The new Teach Yourself Chickenese book from Hodder and Stoughton will soon be available, illustrated on this page, enabling every chickenist to learn Chickenese fluently.

Chapter headings include:

Pronouncing Chickenese like a chicken
Greetings
In the nest
Eating corn
Laying an egg
At the sabong (cock-fighting pit)
Macro-economics of the poultry industry
At the abattoir