Introduction
Parseltongue is everything but simple, but it is very concise. Snakes will only give you the information they feel you need and expect you to read between the lines to understand them. This is what has led to the belief that they are being shady, or manipulative. In reality, that is simply how their language is built. Most sentences will be very short and consist only of the subject, object, and verb. The rest has to be pieced together based on the listener's knowledge, context clues, and loose interpretation.
If you are not lucky enough to have been born a Parselmouth, you will have a harder time distinguishing some of the sounds a snake is capable of producing, and thus will have difficulty when getting beyond the most basic words and word forms. Furthermore, as there is no written form of Parseltongue, I will be attempting to describe it using the English alphabet, and some sounds will be lost in translation. Be careful when listening to our class snakes, as their speech will not match exactly to our classroom approximations.
Before we can start learning vocabulary, we must learn some basics about the language, such as the range of sounds that can be made. If you have questions about certain things, check the glossary at the end of the lesson for definitions of bolded words.
If you are not lucky enough to have been born a Parselmouth, you will have a harder time distinguishing some of the sounds a snake is capable of producing, and thus will have difficulty when getting beyond the most basic words and word forms. Furthermore, as there is no written form of Parseltongue, I will be attempting to describe it using the English alphabet, and some sounds will be lost in translation. Be careful when listening to our class snakes, as their speech will not match exactly to our classroom approximations.
Before we can start learning vocabulary, we must learn some basics about the language, such as the range of sounds that can be made. If you have questions about certain things, check the glossary at the end of the lesson for definitions of bolded words.
Pronunciation
First, let's go over the range of sounds that are used in this snakelike language.
I'll be using a lot of fancy words to describe the sounds available in Parseltongue. They're defined down in the glossary if you get lost, but don't worry. The sound they make is more important than the term used to describe it, and knowing the term is not required for class, but will be extra credit.
Most words can be broken down into syllables including a plosive or fricative consonant and a vowel. Fricatives such as s, f, v, h, and ʃ are often extended, producing that snakelike hiss often associated with Parseltongue. (Note that ʃ is called 'esh' and pronounced like 'sh'; see its glossary entry at the bottom of the lesson.) The lateral consonant is used only to shorten the 's' fricative, producing the shorter 'sl' sound rather than the usual extended Ssss.
The muted form of the alveolar trill and the alveolar nasal are other commonly used sounds in Parseltongue.
I'll be using a lot of fancy words to describe the sounds available in Parseltongue. They're defined down in the glossary if you get lost, but don't worry. The sound they make is more important than the term used to describe it, and knowing the term is not required for class, but will be extra credit.
Most words can be broken down into syllables including a plosive or fricative consonant and a vowel. Fricatives such as s, f, v, h, and ʃ are often extended, producing that snakelike hiss often associated with Parseltongue. (Note that ʃ is called 'esh' and pronounced like 'sh'; see its glossary entry at the bottom of the lesson.) The lateral consonant is used only to shorten the 's' fricative, producing the shorter 'sl' sound rather than the usual extended Ssss.
The muted form of the alveolar trill and the alveolar nasal are other commonly used sounds in Parseltongue.
Plosives: p, b, t, d, k, g
Fricatives: f, v, s, h, th, ʃ
Lateral Consonant: l
Alveolar Trill: r
Alveolar Nasal: n
Vowels: a, e, i, o, u
Fricatives: f, v, s, h, th, ʃ
Lateral Consonant: l
Alveolar Trill: r
Alveolar Nasal: n
Vowels: a, e, i, o, u
I should add a quick note about vowels: the vowels spoken by most snakes in Parseltongue are barely audible and mainly serve as breaks between the consonants that make up the core of the language sounds. The standard way to transcribe Parseltongue vowels for use by English speakers is to write the vowels as they would be pronounced in Latin. A rough Latin pronunciation guide can be found here for reference - and when an English speaker uses a single vowel to represent a vowel sound, they usually have one of the following sounds in mind (some of which are more common than others):
a - like the "a" in "father" (more common) or like the "a" in "cat"
e - like the "a" in "ate", the "e" in "get", or the "e" in "the" (less common)
i - like the "ee" in "free" or like the "i" in "kid"
o - like the "o" in "go" or like the "o" in "not" (less common)
u - like the "u" in "put", the "u" in "sun", the "i" in "kid" (less common), or the "oo" in "too" (less common)
e - like the "a" in "ate", the "e" in "get", or the "e" in "the" (less common)
i - like the "ee" in "free" or like the "i" in "kid"
o - like the "o" in "go" or like the "o" in "not" (less common)
u - like the "u" in "put", the "u" in "sun", the "i" in "kid" (less common), or the "oo" in "too" (less common)
Most typically in Parseltongue you get sounds by combining a consonant with a vowel. [Examples: fa, so, ʃa, ko.] But occasionally you may have to combine consonants to produce an affricate. This is typically done by combining a plosive and a fricative.
Affricates: ts, pʃ, tʃ
-"ts" is pronounced as in the English word "ants"
-"pʃ" is the sound of the "psh" in the exclamation "Pshaw"
-"tʃ" is the sound of "ch" in the English word "cheese"
-"ts" is pronounced as in the English word "ants"
-"pʃ" is the sound of the "psh" in the exclamation "Pshaw"
-"tʃ" is the sound of "ch" in the English word "cheese"
Similarly, some vowels will be combined to form a diphthong.
Diphthongs: ae, ai, au, ei, oe, ou
The diphthongs are normally pronounced as follows:
ae - like the word "I"
ai - like the word "I"
au - like the word "ow"
ei - like the "ei" in the word "eight"
oe - like the "oy" in the word "boy"
ou (occasionally recorded as “uu”)- like the word "you" without the 'y'
ae - like the word "I"
ai - like the word "I"
au - like the word "ow"
ei - like the "ei" in the word "eight"
oe - like the "oy" in the word "boy"
ou (occasionally recorded as “uu”)- like the word "you" without the 'y'
However, some consonant sounds do NOT exist in Parseltongue! The list below gives some sounds that do not exist in the language and various substitutions you can use instead.
Sounds not used in Parseltongue
c - substitute k instead (if it sounds like an 's' you can just use the 's').
j (or 'soft g') - substitute tʃ (pronounced like the English 'ch'; see Note 2 below) or ʃ instead.
l - substitute sl instead.
m - substitute n instead.
q - substitute k instead.
w - substitute v instead (but also see Note 3 below).
x - substitute ʃ instead.
y - substitute i instead.
z - substitute s instead.
c - substitute k instead (if it sounds like an 's' you can just use the 's').
j (or 'soft g') - substitute tʃ (pronounced like the English 'ch'; see Note 2 below) or ʃ instead.
l - substitute sl instead.
m - substitute n instead.
q - substitute k instead.
w - substitute v instead (but also see Note 3 below).
x - substitute ʃ instead.
y - substitute i instead.
z - substitute s instead.
THREE CLARIFYING NOTES ON CONSONANT SOUNDS
1) Although this lesson had previously described "th" as an affricate, the two letters represent a single fricative sound familiar to English speakers. The sound made by these letters is always the sound at the end of the word "with" (or at the beginning of the word "think") - NOT the buzzing sound at the beginning of the word "the" (or in the middle of the word "wither")!
2) The "ch" sound, as found in names like "Charlie" and words like "chess", is ALWAYS denoted as "tʃ" in our transcription system for Parseltongue. German speakers may recognize this sound as being spelled "T-S-C-H" in that language.
3) While English speakers with consonantal "w" sounds in their name traditionally use the "v" sound to replace the "w" sound in Parseltongue, it is not unheard of to use the "ou" sound (as in the vowel sound ending the English word "you") instead (especially if the "w" sound in question is not at the very beginning or end of the word or name). I should also point out that some dialects of Parseltongue, spoken by whipsnakes, contain a 'whipping' sound that is best approximated by making an 'h' sound and, in the middle of the sound, moving your lips as if you were going to make the 'w' sound. This sound is denoted as "hw" and is used, for example, in the word hwipsnek (which is what whipsnakes call themselves).
2) The "ch" sound, as found in names like "Charlie" and words like "chess", is ALWAYS denoted as "tʃ" in our transcription system for Parseltongue. German speakers may recognize this sound as being spelled "T-S-C-H" in that language.
3) While English speakers with consonantal "w" sounds in their name traditionally use the "v" sound to replace the "w" sound in Parseltongue, it is not unheard of to use the "ou" sound (as in the vowel sound ending the English word "you") instead (especially if the "w" sound in question is not at the very beginning or end of the word or name). I should also point out that some dialects of Parseltongue, spoken by whipsnakes, contain a 'whipping' sound that is best approximated by making an 'h' sound and, in the middle of the sound, moving your lips as if you were going to make the 'w' sound. This sound is denoted as "hw" and is used, for example, in the word hwipsnek (which is what whipsnakes call themselves).
We will finish the Pronunciation section with two more conventions on how we express Parseltongue sounds in the English alphabet (it should be stressed that there is no such thing as a Parseltongue alphabet; the symbols above are purely for helping humans understand the sounds in the language.)
1) It is considered very poor form to use the same symbol twice in a row in Parseltongue - with an occasional exception for the archaic form “uu”.
2) Normally, if two vowels are next to each other, they are pronounced together as a diphthong. However, if you want to pronounce two vowels separately, use the symbol ' to separate out the vowels.
For examples using the two conventions above, look at the "Names" section.
1) It is considered very poor form to use the same symbol twice in a row in Parseltongue - with an occasional exception for the archaic form “uu”.
2) Normally, if two vowels are next to each other, they are pronounced together as a diphthong. However, if you want to pronounce two vowels separately, use the symbol ' to separate out the vowels.
For examples using the two conventions above, look at the "Names" section.
Sentence Structure
Parseltongue's complexity comes from having to constantly read between the lines to decipher meaning from a sentence. This thought process is what makes a snake seem so shady, because they will try to cater their speech to their listener. This may make a parselmouth seem shady, manipulative, or crafty simply because they will transfer this thought process to any language they speak.
The better the speaker and listener knows each other, the easier it will be to convey meaning, as the speaker will better understand how to word things to get your message across. Likewise, the listener will better know the speaker's colloquialisms.
Furthermore, the sentence structure of Parseltongue is very basic and relies entirely on context. The actual spoken sentence is typically limited to a demonstrative pronoun, a subject, an object, and a verb. In that order.
If an adjective or adverb is used, it comes after the word it is modifying.
Demonstrative pronouns are almost always used in Parseltongue. This is to help clarify what the subject is. More detail will be given in the gender/number section. The only real exceptions are when talking about oneself or the listener. (using 'I' or 'You' as the subject)
The better the speaker and listener knows each other, the easier it will be to convey meaning, as the speaker will better understand how to word things to get your message across. Likewise, the listener will better know the speaker's colloquialisms.
Furthermore, the sentence structure of Parseltongue is very basic and relies entirely on context. The actual spoken sentence is typically limited to a demonstrative pronoun, a subject, an object, and a verb. In that order.
If an adjective or adverb is used, it comes after the word it is modifying.
Demonstrative pronouns are almost always used in Parseltongue. This is to help clarify what the subject is. More detail will be given in the gender/number section. The only real exceptions are when talking about oneself or the listener. (using 'I' or 'You' as the subject)
To illustrate concepts in Parseltongue grammar, we will sometimes borrow a concept from signed languages (such as American Sign Language or British Sign Language) known as the gloss. This is a way to express - in writing - the grammatical structure of a language which does not have a written form. One creates a gloss for a language by writing the basic vocabulary words of a reference language which does have a written form (such as English) using the grammatical structures and word order of the language we wish to convey.
We can demonstrate both glosses and sentence order by using the English sentence "That black cat runs away quickly." as an example. Translating it into Parseltongue, its gloss becomes "That cat black away run quickly". Here is how it breaks down, using English approximations of Parseltongue grammatical concepts:
We can demonstrate both glosses and sentence order by using the English sentence "That black cat runs away quickly." as an example. Translating it into Parseltongue, its gloss becomes "That cat black away run quickly". Here is how it breaks down, using English approximations of Parseltongue grammatical concepts:
Demonstrative Pronoun: That
Subject: Cat. The cat is the one doing the verb.
Adjective: Black. Describing the subject.
Object: Away. Object of the verb ran. That is where the subject is running to.
Verb: Run. What the subject is doing. ("Run" is the basic unconjugated form).
Adverb: Quickly. How the subject is doing the verb.
Subject: Cat. The cat is the one doing the verb.
Adjective: Black. Describing the subject.
Object: Away. Object of the verb ran. That is where the subject is running to.
Verb: Run. What the subject is doing. ("Run" is the basic unconjugated form).
Adverb: Quickly. How the subject is doing the verb.
Be careful. The object could also have a demonstrative pronoun or adjective! If so, the demonstrative pronoun would be placed immediately before the object (and right after the adjective); a demonstrative adjective would be placed immediately after the object (and right before the verb).
If you have questions on how to rearrange a sentence, you may ask on the discussion board; I will be happy to assist you - but I may give your classmates the first chance at doing so. However, DO NOT ask for us to answer questions from the assignment on the discussion board! Instead, try creating sentences with similar structure, asking for help with those sentences, and then applying what you learned to your homework. Or maybe ask a more general theoretical question whose answer will make the homework questions easier.
A NOTE ON VERBS: Verbs are covered in detail in Lesson Three; for now, you should simply gloss verbs in their basic unconjugated form.
If you have questions on how to rearrange a sentence, you may ask on the discussion board; I will be happy to assist you - but I may give your classmates the first chance at doing so. However, DO NOT ask for us to answer questions from the assignment on the discussion board! Instead, try creating sentences with similar structure, asking for help with those sentences, and then applying what you learned to your homework. Or maybe ask a more general theoretical question whose answer will make the homework questions easier.
A NOTE ON VERBS: Verbs are covered in detail in Lesson Three; for now, you should simply gloss verbs in their basic unconjugated form.
Gender/Number
Parseltongue does not mark words for gender or number. Thus when speaking about someone else you cannot use 'she' or 'he.' Likewise, there is no 'they' or 'them' to note number. This has led to the use of the demonstrative pronouns. Rather than using such words, it has been simplified to 'that person' or 'this person,' or you can use the person's name reduced to the sounds available in Parseltongue.
Often gestures are used to clarify who is being spoken about. A snake may use their tail to point, or may flick their tongue in that direction. Humans typically just point or nod in the subject's general direction when speaking.
When referring to more than one of a subject, the number precedes the subject. But there is no plural form of a subject. Additionally, the demonstrative pronoun 'this' or 'that' is replaced by the number.
In the previous example, if we were talking about two or more cats we would simply state it as 'two cat black away run quickly.'
Often gestures are used to clarify who is being spoken about. A snake may use their tail to point, or may flick their tongue in that direction. Humans typically just point or nod in the subject's general direction when speaking.
When referring to more than one of a subject, the number precedes the subject. But there is no plural form of a subject. Additionally, the demonstrative pronoun 'this' or 'that' is replaced by the number.
In the previous example, if we were talking about two or more cats we would simply state it as 'two cat black away run quickly.'
Names
As mentioned in the gender section, it's often much easier to refer to someone by name. However, a lot of human names do not translate well to Parseltongue. Knowing how limited the sounds are, you can reduce a name to its Parseltongue equivalent.
Examples:
-The only letter in "Slytherin" not used in Parseltongue is the "y"; his name would normally be expressed as Slitherin as the "y" in "Slytherin" sounds like a short "i". (But be careful with the "th" sound; it is NOT pronounced like the "th" in the English word "slither"!)
-"Snape" can be expressed as written, but is pronounced more like "Ssna'peh" to most snakes. Most people who use "Snape" as a surname would go with Snep in Parseltongue, which sounds a bit closer to "Snape".
-My own first name, "Will", both begins and ends with forbidden sounds. Therefore, I need to convert the "W" at the beginning to a "V" and the "ll" at the end to an "sl" to produce the name Visl. ("Visl" is a nickname for the more formal Parseltongue name Visli'un).
-The most prominent class snake, who also serves as a Slytherin House pet, is usually known by the name "Basil". But that is an approximation for English speakers as the final sound does not exist in the language! Dropping the "i" gives his proper Parseltongue name: Basl. Likewise, his species name in Parseltongue is baslisik!
-The house elf known as "Dobby" would be expressed as Dabi using our conventions (because we only need to use the 'b' once). Note that Dabi in Parseltongue sounds exactly like "Dobby" in English!
-The first name of the Ravenclaw founder, Rowena, uses two vowel sounds next to each other, so we would use the ' symbol to separate out these sounds. Our conventions would have this written as Ro'ina, which - again - sounds exactly like "Rowena" in English.
Keep in mind that your goal is to approximate the way your name sounds - NOT the way that it is spelled. That said, your name is a personal choice - and who am I to question the way you wish to have it pronounced in another language?
One last point about converting your name to Parseltongue: some people whose name means something in English (or another language) can choose to translate that word into Parseltongue. For example: someone whose name is "White" could choose either to roughly translate the sounds of their name to something like Vaet or simply use the Parseltongue for "White", which is Ʃira. This word list will you help you out if you choose to translate part of your name this way.
Knowing the sounds, it's not too difficult to turn your name into its Parseltongue equivalent. Now recognizing it when a snake or Parselmouth hisses it? That's much harder!
Examples:
-The only letter in "Slytherin" not used in Parseltongue is the "y"; his name would normally be expressed as Slitherin as the "y" in "Slytherin" sounds like a short "i". (But be careful with the "th" sound; it is NOT pronounced like the "th" in the English word "slither"!)
-"Snape" can be expressed as written, but is pronounced more like "Ssna'peh" to most snakes. Most people who use "Snape" as a surname would go with Snep in Parseltongue, which sounds a bit closer to "Snape".
-My own first name, "Will", both begins and ends with forbidden sounds. Therefore, I need to convert the "W" at the beginning to a "V" and the "ll" at the end to an "sl" to produce the name Visl. ("Visl" is a nickname for the more formal Parseltongue name Visli'un).
-The most prominent class snake, who also serves as a Slytherin House pet, is usually known by the name "Basil". But that is an approximation for English speakers as the final sound does not exist in the language! Dropping the "i" gives his proper Parseltongue name: Basl. Likewise, his species name in Parseltongue is baslisik!
-The house elf known as "Dobby" would be expressed as Dabi using our conventions (because we only need to use the 'b' once). Note that Dabi in Parseltongue sounds exactly like "Dobby" in English!
-The first name of the Ravenclaw founder, Rowena, uses two vowel sounds next to each other, so we would use the ' symbol to separate out these sounds. Our conventions would have this written as Ro'ina, which - again - sounds exactly like "Rowena" in English.
Keep in mind that your goal is to approximate the way your name sounds - NOT the way that it is spelled. That said, your name is a personal choice - and who am I to question the way you wish to have it pronounced in another language?
One last point about converting your name to Parseltongue: some people whose name means something in English (or another language) can choose to translate that word into Parseltongue. For example: someone whose name is "White" could choose either to roughly translate the sounds of their name to something like Vaet or simply use the Parseltongue for "White", which is Ʃira. This word list will you help you out if you choose to translate part of your name this way.
Knowing the sounds, it's not too difficult to turn your name into its Parseltongue equivalent. Now recognizing it when a snake or Parselmouth hisses it? That's much harder!
Two Simple Words
You will need to learn two simple Parseltongue words for your first homework assignment: the words for "yes" and "no". They are as follows:
Yes - Sa
No - Ʃe (using a capital "esh"); ʃe (using a lowercase "esh")
Yes - Sa
No - Ʃe (using a capital "esh"); ʃe (using a lowercase "esh")
Glossary
[Plosive: A speech sound produced by complete closure of the oral passage and subsequent release accompanied by a burst of air, as in the sound (p) in pit or (d) in dog]
[Fricatives: A consonant, such as f or s in English, produced by the forcing of breath through a constricted passage.]
[ ʃ: Esh. Ʃ (uppercase), ʃ (lowecase). A type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. Sh would be its closest approximation in English, and you're welcome to use sh when writing your homework if it'll be easier for you.]
[Affricates: Consonants that begin as plosives but release as a fricative rather than into a following vowel]
[Lateral Consonant: "L"-like consonants pronounced with an occlusion made somewhere along the axis of the tongue, while air from the lungs escapes at one side or both sides of the tongue.]
[Alveolar Trill: A consonantal sound more commonly referred to as the rolling r. In Parseltongue it is muted and sounds more like the approximant.. ]
[Alveolar Nasal: A consonantal sound produced by obstructing airflow in the vocal tract, articulated with the tip or blade of the tongue against the roof of the mouth, and voiced while allowing air to escape through the nose. Typically known as the 'n' sound.]
[Diphthong: Two adjacent vowel sounds occurring within the same syllable.]
[Colloquialisms: Expressions used in familiar conversation rather than formal speech or writing. Informal speech. Slang or vernacular.]
[Demonstrative Pronoun: Distinguishes one subject from another. Examples: This, that.]
[Subject: The subject of a sentence is the main idea of the sentence. Who or what it is the sentence is referring to.]
[Adjective: A word modifying a noun or a pronoun. Color, shape, size, or quantity, for example.]
[Object: The part of the sentence involved in the subject's performance of the verb. For example: 'She read the book.' In this sentence, book is the object. It is what she (The subject) has read (verb)]
[Verb: Part of speech that conveys action or a state of being. To be, bring, read, run, exist, stand, etc.]
[Adverb: A word that modifies a word that is not a noun. It typically describes how, when, or where. Example: Quickly, beautifully, often.]
[Gloss: The transcription of one language using the written form of another language. The glosses we care about for this class involve using English words to transcribe Parseltongue.]
[Fricatives: A consonant, such as f or s in English, produced by the forcing of breath through a constricted passage.]
[ ʃ: Esh. Ʃ (uppercase), ʃ (lowecase). A type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. Sh would be its closest approximation in English, and you're welcome to use sh when writing your homework if it'll be easier for you.]
[Affricates: Consonants that begin as plosives but release as a fricative rather than into a following vowel]
[Lateral Consonant: "L"-like consonants pronounced with an occlusion made somewhere along the axis of the tongue, while air from the lungs escapes at one side or both sides of the tongue.]
[Alveolar Trill: A consonantal sound more commonly referred to as the rolling r. In Parseltongue it is muted and sounds more like the approximant.. ]
[Alveolar Nasal: A consonantal sound produced by obstructing airflow in the vocal tract, articulated with the tip or blade of the tongue against the roof of the mouth, and voiced while allowing air to escape through the nose. Typically known as the 'n' sound.]
[Diphthong: Two adjacent vowel sounds occurring within the same syllable.]
[Colloquialisms: Expressions used in familiar conversation rather than formal speech or writing. Informal speech. Slang or vernacular.]
[Demonstrative Pronoun: Distinguishes one subject from another. Examples: This, that.]
[Subject: The subject of a sentence is the main idea of the sentence. Who or what it is the sentence is referring to.]
[Adjective: A word modifying a noun or a pronoun. Color, shape, size, or quantity, for example.]
[Object: The part of the sentence involved in the subject's performance of the verb. For example: 'She read the book.' In this sentence, book is the object. It is what she (The subject) has read (verb)]
[Verb: Part of speech that conveys action or a state of being. To be, bring, read, run, exist, stand, etc.]
[Adverb: A word that modifies a word that is not a noun. It typically describes how, when, or where. Example: Quickly, beautifully, often.]
[Gloss: The transcription of one language using the written form of another language. The glosses we care about for this class involve using English words to transcribe Parseltongue.]