International Journal Of Literature And Languages
189
https://theusajournals.com/index.php/ijll
VOLUME
Vol.05 Issue05 2025
PAGE NO.
189-192
10.37547/ijll/Volume05Issue05-44
Types of Tongue Twisters According to The Age
Characteristics of Performers
Madiyarov Inamjan Batirbayevich
Tashkent State University of Economics, Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Philological Sciences, Acting Associate Professor, Uzbekistan
Received:
31 March 2025;
Accepted:
29 April 2025;
Published:
31 May 2025
Abstract:
This article discusses the genre of tongue twister, one of the oldest and smallest genres of oral folk art,
the types of performers according to age characteristics - children's, teenagers' and adults' tongue twister. The
opinions, scientific and theoretical views of scientists on this issue were studied, and the author's position on this
matter was also expressed. At the same time, the article analyzes examples of tongue twisters of Uzbek,
Karakalpak, and other Turkic peoples, examining their connection with ancient rituals and ceremonies, the
composition of tongue twisters, and their specific features.
Keywords:
Tongue twister, genre, folklore, children's folklore, ritual, ceremony.
Introduction:
Any genre in folklore is a product of the
historical-folkloric process. Such factors as social life,
cultural, philosophical, aesthetic, and psychological,
and most importantly, the necessity of social (vital)
needs, influence the formation of the genre. The genre
of tongue-twisters was formed under the influence of
such factors. From the point of view of genesis, the
genre of tongue twisters goes back to the earliest
stages of the folklore-historical process.
METHODS
According
to
the
folklorist
B.
Sarimsakov,
"...historically, there were very few folklore genres free
from rituals... Many genres of children's folklore
historically arose within ritual folklore. Based on this
opinion of the scholar, we can say that the genre of
tongue twister also arose historically within the
framework of ritual folklore.
Since the genesis of the tongue twister genre goes back
to ritual folklore, it turns out that initially its audience
was wide. That is, it was initially formed in an adult
audience, and tongue twisters were performed by
men, adolescents, and later by children. In the book
"Intangible Cultural Heritage of Uzbekistan," it is
written: "In the past, even older people competed in
fast singing at gatherings and weddings, enjoying
cultural leisure. Later, it mainly became a children's
repertoire"[1. 42], - it is said.
Since ancient times, Turkic peoples have paid special
attention to child-rearing. The people, taking into
account children's interests, age, and gender
characteristics, created games and activities of various
forms and content that strengthen them physically,
mentally, and linguistically. Due to historical
development, socio-political and everyday changes in
society, and similar reasons, some folklore genres
belonging to the adult repertoire have been transferred
to the children's repertoire. "Today, no one doubts that
riddles, tongue twisters, and puppet theater have
literally become children's."[2. 272-284].
According to the Russian folklorist M.N. Melnikov, "The
tongue twisters reflected the all-round life, lifestyle,
interests, beliefs, superstitions, etc. of the Russian
people ....The first tongue twisters (49 texts) were
published by V.I. Dal in "Russian Folk Proverbs" (1862).
He does not indicate the existence of these works in the
children's environment; the analysis of the texts gives
grounds to speak of their belonging to adult folklore.
Records recorded in the 19th and second half of the
20th centuries show that adults gradually lost interest
in this genre, but understood its pedagogical
significance[3. 95-96].
F.S.Kapitsa, T.M.Kolyadich also noted that the texts
cited in the collection indicate that in ancient times
tongue twisters were widespread among adults...
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International Journal Of Literature And Languages (ISSN: 2771-2834)
Later, texts lost their ritual meaning and began to
transition from an adult environment to a child's
environment and were used as a means of developing
a child's speech and improving pronunciation[4. 74-76].
In the above thoughts, it is also emphasized that tongue
twisters have passed from adult folklore to children's
folklore. I.Mul also expresses the following thoughts in
his candidate dissertation:..."there are assumptions
that, first of all, the tongue twister written at the
beginning (written in the middle of the 19th century)
was intended for adults. In terms of content, they didn't
fit the children's minds"[5. 24].
In the "History of Kazakh Literature," published under
the leadership of S.Kaskabasov, it is written about the
initial task of tongue twistering: "In ancient times,
tongue twistering was a pastime not only for children,
but also for adults. However, it performed a different
function among adults. ...the emergence of prompting
and its initial function have not been sufficiently
studied in science. If we look at the complex poetic
structure of tongue twister, there is no doubt that its
creators are adults. That is, the tongue-twister, which
appeared in ancient times and lived in the repertoire of
adults, gradually transferred to the repertoire of
children"[6. 532, 523, 534].
A. Akzholova, on the other hand, notes that
"...speeches first appeared at adult gatherings and
weddings, but later, having lost their original essence
and having a greater pedagogical function, only those
that meet the aesthetic requirements of children were
transferred to children's folklore"[7. 43], he says.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
In our opinion, tongue-twistering also arose, on the one
hand, from the attitude of the peoples of the world to
such life realities, and on the other hand, due to social
and spiritual needs.
The essence and functions of tongue twisters changed
in subsequent stages of the historical-folkloric process.
Tongue twisters entered the children's repertoire and
began to perform a pedagogical function. The opinion
of the researcher of children's folklore O. Safarov on
this matter is significant. The scholar writes: "In the
process of transitioning to the repertoire of older
children in the second half of the 19th century and the
beginning of our century, the superficial nature of
tongue-twisters began to fade. In this, the influence of
the Enlightenment movement, which began to
intensify at that time, played an important role"[8.
170].
Based on the opinions of the above-mentioned scholars
and Turkic folklorists on the classification of tongue
twisters, as well as the conclusions drawn during our
observations, we have established that children,
adolescents, and adults perform tongue twisters
according to the age characteristics of the performers.
Children's tongue twisters
. Examples of tongue-
twisters created by our people differ in many aspects,
such as theme, form, content, etc. This difference also
applies to the age characteristics of the performers.
Initially, adults created short speeches that
corresponded to children's speech capabilities, but
later the children themselves began to create concise
speeches. Such tongue twisters have few words and are
mainly based on sounds that are pronounced mixed in
children's speech, such as "r," "ch," "sh."
Pronunciation based on the sounds "ch," "r":
Qo‘ng‘iroq qo‘g‘irchoqnikimi, qo‘zichoqnikim
i?[9. 202]
Tongue twister based on the "sh" sound:
Uy yasashasizmi,
Osh oshashasizmi?[9. 203]
In Karakalpak tongue-twisters, examples based on the
correct pronunciation of the "r" sound also
predominate:
Qoy qorada qoy qartayadı, qartaysada, aq qara bas
q
ara qoy qartayadı[10].
The presence of consonant - adjacent sounds in the
words of the text makes their rapid pronunciation even
more difficult. The sounds "r" and "y" in the Karakalpak
example are considered such sounds.
Teenagers tongue twisters
. Examples of this type of
tongue twisters are multi-word, and now, naturally, the
composition of tongue twisters takes on a more
complex form, and the number of its constituent
components also increases. The number of consonant
words and alliterative sounds in the text also increases.
In addition, long sentences, multi-syllable words
appear in the text, in a word, there are more elements
that make it difficult to pronounce and distract. For
example:
Bozorga
bordim,
Musa
purush
pistapurushdan pista oldim. Shu pista Musa purush
pistapurushning pistasi bo‘lsa ham shu pista Musa
purush, pistapurushning pistasi shu pista Musa purush
pistapurushning pistasi bo‘lmasa ham shu Musa purush
pistapurushning pistasi[11].
Karakalpak tongue twister:
Úydiń artında qara qarabaraq,
Qara qarabaraqtıń astında,
Qara qasqa baytallı qara qaraqalpaq.
Qara qaraqalpaqtıń kisesinde,
Qara qaraqasqa qara ılaq,
Qara qaraqasqa qara ılaqtı,
Ilaqlassańız hám ılaqlasasız,
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International Journal Of Literature And Languages (ISSN: 2771-2834)
Ilaqlaspasańız hám ılaqlasasız,
Dayı, sirá ılaqlaspasańız,
Qoyag‘oyıń, ag‘a biy ag‘anıń aldında,
Saqqa júginip otırıp,
Ózimiz ılaqlasamız[12. 441].
As can be seen from the examples, they have a complex
composition, in which various distracting elements are
often encountered: colors, complex epithets.
Adults tongue twisters
. There are examples of tongue
twisters that, when pronounced quickly, the pause
between words in the text disappears and the words
are pronounced together. As a result, words with other
meanings, often indecent or pornographic, are heard,
which are absent in the text. Due to this characteristic,
it was used among adults as a means of entertainment
and humor. O. Safarov notes that tongue twisters
began to lose their pornographic character in the
second half of the 19th century and the beginning of
the 20th century, during the transition from adult to
adolescent repertoire, which was caused by the
enlightenment movement that began at that time[13.
194]. Consequently, the absence of tongue-twisters in
the adult repertoire today, their complete transfer to
children's folklore, can be explained by the reason cited
by O. Safarov. Here's an example of what adults say
quickly:
Ola
bo‘g‘jomani
bo‘g‘jomalasam
ham
bo‘g‘jomalayman,
Bo‘g‘jomalamasam ham bo‘g‘jomalayman[9. 205].
There are also Karakalpak and Kazakh versions of this
tongue twister:
Karakalpak version:
Bazardan aldım ala bog‘jama,
Ol bog‘jamanı men bog‘jamalay,
Kim bog‘jalaydı[12. 454].
Kazakh version:
Базардан алып келген ала боқжама,
Мен боқжамаламай кiм боқжамалайды,
Мен боқжамаламай кiм боқжамалайды[14
. 18].
Note that these versions don't differ significantly from
each other. It should also be noted that such tongue
twisters, that is, those that existed in the adult
repertoire in ancient times, are now preserved in small
quantities.
RESULT
In conclusion, according to the age characteristics of
the performers, there are types of tongue twisters for
children, adolescents, and adults, and tongue twisters
are based on ancient mythological views and rituals,
and then in the structure of ritual folklore, in the later
stages of the historical-folkloric process, that is, in the
process of transitioning to the repertoire of older
children, only tongue twisters that meet the aesthetic
requirements of children were transferred to children's
folklore, and they began to serve such pedagogical
goals as correcting shortcomings in children's speech,
strengthening their mind, memory, and pronunciation.
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