Appendix:Shibboleths
This appendix lists shibboleths, in other words, expressions and phrases whose pronunciations are used to identify non-native speakers of a language or dialect or used as humorous tongue twisters that are difficult or impossible for non-native speakers.
English
editBoston accent
editEnglish accents
editNew Zealand English
editNorthern Irish English
edit- aitch vs. haitch
- some consider aitch to be the form used by Protestants and haitch the form used by Catholics
Social shibboleths
editSouthern USA accent
editAlemannic German
edit- Chuchichäschtli (“kitchen cupboard”)
Audio: (file)
Bavarian
edit- Oachkatzlschwoaf (“squirrel tail”)
Audio: (file)
Danish
edit- rødgrød med fløde (“red groats with cream”)
Audio: (file)
Dutch
edit- schild en vriend ("shield and friend")
- Used during the Battle of the Golden Spurs to identify Frenchmen in Bruges.
- 's-Gravenhage
- Scheveningen
- Used during World War II to identify Germans from Dutch.
Finnish
edit- yksi (“one”)
- höyryjyrä (“steamroller”)
French
editGeorgian
edit- ბაყაყი წყალში ყიყინებს (baq̇aq̇i c̣q̇alši q̇iq̇inebs, “The frog croaks in the water”)
- Used to showcase the ejective consonants.
German
edit- Streichholzschächtelchen (“little matchbox”)
Audio: (file) - Eichhörnchen (“squirrel”)
Audio: (file)
Hebrew
edit- שיבולת / שִׁבֹּלֶת (shibólet, “ear of grain”).
- The original shibboleth, mentioned in Judges 12:5–6 of the Hebrew Bible as a word that was used to detect Ephraimites fleeing a military defeat, because they couldn't pronounce it the way those from other tribes did.
Portuguese
editSouthern Brazilian accent
editRussian
edit- доро́га (doróga, “road; path”) (Used to check German spies during World War II, German soldiers had difficulty pronouncing Russian /r/ and/or voiced consonants.) (Vasily Zaytsev, Behind the Volga there was no land for us. Sniper's Notes, First published in 1981.)
Spanish
edit- perejil (“parsley”)
- IPA(key): /pe.ɾe.ˈxil/
- Used during the Parsley Massacre to identify Haitians in the Dominican Republic.
- Francisco
- IPA(key): /fɾãn.ˈsis.ko/ (Latin America)
- IPA(key): /fɾãn.ˈθis.ko/ (Spain)
- Used during the Spanish American wars of independence by Colombians to identify Spanish officials from locals.
Ukrainian
edit- паляни́ця (paljanýcja, “a type of bread”)
- IPA(key): /pɐlʲɐˈnɪt͡sʲɐ/.
Audio: (file) - During the 2022 Russo-Ukrainian war, this word was famously used by Ukrainians to identify enemy saboteurs. People from Russia struggle to pronounce it correctly, usually producing something like [pəlʲɪˈnʲitsə] on their first try, with the stressed /i/ being an especially noticeable mistake. The main difficulty for Russians is to pronounce a palatalised /t͡sʲ/, which is extremely rare, especially in such positions. Most Russians also tend to reduce an unstressed /ʲɐ/ to /ʲɪ/.
West Frisian
edit- bûter, brea, en griene tsiis; wa't dat net sizze kin, is gjin oprjochte Fries ("butter, bread, and green cheese; whoever can't say this is no genuine Frisian")
- IPA(key): /ˈbu.tər | ˈbrɪə | ən ˈɡriə.nə ˈtsiːs | ʋad dat ˈnɛt ˈsi.zə kɪn | ɪs ˈɟɪn ɔpˈrjɔx.tə ˈfriəs/
Audio: (file) - Used during the Frisian rebellion to identify non-Frisians.