Not remotely what I intended to post about today, but it figuratively leapt from the pages of yesterday’s New York Times Magazine, figuratively shrieking directly at me:
PENGUIN LANGUAGE! PENGUIN LANGUAGE!
Well, as it turns out, sort of penguin, sort of language. The sort-of-penguin is Pingu, a claymation tv character. The sort-of-language is Pingu’s variety of grammelot, a performance art form of “speaking without words” (pronunciation note: in English, /ˈɡræməlat/).
In the Magazine’s Letter of Recommendation section, a piece by Gabriel Rom: on-line 10/11 with the title “This Kids’ Show Proves the Wisdom of Gibberish”; in print 10/16 with the title “Pingu”; and both with the subtitle: ““Pingu” teaches everyone, even adults, to find meaning in made-up language”
(#1) Pingu, a creature of affective utterance and non-verbal communication (illustration by Niv Bavarsky)
