Tongue-Twister

The tongue-twister (skoromovka) is a genre of children's folklore — a short rhythmicized phrase or verse built on an accumulation of sound combinations difficult to pronounce quickly: 'A quail flew before the quail-hen,' 'Grandma's bean bloomed in the rain.' A tongue-twister is spoken as fast as possible without stumbling; mistakes cause laughter, and practice develops diction, articulation, and phonemic hearing. It is at once a game, an amusement, and an effective means of language education. The tongue-twister belongs to the minor genres of children's folklore, alongside counting rhymes, teasers, amusements, and nursery rhymes. Ukrainian tongue-twisters are recorded in the children's-folklore collections of Hnat Tantsiura. The rhythmic inventiveness of the tongue-twister was used by authors of children's literature — Natalia Zabila, Mariika Pidhirianka, and Platon Voronko.