Smurf (language)


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The Smurf language is basically a variation of a human language where the word "smurf" is substituted for whatever noun, verb, adjective, or adverb is being used. It is a rather intuitive form of communication, since only Smurfs seem to know without any sense of confusion what one Smurf is really saying to another Smurf in Smurf. It mostly depends on what context the word "smurf" is being used in since it can hold any number of meanings, including sometimes profanity. Occasionally, though, debates do break out in the manner of the word "smurf" being used in compounded words and phrases, as one Smurf might say "corksmurf" and another Smurf might say "smurfscrew", though both are correct forms of the word. This verbal debate led to the events that took place in the cartoon special "The Smurfic Games".

In the events that took place in "The Smurfs And The Magic Flute", Peewit attempted to ask for a glass of water in Smurf to a fellow Smurf, only to get other things instead. Brainy tries to explain, "to speak in Smurf, the verb and noun must both agree, and adjectives make the meaning vary" -- though as usual he gets bludgeoned over the head. Peewit also mistranslated a message that was spoken by another Smurf in Smurf, which required Papa Smurf to provide the correct translation. In "The Fake Smurf", when Hogatha was masquerading as Snorty Smurf, she was confused when Vanity tried to tell her something in Smurf.

Empath: The Luckiest Smurf series
Not all Smurfs speak in Smurf. Empath, of all Smurfs in the Empath: The Luckiest Smurf story series, speaks mostly in the language of Psychelian. At first he had trouble understanding Smurf, but eventually he came to understand perfectly what the other Smurfs say in Smurf. Unfortunately, Empath is unable to fluently speak in Smurf except in rare cases when he gets very angry or very scared, and his attempts to do so in other situations usually results in constant misinterpretation, so Empath sticks to speaking in Psychelian. However, though Empath is capable of reading in both Smurf and Psychelian, the other Smurfs are unable to understand anything Empath writes in Psychelian, so he has to translate it into Smurf text. While Empath personally feels that he is less of a true Smurf for not being able to speak in Smurf, Papa Smurf lets him know that his inability to do so doesn't make him any less of a Smurf because his true Smurfness lies within his own heart. During Empath's honeymoon, he finally achieved the ability to fluently speak in Smurf without needing to experience an extreme emotion.

Also to note that in the Empath: The Luckiest Smurf story series, Smurf was only one of the languages that the Smurfs spoke in previous generations; the other languages also include Schtroumpf, Schlumpf, Pitufo, and Puffo. (In respective order, they are the Smurf culture equivalents of French, German, Spanish, and Italian.) It was through the creation of the Smurf head logo which became part of the written language of the Smurfs that Smurf became the dominant language of the people, with only Painter, whose family was a member of the Schtroumpf clan, insisting on speaking in Schtroumpf rather than Smurf on occasion. Schtroumpf is also used in the recording of Smurf names in official registers: Empath is recorded as Schtroumpf Empathie, for example.