Nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah

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The nyah-nyah tune features a descending minor third. About this soundPlay
(help�info)
"Nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah" is the lexigraphic representation of a common
children's chant. It is a rendering of one common vocalization for a six-note
musical figure[note 1] which is associated with children, is found in many
European-derived cultures and is often used in taunting.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

"Nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah" is seen particularly in the eastern United States
and modern Britain.[citation needed] There are many other vocalizations for the
tune, as well as other ways of rendering the nyah-nyah version (such as "Nuh nuh
nuh nuh nuh nuh").[7] Other manifestations include:

"Neener neener neener" in the United States[citation needed]

"Nanny nanny boo boo" in the Southern United States[citation needed]
"Du kan ikke fange mig" in Denmark (meaning "You can't catch me")[citation needed]
"Na na na na n�re" in France[citation needed]
"Naa na na naa na" in the Netherlands[citation needed]
"Na-na-na banana" in Israel[citation needed]
"?? ??-?? ??-?? ??" in Russia
"L�l-l�l-l�l-l�l lie-ru" in Finland
"Skvallerbytta bing b�ng" (meaning "Gossipmonger ding dong") or "Du kan inte ta
mig" in Sweden (meaning "You can't catch me")[citation needed]
The tune is also seen in Canada, Australia, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Serbia,
Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Scotland, Poland, and Iceland.[citation needed]
Children in Korea use a different figure for teasing, la-so-la-so mi-re-mi-re with
the vocalization ??? ??? (eol-re-ri kkol-re-ri)[citation needed] while a Japanese
variant is so-so-mi-mi so-mi-mi[citation needed] and in Mexico a so-la-so-mi, so-
la-so-mi figure is found.[citation needed]

The initial taunt is sometimes followed by further verses using the same tune, for
instance in America "Nanny nanny nanny goat, cannot catch a billy goat" or
following "Nanny nanny boo boo" with "Stick your head in doo-doo". French children
might follow "Na na na na n�re" with "Pouette pouette camembert". In Croatia,
children sing "Ulovi me, ulovi me, kupit cu ti novine. Novine su skupe, poljubi me
u dupe" (which means: "Catch me, catch me, [if you do that] I'll buy you a
newspaper. Newspapers are pricey, kiss my tushie").[citation needed]

While the word "nyah" is now defined as being in and of itself an expression of
contemptuous superiority over another, this is by derivation from the "nyah-
nyah..." chant rather than vice versa[8] so the "nyah-nyah..." vocalization version
of the chant is, at least in origin, an example of communication entirely by
paralanguage.[7] Context-meaningful words are sometimes applied ad hoc, though,
such as "Johnny is a sis-sy" or "I can see your underwear!"[4] Shirley Jackson
referred to it as the "da da, da-da da" or "I know a secret" chant in Life Among
the Savages.[9]

Non-taunting uses are also seen, also associated with children. One tune for Ring a
Ring o' Roses (which is sung to many variant tunes) uses the "Nyah nyah..." musical
figure;[6] a common tune for Bye, baby Bunting uses a similar figure,[2][5][6] and
one for Olly olly in free does also.[1]

Benjamin Britten used the figure in his 1946 opera The Rape of Lucretia for a scene
where the Roman and Etruscan generals mock each other.[2]

References
 Look up nyah in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Leonard Bernstein (1983). "Musical Phonology", lecture 1 of The Unanswered
Question lecture series (Lecture). Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Event occurs at 27:00. Retrieved August 29, 2016. Research seems to indicate that
this exact constellation of two notes [descending minor third], and its three-note
variant, is the same all over the world, wherever children tease each other, on
every continent and in every culture. In short, we may have here a clear case of a
musical-linguistic universal., cited at Patrick Metzger (August 29, 2016). "The
Millennial Whoop: The Simple Melodic Sequence That's Showing Up All Over
Contemporary Pop". Browbeat (Slate's Culture Blog). Slate. Retrieved August 29,
2016.
Albright, Daniel (1999). Untwisting the Serpent: Modernism in Music, Literature,
and Other Arts. University Of Chicago Press. p. 94. ISBN 978-0226012544. Retrieved
August 29, 2016.
Tsur, Reuven (1992). What Makes Sound Patterns Expressive?: The Poetic Mode of
Speech Perception. Sound & Meaning: The Roman Jakobson Series in Linguistics and
Poetics. Duke University Press. p. 48. ISBN 0822311704. Retrieved August 30, 2016.
"A Feeling for Harmony: The 3-Semester Music Theory Course for Earlham College �
Chapter 1E - Pentatonic Scale". Earlham College. Retrieved August 29, 2016.
John Wells (July 18, 2011). "Nuh-nuh (2)". John Wells�s Phonetic Blog. Retrieved
August 29, 2016.
John Wells (July 25, 2011). "Nuh-nuh (3)". John Wells�s Phonetic Blog. Retrieved
August 29, 2016.
John Wells (July 15, 2011). "Nuh-nuh". John Wells�s Phonetic Blog. Retrieved
August 29, 2016.
"Definition of nyah in English". Oxford Dictionaries. Retrieved August 30, 2016.
Shirley Jackson, Life Among the Savages. Farrar Straus Giroux, 1963.
Notes
Sometimes five-note, with the first two notes combined as one long note ("Nyaaahh
nyah nyah nyah nyah") or other variations, such as the third note shortened or the
fifth note stressed in volume, intonation, or duration, and so forth.
Further reading
Liberman, Mark Yoffe (1978). The Intonational System of English (Dissertation).
Indiana University Linguistics Club. OCLC 910372009.
Categories: Playground songs