SMOI - Mandals tribal language

SMOI, Mandals own tribal language, used in Mandal during the 1900s.

The language is based on twisting words and phrases from the Mandal dialect, so that only those familiar with the system could understand the meaning.

The purpose was to speak loudly with others without outsiders knowing what was being said. SMOI was mostly developed and used by adult men working in the trade business.

SMOI is spoken in dialect, and it can seem both simple and complicated to speak this way. There are no real rules. The basic idea is to twist and bend words—replacing, adding, or removing letters—until it simply "feels good to say." Today, very few understand it fully, some understand a little, but most don’t understand it at all.