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A long tradition exists in France of permuting syllables of words to create slang words. The current version is called verlan, a name which is itself verlan: verlan = lan ver = l'envers (meaning the reverse). Verlan is formed by inverting syllables. As with many language games, Verlan suffers from the fact that it is primarily a spoken language passed down orally, and thus there exists no standardized spelling. While some still argue that the letters should be held over from the original word, in the case of Verlan most experts agree that words should be spelt as to best approximate pronunciation, hence the use of verlan as opposed to versl'en. As most potential readers here are not French, here's an attempted example of English verlan, which could be called versin (inversed inverse).
might be transformed into
One of the reasons that verlan has not caught on in English-speaking countries is precisely that morphology in French is less strict than in English, and so French syllables are more conducive to inversion from linguistic and aesthetic standpoints. (However, a similar manner of speaking, known as Pig Latin or backslang, is occasionally used in English-speaking cultures.) Verlan generally retains the pronunciation of the original syllables. In particular, French words that end in an e muet (a schwa, eu, such femme) and words which end in a pronounced consonant and which usually have an e muet added at the end (such as flic) retain the sound of the e muet in verlan. In addition, verlan often drops the final vowel sound after the word is inverted, so femme and flic become meuf and keuf, respectively. Some words have had their syllables inverted twice; for example, arabe > beur > reubeu (notice the unpredictable change in vocalism with the neutral vowel eu being inserted). Different rules apply when dealing with one-syllable words, and, in certain dialects of verlan, certain words are usually inverted and certain words are not. Words like très remain unchanged in most dialects, while femme is usually inverted. Some verlan words (like meuf, from femme=woman) have become so commonplace that they have been included into the Petit Larousse, that a "verlanised" version was rendered necessary, and the verlanised verlan became "feumeu" Generally speaking, creating a verlan word on the fly from any random French word will result in smirks. However, understanding verlan words heard in specific situations will help understand what many young people living in French suburbs actually say. You might also use those words yourself if you want to ingratiate yourself with these groups. A very similar process (vesre, from Spanish revés) is used in Argentinian slang Lunfardo. Verlan has also incorported some non-French (mainly Arabic) words, such as:
Examples of verlanFollowing are examples of words in contemporary French verlan :
Verlan in practiceFollowing are a few phrases incorporating some verlan :
Come to my place tonight there is a huge party, I'm with this hot chick, I've got some whiskey and a lot of weed
Samir was buying a good block of hash from Maurice and this jackass get caught by the cops
(Come here to crunch it [my dick] big bitch) As a result, verlan is not much a whole language than a means to underline some words. The fact that a lot of verlan words refer either to sex or drugs stems from its original purpose : to keep expressions secret from the parental or judicial authority. Nobody would solely use verlan while talking. Verlan words and expressions would rather be mixed inside a more general argotique language. See also
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