Information AboutVerlan |
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GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS AND SOME EXAMPLES Below is an English approximation of ''verlan'', which could be called ''versin'' (''inverse''). : ''My piano is broken, phooey.'' /mai pijanou 'iz broukən fuwi:/ might be transformed into : ''My nopia is kenbro, eephoo.'' /mai noupija 'iz kenbrou, i:fu/ ''Verlan'' generally retains the pronunciation of the original syllables. In particular, French words that end in an E Muet (a Schwa , ''eu'', such as ''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, ''femme'' > ''meuf'' > ''feumeu'' 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 doubly "verlanised" version was rendered necessary, and the singly verlanised ''meuf'' became "feumeu". As with many Language Game s, the study of ''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''. Theoretically any word can be translated into ''verlan'' but by reflex only a few expressions are used in everyday speech. Verbs translated into ''verlan'' cannot be conjugated easily. There is no such thing as a ''verlan'' grammar so most of the time verbs are used in the infinitive, past participle or progressive form. For example :
CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE AND SIMILAR PHENOMENA IN OTHER LANGUAGES ''Verlan'' is not so much a language as a means of underlining certain words. The fact that a lot of verlan words refer either to ique'' language. 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 one understand what many young people living in French Banlieue (suburbs) actually say. Using such words can help one become ingratiated with these groups. Some ''verlan'' words have gained mainstream currency. A notable example is the word '' Beur '' (from ''arabe''), now widely used to describe a French-born individual of North Africa n descent. (It has since been verlanised a second time into ''rebeu'', which is now widely used.) The use of ''verlan'' is less widespread in English-speaking countries, likely because Morphology in French is less strict than in English, and so French syllables are more conducive to inversion from Linguistic and Aesthetic standpoints. However, similar manners of speaking such as Pig Latin or " Backslang ", are used in English-speaking cultures (see Language Game ). A form of slang very similar to verlan is used in Greek , called "''podana''", itself an inversed form of "''anapoda''" (i.e. backwards). MORE EXAMPLES ;Persons
; Adjectives
;Verbs and verbal forms
;Nouns
OTHER WORDS Some words are used by the young french people as well as verlan. These words are sometimes inspired by the english words or are created with other kind of modification than the syllabic inverses;
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