() is a type of argot in the French language, featuring inversion of syllables in a word, and is common in slang and youth language. It rests on a long French tradition of transposing syllables of individual words to create slang words. The word itself is an example of verlan (making it an autological word). It is derived from inverting the sounds of the syllables in (, , frequently used in the sense of "back-to-front"). The first documented use of verlan dates back to the 19th century, among robbers.

Word formation

Words in verlan are formed by switching the order in which syllables from the original word are pronounced. For example, becomes .

Verlan generally retains the pronunciation of the original syllables. However, French words that end in a (such as ) and words that end in a pronounced consonant (such as ) gain the sound once reversed. In addition, verlan often drops the final vowel sound after the word is inverted, so and become ( – in full form) and ( – in full form), respectively.

The study of written verlan is difficult as it is primarily passed down orally, without 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 spelled as to best approximate pronunciation. For example, is preferred to .

The French author Auguste Le Breton uses numerous examples of verlan, for instance in .

Different rules apply for one-syllable words, and words with more than two syllables may be verlan-ised in more than one way. For example, may yield or .

Vocabulary

Some verlan words, such as , have become so commonplace that they have been included in the . The purpose of verlan is to create a somewhat secret language that only its speakers can understand. Words becoming mainstream is counterproductive. As a result, such newly common words may be reversed a second time .

Some verlan words, which are now well incorporated in common French language, have taken on their own significance, or at least certain connotations that have changed their meaning. ("I was hitting on a hot chick") is said, but not .

Here are some examples of French words that have been made into a verlan and their English meanings:

{| class="wikitable"

|-

! French

! Verlan

! English

|-

| bande

| deban

| group

|-

| bête

| teubé

| stupid

|-

| bizarre

| zarbi

| weird

|-

| black (Eng.)

| kebla

| dark-skinned, (African/black) person

|-

| bloqué

| kéblo

| blocked

|-

| bonjour

| jourbon

| hello

|-

| câble

| bleca

| fuse (as in "to blow a fuse")

|-

| classe

| secla

| class

|-

| clope

| peuclot

| cigarette

|-

| branché

| chébran

| trendy

|-

| monde

| demon

| crowd

|-

| disque

| skeud

| album

|-

| fais chier

| fais iech

| it makes one angry

|-

| femme

| meuf

| woman

|-

| flic

| keuf

| cop

|-

| fou

| ouf

| crazy

|-

| futur

| turfu

| future

|-

| français

| céfran

| French

|-

| jobard

| barjot

| crazy

|-

| l'envers

| verlan

| reverse

|-

| louche

| chelou

| shady or weird

|-

| lourd

| relou

| irritating or unbearable

|-

| maison

| zonmé

| house

|-

| merci

| cimer

| thanks

|-

| mère

| reum

| mother

|-

| métro

| tromé

| subway

|-

| musique

| zicmu

| music

|-

| père

| reup

| father

|-

| piscine

| cinepi

| pool (swimming)

|-

| poulet

| lepou

| chicken (similar to "pig" in English; for police officer)

|-

| pourri

| ripou

| rotten (cop)

|-

| rap

| pera

| rap (music)

|-

| truc

| keutru

| stuff

|-

| vas-y

| zyva

| go for it

|-

| speed (Eng.)

| deuspi

| quick

|-

| moi

| oim / wam

| me

|-

| laisse tomber

| laisse béton

| give up

|-

|}

Double verlan

Creating verlans often brings up words that are verlan of a verlan. This is sometimes called or . One can find the order of the consonants of the original word, but the vowels have been modified.

For example, (verlan of ) becomes . The verlan word , derived from , has been made into .

Cultural significance

Verlan is less a language than a way to set apart certain words. Artists claim that it fits well with the musical medium because "form ranks way over substance".

The stage name of Belgian pop artist and songwriter Stromae (real name Paul Van Haver) is verlan for .

One hypothesis holds that Voltaire, the nom-de-plume of François-Marie Arouet, is a verlan word for Airvault.

The French language movie poster for the 2023 American film Barbie contains a line that has been interpreted as verlan: "Elle peut tout faire. Lui, c'est juste Ken", "She can do everything. He’s just Ken". By referring to the character Ken, which is a verlan phonological inversion of nique, a profane slang term for sex, aloud, it sounds like "Lui sait juste ken," meaning "he only knows how to fuck." Warner Bros. refused to confirm or deny whether the profane double entendre was intentional but appreciated the added publicity that the poster generated.

In the 2007 animated film Ratatouille, the character chef Auguste Gusteau's first name and last name are verlans of each other.

See also

  • Back slang
  • Cockney
  • Language game
  • Louchébem
  • Lunfardo, which has some reverse words
  • Pig Latin
  • Podaná
  • Rhyming slang
  • Riocontra (in Italian)
  • Sananmuunnos (in Finnish)
  • Šatrovački (in Serbo-Croatian)
  • Shelta
  • Totoiana (in Romanian)
  • Tougo (in Japanese)
  • Vesre (in Spanish)

References