rachelslangs - Tumblr blog

[rachelslangs]

Help

I’m taking an online french course and it’s so rigorous and tedious. You need to have an 80% or higher on every assignment, test and conversation. If you don’t get an 80 you get dropped from the class

[rachelslangs]

Ok so after searching for jobs that I know will allow me to use both my linguistics and French degree. I think I want to be a french linguist/editor for video games. That seems cool

[rachelslangs]

Sooo I may have changed my ESL major to linguistics out of what I can only think of as frustration. I guess I’ll see where this takes me

[rachelslangs]

This is my cat Princess Yue (yes. The princess Yue from the last air bender). She’s needy and a complete goof and I love her

[rachelslangs]

(for @cadernodaju) coucou tout le monde!  Basically this is an outline of what basic grammar/vocabulary you should know at each CEFR level, but as a disclaimer I would like to note that I am not fluent in the French language. Everything from C1-C2 is what I’ve heard speakers say they study at that level, it is not from experience since I am only at around a B2 myself. Also, this is but a brief outline for REVIEW, if you are studying any of these French levels for the first time I reccommend you visit my more in depth french posts here (x) (x) or my posts/french tag

basic user

A1 breakthrough 

basic greetings and goodbyes

can introduce yourself and others

talk about things you like/like to do

discuss where you live

tell what things you have

describe yourself and others with traits

order food

review for A1-

100 most common french verbs

basic sentence structure in french

greetings and goodbyes

basic phrases

personality vocab

A2 waystage 

describe the environment around you

talk about daily routine

basic details about your past and family

talk about school/employment

review for A2-

daily routine vocab

passé composé or imparfait?

school vocab

futur proche

directions in french

the imperative

reflexive verbs

demonstrative pronouns

independent user

B1 threshold 

deal with most situations that arise when traveling

talk in detail about personal interests

discuss dreams, ambitions, and opinions with brief explanations

discuss plans

tell short stories

review for B1 -

the conditional 

the future

job vocabulary

discussing plans

y and en

story vocabulary

object pronouns

useful argument/opinion phrases

idioms

future perfect

present participle

B2 vantage 

give the advantages and disadvantages of an opinion/viewpoint

talk about abstract concepts

discuss a variety of topics 

can interect with a native speaker while experiencing little strain

review for B2-

essay writing vocab

more essay writing

the subjunctive (x) (x) (x)

science vocabulary (x) (x) (x)

math vocabulary

political vocabulary (x) (x)

arts vocabulary

plus que parfait

past conditional

proficient user

C1 effective operational efficiency 

can express yourself fluently without having to notably pause or look for the right word

use the language flexibly for social, academic, and professional purposes

talk about complex topics with fluidity and organisation

review for C1 -

active and passive voice

passé antérieur

passé simple

past imperative

relative pronouns 

conjuctions 

C2 mastery

can summarise information from other sources

reconstruct arguments and accounts

understand underlying meanings in conversation

express yourself fluenty

review for C2 -

pluperfect subjunctive

DALF C2 review

sample DALF test

personal review of DALF c1 and c2

how to prepare for DALF

[rachelslangs]

Why are you learning Ainu since it's an indigenous language?

Hi! You can learn indigenous/ethnic/regional/minority languages if natives aren’t against it. 

[rachelslangs]

Relatable. 

[rachelslangs]

Verlan: What is it, how does it work and where does it come from ?

Formation, rules and processes

Every language develops at some point in its history a slang; that is to say a non-standard form of language where structures and words are altered to different extents. For instance, everyone has heard of Cockney Rhyming Slang. CRS sees the replacement of an expression by a different one but with which it rhymes. A common example can be “to have a butcher’s”, which is short for “ a butcher’s hook” which itself replaces “to have a look” where the rhymed element “hook” is deleted which gives zero clue as to which word to look for. 

French slang has a name; that is “verlan”. “Verlan” is itself a product of its creating system, meaning that the word underwent a process of “verlanisation”, i.e: inverting syllables. “Verlan” comes from the phrase “à l’envers”, where the initial “à” was dropped and the second syllable <-vers> was put before the first one <l’en>, giving the /vɛʁlɑ̃/ pronunciation and the simplified orthography. Verlan has been strongly associated with the lower classes of suburbs and poorest areas of cities. But it is also associated with young people whose parents are from former French colonies, especially North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa because of the sociological composition of suburbs at the time when verlan was getting attention, also because of the cliché that sees suburbs being mostly populated by former immigrants and their descendants. However, verlan is not restricted to ethnicities. Its usage is more sociolectal than ethnolectal. 

This is the basis of the Verlan system, inverting syllables in words. The words that experience verlanisation are often dissyllabic:

cité ==> téci (slang for “the hood”)

quartier ==> tierquar (”neighbourhood”)

ghetto ==> togué (”ghetto”)

manger ==> géman (”to eat”)

merci ==> cimer (”thanks”) 

tomber ==> béton (in the phrase “laisse tomber”, meaning “forget it, drop it”)

branché ==> chébran ( “to be hip”, no longer in used, old-fashioned verlan, dated)

bizarre ==> zarbi (”strange”, “weird”. Also used for the name in French for the Unown Pokémon)

However, there are many monosyllabic words that are changed too. These monosyllabic words most often see the inversion of the initial and final consonants and the alteration of the remaining vowel. Such examples are as follows:

juif ==> feuj (”jew”, “jewish”)

femme ==> meuf (”woman”, “girl”, “girlfriend”)

mec ==> keum (”bloke”, “dude”, “guy”. “Mec” is also slang)

fête ==> teuf (”party”) 

flic ==> keuf (”cop”, “policeman”. “Flic” is itself a slang word)

nez ==> zen (”nose”)

pieds ==> ièps (”foot”)

joint ==> oinj (”joint” to smoke weed) 

black ==> keubla (”a black person”) 

You’ll notice that in the majority of cases of verlanised monosyllabic words, the remaining vowel is drastically changed: /ɥi/, /a/, /ɛ/ and /i/ are harmonised into [œ] or [ø] and . This happens because of the treatment of the final “e”, which is in French mostly mute. However, when applying the Verlan Inversion System on the word, it treats them as if they were also dissyllabic and searches for a second syllable. This second syllable is found by pronouncing the “e muet” (as in “femme” /fam/ and “fête” /fɛt/) but in words like “juif”, “mec” or “flic” there is no such “e” to utter. Therefore the Verlan Inversion System will insert an “e” even though there was none in the original word. And since French treats its schwas [ə] like [œ] or [ø] , the orthography is changed to accommodate this pronunciation, with <eu> instead of a mere <e>. Words with more than two syllables have a fluctuating verlanised form. “Cigarette” can be “garette” or “garetteci”. 

Verlanisation can also be combined with other processes like with an apocope or a second verlanisation. The best example of the latter is the path taken by the word “arabe”. “Arabe” (”arabic”) was verlanised into “beur” but this form fell out of use because of its usage by people who were not from the suburbs denatured it. It didn’t feel like it was a verlan word anymore, it didn’t sound like coded speech anymore, it was too widespread and not exclusive enough. So it went through a second process of inversion that gave “rebeu” (or “reubeu” depending on the pronunciation of the former mute “e”). “Arabe” > “Beur” > “Rebeu”. Regarding apocopes, we have the words “ frère” > “refré” > “reuf” ; “parents” > “renpas” > “renps”. You see that the syllables <-ré> and <-a> are deleted. 

So now that we know what verlan is and how it works, how did it come about ? Where does it come from ? How long has it been in use ? 

(x)

Origins and sociolinguistics of verlan

The origins of this French slang is everything but clear. It is hard to say when verlan actually came in use on a large scale. Historians and linguists have been able to find traces of syllable inversions as far back as the 12th century. Lefkowitz (1991, pp 50-54) mentions that verlan was a linguistic game at the time, that in “Tristan and Isolde” Tristan reversed the order of the syllables of his names to remain hidden from the queen of Ireland. In the 14th century, this form of slang was used in the criminal underworld and in the homosexual circles to avoid being overheard. 

French writer Auguste Le Breton claims that he invented the word “verlen” with an <e>, in an interview with Le Monde in 1985. Indeed, there are traces of verlen/verlan in his 1953 book, Du rififi chez les hommes. He was well-known in and was a part of the underworld and was well-versed in their speech and method of coding. However, pretending that he invented it is quite a stretch since there are centuries-old testimonies of it. For instance, it is speculated that Voltaire (who is the top illustration of this post. I scrambled his picture before I even knew I’d talk about him) took his nom-de-plume by changing the order of the city or Airvault, where a part of his family is from. It was used mostly by criminals up to the very late 20th century, when people from French colonies came by the thousands in mainland France. Its use skyrocketed in the 1970s and was popularised in the 1980s and 90s thanks to the emergence of young hip-hop artists that used verlan in their songs. The hip-hop movement, much like in the USA, resonated with people who were, economically and socially, on the fringe of society. People who had come to France and their children were often put in large newly-constructed and cheap buildings of poor quality and design. 

Verlan developed in these economically-marginalised areas because it also offered an instrument of social empowerment to its speakers. It allowed them to exclude those that were not part of their shared social environments. It gave them the opportunity to create their own community and select those who will be a member of it in an attempt to fight the seclusion that was imposed on them. Verlan is an identity-marker. Its words sprinkled here and there in sentences show implicitly where one comes from. 

I mentioned earlier the case of the word “beur” which had experienced a second verlanisation. This case is symbolic of the identity-charged nature of verlan; because the word “beur” had got in the more mainstream Frenches, it had lost its power to hold off non-speakers. As Alena Podhorná-Polická (2006) explains, verlan in the 1980s and 90s was seen as something hip and trendy, something that had to be used to show that one was “in” and still in touch with the youth. Podhorná-Polická speaks of the success of the word as a type of “cultural appropriation”, which left those who could use verlan words without their linguistic gates. Their community gates had been busted open by the mainstream society. So in order to regain what was lost, words like “beur” were inverted once more into “reubeu” to show that the former form “beur” was not anymore a token of verlan. 

The spreading of verlan is also emblematic of a certain period in the history of the country. It is emblematic of a France that wanted to embrace its multiculturalism, its zenith happened in 1998 when France won at home the Football World Championship. The team was held as a herald of what France should be like; diverse, ambitious, accepting. The team was comprised of players whose ascendancy was from sub-Saharan Africa and French West Indies, North Africa or other European countries. This diversity gave rise to the phrase “Black Blanc Beur”. The success of a multi-cultural team facilitated the acceptation of slang verlan words into more common forms of speech.

Verlan is also strongly stigmatised when used out of proper contexts. As I underlined, its strong affiliation with the poor and sometimes violent suburbs contributes to its image of uncouthness and lack of education. 

tl;dr Verlan is a process of French slang which sees the inversion of syllables in words, the result is often dissyllabic and because of the phonotactics of French the vowel often ends up being an [œ] despite its original quality. Traces of verlan can be found as far back the 12th and 14th century but was used in context speech coding and was limited to the underworld and homosexual circles. Today it is associated with the youth (mostly sons and daughters of immigrants) of poor and (sometimes violent) suburbs. Verlan was popularised in the 1980s and 90s through the success of hip-hop songs, making the youth, hip-hop and slang in France three tightly-linked aspects of the lives of suburb-dwellers. Though it can be seen as a badge to show where one is from, verlan can be used by people outside of these circles to bolster their “street cred”. Verlan can be an identity-builder for many users, it can also be an obstacle when used in the wrong contexts given the prejudices that are linked to this form of speech and where it is mostly used.

Sources and further readings:

Les Aspects Stylistiques de la Verlanisation,  Alena Podhorná-Polická (2006)

Verlan et back-slangs autour du monde 

L’envers du verlan 

«Wesh», symbole de la vitalité de la langue française, Slate.fr

Do you speak verlan? , The Guardian

Le Français de demain

Verlan

French Verlan for Dummies

[rachelslangs]

The two types of language learners:

Person 1: I can’t wait to know a few phrases so I can communicate in my target language!

Person 2: I REFUSE TO SPEAK A SINGLE WORD UNTIL I KNOW ALL THE GRAMMATICAL RULES AND ALL THE SYNTAX AND MORPHOL-

[rachelslangs]

Can you guys point me in the direction of some Spanish langblrs?

[rachelslangs]

Spanish basic phrases

Hola. - Hello/Hi

Buenos días. - Good morning

Buenas tardes. - Good afternoon

Buenas noches. - Good night/evening

Me llamo (insert name). - My name is … (literally “I call myself …”) (Pronounced “May yah-moh …”)

¿Cómo se llama (usted)?. - What is your name? or What is his/her name? Use “usted” to mean specifically you (formal)(Pronounced “koh-moh say Yah-mah?”)

¿Cómo está usted? - How are you?

Estoy bien. - I am good.

Gracias. - Thank you.

Por favor. - Please.

Lo siento. - I’m sorry.

Sí. - Yes

No. - No

Adiós. - Goodbye/Bye

[rachelslangs]

me: *looking at children’s books in the language im studying*

me: *understands 3 words in a single sentence*

me: I CAN READ!!!!!!!!!!

[rachelslangs]

Langblr

[rachelslangs]

Date a cutie who learns your native language to surprise you

[rachelslangs]

In celebration of reaching 3k followers!

A R A B I C : @arabic-langblr

C H I N E S E : @multilingual-musings, @langblog, @aspoonfuloflanguage

D U T C H : @onzin-en-talen, @helaas–pindakaas, @join-the-dutch-clan, @nederlandsedingen, @lalinguistique

F I N N I S H : @languagesandshootingstars, @finnishfun

G E R M A N : @deutsian, @dialect-warrior, @cloip, @marvelous-language, @learngermanblog, @languagepixie, @suplanguages, @athenastudying

F R E N C H : @frenchy-french. @lemonadeandlanguages, @salutcavaouiettoi, @parisbian, @francais-formidable, @prepolyglot, @jeparletoutesleslangues

I T A L I A N : @plurilinguismo, @langsandlit, @italianoacasa, @sciogli-lingua, @comaremena, @learninghowtopasta, @unearthitaly

J A P A N E S E : @aidoku

N O R W E G I A N : @whatlanguageisthis, @henvin, @fremmedsprak, @kjaerekrake, @vocablrs

P O R T U G U E S E : @brasilian-bs, @polyglotpearl, @langblr-brasil

S P A N I S H : @spanishskulduggery, @spanishlandia, @spanishahora, @polyglotten, @langsandculture, @foxlanguages, @languagesaregay, @polyglot-oneday

S W E D I S H: @organizedstudy, @svensklangblr, @scandiblr

R E S O U R C E S: @lovelybluepanda

M E M E S / H U M O R : @languagebender, @sprachtraeume, @gayforlangs

R A N D O M  S T U F F  I  L I K E  O N  M Y  D A S H : @languagemoon, @pkeoj, @somalang, @she-learns, @amygdalalangblr, @pastel-languages, @malteseboy, @areistotle

L I N G U I S T I C S : @culmaer, @linguisten

[rachelslangs]

Ways to say “I’m done” 🇫🇷 (like the dramatic i give up)

I’m in exam week so that’s my current vocab

J’en peux plus = I’ve had enough

J’en ai marre = a way to say “I’m done”

C’est bon, j’arrête = that’s it, I’m stopping

J’abandonne = I give up

C’est tellement relou = It’s so annoying

Je veux mourir = I wanna die

yay.

[rachelslangs]