Verlan is a form of French slang (or argot as it is called in French). It involves transforming ordinary French words by inverting syllables to create a new slang word. This process of syllable inversion is rather bizarre and there is no real evidence to suggest why this system was chosen as opposed to any other. (Why not say words backwards for example!?) However, this is the system used and it is incredibly common in France today to hear verlan words, particularly amongst young people.
The easiest way to understand the mechanism behind producing verlan words is to look at some examples. So, let's have a look at the French l'envers meaning the inverse:
In order to 'verlanise' l'envers we need to:
1) Write the word phonetically (as it is pronounced):
lanver
2) Split the word up into its constituent syllables:
lan ver
3) Swap (invert) the syllables around:
ver lan
4) Put the syllables together:
verlan
Miraculously we have discovered that the verlan form of l'invers is verlan!! What a coincidence ;)
However, verlan is not quite that simple. Because it is not a written or formal language, there are no hard and fast rules to creating verlan words and generally they are created based on sound and feeling far more than according to specific rules.
One rule that is crucial nonetheless is the rule of the e muet. An e muet is an e which ends a word and is not normally pronounced in French speech. However, in French poetry these e muets are pronounced, as is the case when 'verlanising' words which end in an e muet.
For example, the word femme:
1) fa meu (The fa comes from the phonetical spelling of femme and the meu comes from the fact that the e muet is pronounced at the end of femme.)
2) fa meu (No silent letters)
3) meu fa
4) meuf
Hold on a second! Where did the a go from the end of meufa? This is a perfect example of verlan not following precise rules. Sometimes verlan words which should end in a vowel drop the final letter in order to make them sound better, so the verlan of femme is meuf.
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