What Is French Verlan

Verlan (French pronunciation: ​[vɛʁlɑ̃]) 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 is derived from inverting the sounds of the syllables in l’envers ([lɑ̃vɛʁ], “the inverse”, frequently used in the sense of “back-to-front”).

Why do French use verlan?

Verlan was created because civilians wanted a way to communicate with each other without authority figures being able to understand them. Although it was originally used as a way to conceal illegal activity, verlan has become a permanent fixture of the French vernacular.

Is verlan a language?

There’s a fantastic language phenomenon in France called “Verlan” that’s certain to have sent many French learners scrambling for dictionaries over the years. The slang language essentially sees the sounds of a word’s syllables pronounced back-to-front.