Une approche prosodique de la morphologie du verlan

Tracing the origins of verlan in an early nineteenth century text?

“…The code used in the letter is still different from largonji in that it involves mostly metathesis, while largonji properly involves displacement and suffixation, and plays more with word boundaries (initial segment and final boundary) than syllabic structure. One should still note that in the case of vowel initial words, largonji in fact behaves much like the backward slang studied here: as is the case in the letter for forms such as j'esrèpe < j'espère ‘I hope’, the element targetted by l- replacement in largonji is not the first consonant but the first onset, as in artichaut ‘artichoke’ > [arliʃote] (Plénat, 1985:83; Plénat, 1995:102). Similarly, largonji does not include the re- prefix in the computation of the first onset of the word, as in relairefem < refaire ‘do again’ (Plénat, 1985:81).…”

“…Forms such as j'esrèpe < j'espère clearly indicate that it is not the first consonant or group of written consonants that is switched with the second group, but the first onset of a syllable. The fact that clusters are treated differently word-initially and word-internally does not per se preclude a phonological treatment, as such differences are also attested in modern spoken forms of verlan (Plénat, 1995:101). Double letters are not treated as a cluster, as one would expect if the code were purely orthographic: thus lettre > telre , not * teltre.…”

“…In modern verlan , as well as in the letter, trisyllables are the problematic cases where there seems to be rule competition. Moreover, not all consonant clusters are treated in a uniform way in modern verlan (Plénat, 1995:101–102), and there are similarities between certain of the transformations observed for modern French monosyllabic words and for disyllabic words in the letter (see mok for comme , Plénat, 1995:107), with a simple consonant swap.…”

“…What makes French verlan so distinctive is the fact that a large number of verlanised words have been lexicalised as part of normal, everyday speech, as well as the extent to which verlan is or has been used by diverse groups, mostly among young people. Many studies have described and analysed the modern forms of verlan (Bachmann and Basier, 1984; Lefkowitz, 1991; Plénat, 1992, 1995; Méla, 1988, 1991, 1997 among others). Some studies analyse verlan in order to deduce more general principles applicable to the phonological structure of French (Lefkowitz, 1989; Lefkowitz and Weinberger, 1991; Azra and Cheneau, 1994; Plénat, 1995; Walker, 2006).…”

“…Many studies have described and analysed the modern forms of verlan (Bachmann and Basier, 1984; Lefkowitz, 1991; Plénat, 1992, 1995; Méla, 1988, 1991, 1997 among others). Some studies analyse verlan in order to deduce more general principles applicable to the phonological structure of French (Lefkowitz, 1989; Lefkowitz and Weinberger, 1991; Azra and Cheneau, 1994; Plénat, 1995; Walker, 2006). Another group of studies considers the usage of verlanised forms in discourse and the various social settings and contexts of use of verlan (Bachmann and Basier, 1984; Méla, 1991, 1997; Antoine, 1998).…”