Javanais
Encyclopedia
Javanais is an element of French
slang
where the extra syllable
"av" is placed inside a word (an infix
), between every consonant followed by a vowel, rendering it more incomprehensible. Some common words that are "javanised" are gros, meaning fat, which becomes gravos, bonjour, meaning hello, which becomes bavonjavour and penible, meaning annoying, which becomes pavenaviblave. Paris becomes "Pavaravis."
Javanais follows this formula: consonant + vowel ---> consonant + “av” + vowel.
In French the word is also used to describe the Javanese language
.
Serge Gainsbourg
wrote and sang a song called "La javanaise," a pun playing on Javanese dancing and the javanais style of speaking. The song heavily employs unaltered French words that naturally have the "av" sound; thus the lyrics resemble the word game of javanais.
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
slang
Slang
Slang is the use of informal words and expressions that are not considered standard in the speaker's language or dialect but are considered more acceptable when used socially. Slang is often to be found in areas of the lexicon that refer to things considered taboo...
where the extra syllable
Syllable
A syllable is a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds. For example, the word water is composed of two syllables: wa and ter. A syllable is typically made up of a syllable nucleus with optional initial and final margins .Syllables are often considered the phonological "building...
"av" is placed inside a word (an infix
Infix
An infix is an affix inserted inside a word stem . It contrasts with adfix, a rare term for an affix attached to the end of a stem, such as a prefix or suffix.-Indonesian:...
), between every consonant followed by a vowel, rendering it more incomprehensible. Some common words that are "javanised" are gros, meaning fat, which becomes gravos, bonjour, meaning hello, which becomes bavonjavour and penible, meaning annoying, which becomes pavenaviblave. Paris becomes "Pavaravis."
Javanais follows this formula: consonant + vowel ---> consonant + “av” + vowel.
In French the word is also used to describe the Javanese language
Javanese language
Javanese language is the language of the Javanese people from the central and eastern parts of the island of Java, in Indonesia. In addition, there are also some pockets of Javanese speakers in the northern coast of western Java...
.
Serge Gainsbourg
Serge Gainsbourg
Serge Gainsbourg, born Lucien Ginsburg was a French singer-songwriter, actor and director. Gainsbourg's extremely varied musical style and individuality make him difficult to categorize...
wrote and sang a song called "La javanaise," a pun playing on Javanese dancing and the javanais style of speaking. The song heavily employs unaltered French words that naturally have the "av" sound; thus the lyrics resemble the word game of javanais.
See also
- VerlanVerlanVerlan is an 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 inversion of syllables in a French word - LouchebemLouchébemLouchébem or loucherbem is Parisian and Lyonnaise butchers' slang, similar to Pig Latin and Verlan. It originated in the mid-19th century. Each word is transformed by moving the first consonant to the end; and suffixes such as -ème, -ji, -oc, -muche are added at the end; the letter "L" is placed...
– a form of French slang similar to Pig LatinPig LatinPig Latin is a language game of alterations played in English. To form the Pig Latin form of an English word the first consonant is moved to the end of the word and an ay is affixed . The object is to conceal the meaning of the words from others not familiar with the rules...
, originally called Largonji