Edited by Azizi Powell
This pancocojams post showcases the French pop song "Bella" by Maître Gims.
Information about Maître Gims is included in this post along with information about this song, partial lyrics (translated from French & Verlan to English) and a YouTube video.
I've also included a brief review of the portion I read of that video's discussion thread and selected comments from that portion of that video's comments.
This post is presented for linguistics, socio-cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to Maître Gims for his musical contribution. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publisher of this video on YouTube.
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INFORMATION ABOUT MAITRE GIMS
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ma%C3%AEtre_Gims
"Gandhi Djuna (born 6 May 1986), better known by his stage name Maître Gims, is a French rapper and singer of Congolese descent. He is a former member of the hip-hop group Sexion d'Assaut, and has developed a solo career with a major release, his solo album Subliminal and his cousin Mario Kalinovic is also his producer.
Career
Gandhi Djuna, born in Kinshasa (DRC) with his brother, immigrated to France when he was just two years old. .... Taking the name of Gims, he rapped at college with his friends of Sexion d'Assaut while studying communication and graphical arts."...
****
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subliminal_(album)
Subliminal is the debut solo album of French rapper Maître Gims, member of the French rap group Sexion d'Assaut. The 18-track album was released 20 May 2013 on Wati B and on MMC, the latter founded by Maître Gims himself. The lyrics were all by Maître Gims whereas the music was by Maître Gims, Renaud Rebillaud and Stan-E Music. The album was a big success charting in France (reaching #2), Belgium (reaching #1) as well as charting in Switzerland.
On 2 December 2013, he re-released the album with six additional tracks he called La face cachée (the hidden face) for a total of 24 tracks, resulting in further interest in the album.
By 31 August 2015, the album had accumulated a total of more than 1,000,000 copies sold in France."...
-snip-
"Bella" is track #17 on that album.
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PARTIAL LYRICS - BELLA
(as written and sung by Maitre Gims; translated from French to English)
..."Yes,it's a phenomenon who likes to haunt our dreams
That woman was called, Bella the golden-skinned
Women hated her, and others envied her
But men could only love her
She wasn't a homegirl, neither easy nor difficult
Synonymous of "gorgeous", to her feet : only disciples
Whom quickly became undecided, trembling like leaves
She caressed you without even touching you
But when I see her dancing the evening
I'd like to be that chair on which she sits
Or less than that, a loser
Just a stone on her way
She answered to the name of Bella
The local people didn't want to let her go
She captivated all the villages
People was saying to me : "Be careful about that girl"...
Source: http://lyricstranslate.com/en/bella-bella-beauty.html
****
SHOWCASE VIDEO - Maître Gims – Bella
MaitreGimsVEVO, Published on Jun 19, 2013
-snip-
As of 7:38 AM (DST) this video had the following statistics:
281,443,993 [total number of views]
776,692 [thumbs up] 63,290 [thumbs down]
[total number of] comments - 52,518
****
MY EDITORIAL COMMENTS ABOUT THE COMMENTS THAT I READ FROM THAT VIDEO'S DISCUSSION THREAD
As noted above, the embedded video of Maitre Gim's "Bella" has a huge number of viewers and a very large number of commenters. Although I didn't count the number of those comments that I read, it probably was in the early thousands.
Judging from the comments that I read in that discussion thread, many people throughout the world are familiar with Maitre Gims' "Bella". Some people love it, lots of people like it, a considerable number of people dislike it, and some people hate it for one reason or another.
I learned about Maitre Gims' "Bella" song yesterday as a result of a search for French rap songs. I started that search after publishing a pancocojams post on Verlan (French slang) which I read is often used in French rap. Although Maitre Gims is identified in the Wikipedia page (whose link is given above) as a French rapper, "Bella" isn't a rap song.
Given that Maitre Gims is a French man who was born in the Democratic Republic Of The Congo, some commenters wondered if racism against Black people was the reason why a number of people dislike his performance of "Bella". Quite a few commenters in the portion of the discussion thread that whose refuted this theory saying that what they disliked was Gim's commercialism and what many of them referred to as the song's "sh&tty"* lyrics. [As per the policy of this blog, amended spelling is given for profanity]. Many of those comments were made in response to non-French speakers writing that they loved how the song sounds.
One commenter in the portion of comments that I read criticized this video because Maitre Grims was the only Black person in the video. One commenter responding to this criticism writing that it was racist and anyway Maitre Grims had another video that mostly featured Black people.
Most of the comments that I read in the discussion thread were written in French. I used "Google translate" to get the English translation of those comments.
A few times in the portion of this discussion thread that I read, an English speaking commenter would write "English comment passing through". That would start a sub-thread of comments in English. Another sub-thread of comments that I read began with someone writing if there were any Latinos in this discussion. However, at some point, that sub-thread changed to people from non- Latino nations indicating the country that they were from (such as Saudi Arabia, Poland, and Armenia). While some people identified themselves throughout that discussion thread as being from the United States, there were no comments from people who identified themselves as being from any African nation other than North Africa - An exception to that statement might be the commenter who wrote that he or she was an "African from Sweden passing through". I also didn't find any comments from any Caribbean nation, but (as I indicated above) there were some comments from some South American nations.
A number of people who studying French in school wrote that they had a difficult time understanding the lyrics for Maitre Gims' "Bella". Quite a number of native French speakers agreed that they also didn't understand many of the words used in that song. Some commenters wrote that the reason for this, beyond the fact that Gims' sung fast, was that some of the words in that song were in Verlans (French slang). For the record, no pun intended, it appeared to me that there were only a few comments in that video's discussion thread that included Verlans words. Furthermore, only a few comments that I read had the Arabic/French words "je kiff[e]". In contrast, in that portion of that discussion thread that I read, there were more comments that included the (no longer used by African Americans that way) Black slang term "cool" (meaning "very good.) And there were even more commenters who used other terms that are still currently "in" [I think] among African Americans slang terms such as "dope" and "fire" and/or drawings of flames. "Dope" and "fire" and a drawings of flames mean that in those commenter's opinion that song was "very good"/"hot".
Without further editorial notes, here are some examples of those types of comments from that video's discussion thread: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMltoD1jCGI
These comments given in relative chronological order with the oldest comments given first, except for replies. This compilation doesn't purport to be the complete comments from any of these sub-threads (indicated by "replies").
These comments are numbered for referencing purposes only.
****
SELECTED COMMENTS FROM THIS VIDEO'S DISCUSSION THREAD
2014
1. Ayoitsthatkid
"Why are people hating him because he is black?"
**
Reply
2. Martin V
"its called racism"
**
Reply
3. com_plaining
"People aren't hating on him because he is black but because his music is shi&&y*"
-snip-
*That word was fully spelled out in this comment.
**
Reply
4. ana colda
"ANd what about hating him? People are stupid and do not apreciate a real value. I like his music."
**
5. LoSJK
"+ana colda A real value ? Are you serious ? His lyrics suck. The voice is autotuned. The hole music sucks."
**
Reply
6. Junubia
"His lyrics are shi&&y*? I don't understand a word of French, so it sounds pretty good to me lol."
-snip-
*This word was fully spelled out in this comment.
**
Reply
7. Luda Na
"+Laurine SJK Oh yeah. Gims sucks we're ok about it x)
For people who don't speak french : Trust me, the lyrics sucks. Really. And autotune ... He destroyed my eaaaars ! This is not music. This is not art. This is commerce only ;)"
**
Reply
8. Junubia
"+Laurine SJK I just looked up the lyrics in English. From my understanding its about a girl who captivated everyone with her beauty. Women envied her, men wanted her. Ultimately she used her beauty to the detriment of others.
I think its pretty deep.
But I'm American. Maybe because of people like Justin Bieber and Lil Wayne, everything sounds good comparatively. LOL"
**
Reply
9. Astrathena
"We don't hate because he is black, we hate his stupid texts. I'm French and I can say that the lyrics are just ... Pathetic."
**
Reply
10. Luda Na
"Maître Gims doesnt rap."
**
11. John Smith
"+Fantasy.Isotope Only in crappy music videos like this a re blacks getting white girls"
**
Reply
12. Aziz Ahmed
"+Ayoitsthatkid typical white people, always jealous"
**
Reply
13. Abdulsamet Gunal
"don't worry we are not racist ;)
i like malcolm x, che, ghandi, blah..."
**
Reply
14. Karakolev
"If I was racist I wouldn't listen to Ice Cube, Eazy E, 2pac, Snoop Dogg, RickRoss, Wiz Khalifa and all of the black skinned rappers.."
**
Reply
15. Ayoitsthatkid
"Just because you listen to black singers doesn't mean you are not racist...."
**
Reply
16. Ayoitsthatkid
"Or a bigot"
**
Reply
17. "Ayoitsthatkid I got friends that are black :)..and I treat them like white people.."
**
Reply
18. Ayoitsthatkid
"+Karakolev` This comment proves that you are a bigot"
**.
Reply
19. Karakolev`
"+Ayoitsthatkid bigot, w0t?"
**
Reply
20. Zolane - Elly Skidda
"Is not because he is black"
**
Reply
21. Misterboy02
"it's not because he is black, because he sings like sh&t"*
-snip-
*This word was fully spelled out in this comment.
**
Reply
22. Dżuliette Daw
"can be black but if muslim then sh&t"*
-snip-
*This word was fully spelled out in this comment.
**
23. Reply
oumayma elkarzazi
"come on this is called racism ... and then whoo cares if he is muslim or christian or something else.we are human we must respest each other we must respect religions Sooo please stop sayins this judgement because it hurts ..besides it's useless"
**
Reply
24. Fadi Eissa-Darwish
"+Shamanniac1 non , c'est la vérité que je tu dis :v
J'ai beaucoup d'amis et des hommes que je les connais bien en France
et tu sais bien le racisme contre les Arabes dans la France
Je m'excuse de les fautes de grammaire"
-snip-
Translated from French to English by Google translate:
"+ Shamanniac1 no, it is the truth that I say: v
I have many friends and men that I know well in France
And you know the racism against the Arabs in France
I apologize for grammatical errors"
**
Reply
25. Shamanniac, SJW bien-pensant
"+EISSA PROD C'est sûr il y a du racisme en france ! Comme partout. Je disais juste que ce message c'est de la provocation car évidemment les gens ne détestent pas Gim's parce qu'il est noir, plutôt parce qu'il est devenu très commercial à mon avis..."
-snip-
Translated from French to English by Google translate:
"+ EISSA PROD Sure, there is racism in France! Like everywhere. I just said that this message is provocation because of course people do not hate Gim's because it is black, rather because it has become very commercial in my opinion ..."
**
Reply
26. Shamanniac, SJW bien-pensant
"+Bubumeilichan T'as de la chance de pas avoir subi le racisme, c'est clair qu'il y en a. Mais si certains insultent ce pays c'est pas simplement par ingratitude comme tu dis. Il faut bien voir que certains sont beaucoup moins bien accueillis que toi..."
-snip-
Translated from French to English by Google translate:
"+ Bubumeilichan You are lucky not to have suffered racism, it is clear that there are. But if some insult this country it is not simply because of ingratitude as you say. We must see that some are much less welcome than you ..."
**
Reply
27. Shamanniac, SJW bien-pensant
"+Bubumeilichan Je t'assure que tu as eu beaucoup de chance de ne jamais voir de racisme. Je connais des noirs et des arabes qui l'ont souvent subi, et ils n'ont pas l'impression que la France à fait quelque chose pour eux. Ils ont juste eu accès aux mêmes choses que tous les autres Français ce qui est simplement normal."
-snip-
Translated from French to English by Google translate:
"+ Bubumeilichan I assure you that you were very lucky to never see racism. I know blacks and Arabs who have often suffered, and they do not feel that France has done anything for them. They just had access to the same things as all the other French people which is just normal."
**
Reply
28. lotfi houcine, 2017
"Moi je le respecte c est un grand chanteur"
-snip-
Translated from French to English by Google translate:
"I respect it c is a great singer"
**
Reply
29. Huntez Gaming, 2017
"Ayoitsthatkid no just learn French the lyrics suck"
**
Reply
30. Cristina Adsc, 2017
"people don't hate him! he is one of the most popular singer in france and he received lots of love and support"
****
2015
31. KiD LUCKiE
"Just an African that lives in sweden passing through..."
**
Reply
32. Le Palmier de chez MrAntoineDaniel
"+KiD LUCKiE omg if another african that lives in sweden find this message, he would be very happy"
**
Reply
33. Sandra A
"Waddup fellow swede, jag är inte afrikan though lel
-snip-
"Waddup" is a form of the African American Vernacular English greeting term "What's up".
"jag är inte afrikan" translated from Swedish to English = "I'm not African".
"lel" may be a typo for the internet term "lol" [laughing out loud]
****
2016
34. Marion Anthony "Fat Tony" D'Amico
"Who else thought it would be cool to type in "french rap" "
**
Reply
35. Andy Zhang
"That's literally what I did lmao"
**
Reply
36. greySTEAM
"seemed like a good idea...."
**
Reply
37. Infinity
"typed "best french rap""
**
Reply
38. Idilique òwó
"This is not french rap."
**
Reply
39. Odba Labrada
"thats exactly wut i put on the youtube search bar then "maîte gims" came up and i started listening to his songs"
**
Reply
40. Britain Wells
"You all should look up Booba, Damso, Gradur, Kaaris... all fire 🔥🔥"
**
Reply
41. Alexandre Inconnu
"If you search the really french rap please go to I AM : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%27%C3%89cole_du_micro_d%27argent the best french rap ever"
**
Reply
42. rephael reyes
"I thought there was no way french rap would exist, that's why I've searched it :P"
**
Reply
43. Iman A
"you'd be surprised to see how much french rap music there is"
**
Reply
44. Jorge Castro
"Marion Anthony "Fat Tony" D'Amico I dont understand what they say but french rap is dope"
**
Reply
45. Pamela Enyonu
"I am just happy to find a comment in English."
**
46. Jennifer aldana
"I only understand bella shella and village and i'm the best in my frenchclass😂👏🏻"
**
Reply
47. Aimée Moore
"actually, "Shella" it's the verlan of , like lâcher = cher'lâ"
Yes....complicated . XD
-snip-
The French word "lâcher" = "letting go"
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2017/04/verlan-french-slang-and-use-of-word.html for a pancocojams post on Verlan (French slang).
**
Reply
48. Mariana Lima
"I heard "cherche", "le soir", "difficile", "magnifique", "même", "pour moi", "la tête", that's all I've got xD"
**
Reply
49. Mariana Lima
"+Aimée Moore why does verlan even exist? It's so weird"
**
Reply
50. Aimée Moore
"I don't even know XD There is the word louche which means fishy, the verlan of this word is chelou (a word who is very use by teens, contrary of louche) BUT chelou means more weird than fishy. Cher'lâ is not very use, like, the first time I heard this song, I don't understand what does Maitre Gims say. The verlan is not officialy correct. (I have make any grammatical mistakes in English? )"
**
Reply
51. ED86
"Well I have been speaking english for 16 years and I cant understand Wiz Khalifa or Drake..."
-snip-
Wiz Khalifa is an African American rapper and Drake is a Canadian R&B/Hip Hop singer.
**
52. Zont26
"Just an English comment passing through..."
**
Reply
53. Elie Isso
"I was waiting for one.
**
Reply
54. Brennan Thornhill
"Was searching 4 1"
**
55. marie rofou
"hi 😊😊"
**
Reply
56. MORNET Etienne
"hi english comment"
**
Reply
57. Ilovecheese
"+BAKERBONK It's good to see some english speakers :)"
**
Reply
58. BAKERBONK
"Yeah :)"
**
Reply
59. Hilda Isabeles
"im usa citizen"
**
Reply
60. King Joe
"Same here fam"
-snip-
"fam" is a clip of the word "family". "Fam" appears to be currently "in" among African Americans and non-African Americans as an gender inclusive referent for people who share some kind of connection to you (whether it be biological, national, racial, ethnic, community, regional etc.)
**
Reply
61. Th3BlindRebel
"Sameeeee"
**
62. Cap Reed Crusader1210
"+Zont26 another English comment passing through"
**
Reply
63. Cameron's Vlogs
"+Zont26 Yeah Boy. Ignorant Americans are smart enough to appreciate good French music :) I'm one of them. But I'm less ignorant than most Americans. We are So So So screwed in a few months. Cheers Russia."
**
Reply
64. Deborah F
"+Zont26 so this is the English comment section"
**
Reply
65. Sheeza Ejaz
"So this was probably already mentioned in the French comments but since I'm 'murican, I thought I'd ask in English. DOES ANYONE WANT TO TALK ABOUT HOW SMOKING HOT THE GIRL IS IN THIS VIDEO??"
**
66. salim diab
"6 years of French class n I've understand nothing! daf&q*
-snip-
*This colloquial form of a common profanity phrase is fully spelled out in this comment..
**
Reply
67. Emile Patte
"Aha that's normal, lyrics are complicate for french."
**
Reply
68. Gaelle
"It s not academic words"
**
Reply
69. Gametime
"First, french speaked is totally different from French written and the french you learn at school. And second, It's a music, so it's a bit more complicated."
**
Reply
70. ChippiE PivV
"I'm french and I don't understand; so no worries"
**
Reply
71. Tripple 7
"You will never learn those lyrics in class, they are pretty hard to understand, and their meanin are worst.. it has a second story deeper in the lyrics"
**
Reply
72. emine momo, 2017
"cause this is the slang french not the school french. he speaks about a girl which is called bella because of her beauty ;)"
**
Reply
73. SMAIL MUTLULUK, 2017
"salim diab bcuz thats african way of speaking french hhhhhh"
**
Reply
74. Tedultra18, 2017
"+Alexandre Rault Faut pas exagérer, il n'y a que trois mots de verlan : iench, iep et chéla.
Respectivement chien, pied et lâcher."
-snip-
translation from French to English
"+ Alexandre Rault Do not exaggerate, there are only three words of verlan: iench, iep and chela. Respectively dog, foot and let go."
**
75. Trippy Jimbob
"240 million views and I've never even heard of this geeza before"
-snip-
"geeza" is probably a form of the word "geezer" which usually means "old man". However, my guess is that "geeza" here is a relatively neutral term for "dude".
**
Reply
76. BlertaK
"I was thinking the same. Heard it for the first time."
**
Reply
77. Akin Sumer
"This song was very famous in french country"
**
78. ImDrunq
"Maybe because it's a french song?"
**
Reply
79. juste kevin
"+Messi Menon Was very famous in 2013. But since that time nobody listen to this song anymore in france. I think there are more foreigners that listen to this than french."
**
80. Maimouna Datt
"Trop cool"
**
81. NAKMEEZY
"As popular as this guy is you'd think he would at least have a black Bella or more people of color in this video. Only thing black in this video is him and the rims on the Lamborghini."
**
Reply
82. NAKMEEZY
"Lmaooooo I realized the bull was black after my comment. Good eye!"
**
Reply
83. Imen Toumi
"you can watch his song ''sapé comme jamais'' if u want black people. There's some diversity lol"
**
Reply
84. zTundra
"He lives in a country where 88% of the population is white... what did you expect?"
**
Reply
85. NAKMEEZY
"I expect him or his management team to acknowledge the 12pct that are not represented in this video. You could at least fit one more black and a Morrocan in there."
**
Reply
86. simplythebest286
"not everybody thinks about skin color like racist americans !!!!"
**
Reply
87. FruityCandy
"+simplythebest286 Are you brainless? Your stupidity is astounding."
****
2017
88. Jihen Henia
"chapeau!!!!! j'ai rien a dire que waaaaaaaawwww!!! c'est de la pûre bombe!!!"
-snip-
translated by Google translate from French to English
"hat!!!!! I have nothing to say that waaaaaaaawwww !!! It's the bomb!"
-snip-
"The bomb" is a no longer used (by African American) term that means "very good". Instead, the current superlatives that (I believe) African Americans use are "the sh&t*" and "fire".
**
89. S. N
"je apprendre français at la classe. I am taking french at school and want to ameliorer so I guess this'll help. it's hard tho"
**
Reply
90. Suis-je un Geek ?
"Je corrige :
J'apprends le français en classe. Je parle français à l'école et je veux l'améliorer donc je devine que ceci aidra.
C'est difficile. (Idk what "tho" means)"
-snip-
This commenter is correcting the French that was used by S.N.
**
Reply
91. Lysa :3
"S. N Yeah but there's some words you can't uderstand, in french we say "verlan" for exemple in this donc "bête comme les iep" normally it's "bête comme les pieds" i don't know how to say it in english"
**
Reply
92. Azizi Powell
" "tho" = "though", but in that sentence 'tho" means "however"."
**
Amy Balcome
93. "je kiff bella
en pasant fait un titre pour moi❤🙈"
**
94. Laure Mecoeur
"je t adore je te kiff grave"
**
95. Calixta dOreye
"super cool"
**
96. Levent Kacmaz
"so bad"
-snip-
"Bad" here can have its standard negative meaning or it could be an incorrectly used example of the African American Vernacular English positive meaning of that word, a slang term that African Americans haven't used since at least the 1990s.
****
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Showing posts with label Verlan slang. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Verlan slang. Show all posts
Saturday, April 8, 2017
Friday, April 7, 2017
Verlan (French Slang) And The Use Of The Word "Kiffe" By French Speaking People
Edited by Azizi Powell
This is Part I of a two part pancocojams series about the use of Verlan language as well as the word "kiff", and other North African originated slang words by French speaking people.
This post provides general information about Verlan language and the use of the word "kiff" and some of its forms by French speaking people.
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2017/04/three-contempory-songs-from-seychelles.html for Part II of this post. Part II showcases three songs from Seychelles, East Africa by the singer Tania. Selected comments from those YouTube videos' discussion threads are also presented in this post, with special attention to comments that include the word "kiff".
This post is presented for linguistic and cultural purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.
****
INFORMATION ABOUT VERLAN AND THE WORD "KIFF"
These excerpts are presented in no particular order and are numbered for referencing purposes only.
Excerpt #1
From http://www.african-ls.com/blog/language-translation/is-there-a-difference-between-french-and-african-french/
"A QUICK INTRO TO AFRICAN FRENCH
Really there is no such thing as a language called, “African French”. The term is used to categorise the varieties of the language spoken in Africa. The language was of course brought by the French on colonial pursuits. Some 120 million people across Africa speak French in some way. The Organisation internationale de la Francophonie estimates there will be 700 million French speakers in the world by 2050, 80% of whom will be in Africa....
Those nations using French are known as ‘francophone’ African countries. Across Africa, French is more often than not spoken alongside a local, indigenous language, such as Arabic in Morocco or Wolof in Senegal. In some places it has become a dominant first language, such as in the region of Abidjan, Ivory Coast and Libreville, Gabon. In some countries, such as Tunisia and Algeria, French is used by the intellectual and political classes.
CATEGORIES OF AFRICAN FRENCH
African French can be broadly broken down into 5 types:
• West & Central – spoken in countries such as Senegal, Mali, Niger, Chad, Cameroon, DRC.
• Maghribi – French used in Arab North Africa such as in Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia.
• Djibouti – east Africa’s sole French speaker, Djibouti on the Horn of Africa.
• Indian Ocean – specific to Réunion, Mauritius, and Seychelle.
• Creole – some define them as a “French”, others not, but French mixed with local languages is widespread across the francophone countries.
[...]
One variant of African French in particular readers should be aware of is Français Populaire Africain (Popular African French) or FPA. It began as something of a “ghetto language” originally out of Ivory Coast; it spread through universities, film, dance and drama across borders. Over the years it gained acceptance. It is spoken in the urban sprawls of sub-Saharan African, especially in cities such as Abidjan (Ivory Coast); Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso), Dakar (Senegal) Cotonou (Benin) and Lomé (Togo).”…
-snip-
This article includes a map showing Francophone countries in Africa.
DRC = Democratic Republic Of The Congo )Congo Kinshasa, formerly known as "Zaire"
-snip-
Update: March 27, 2018
For some reason, that article didn't mention Burkina Faso in its list of West African nations that speak French.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burkina_Faso
"Burkina Faso ... is a landlocked country in West Africa. It covers an area of around 274,200 square kilometres (105,900 sq mi) and is surrounded by six countries: Mali to the north; Niger to the east; Benin to the southeast; Togo and Ghana to the south; and Ivory Coast to the southwest. Its capital is Ouagadougou. In 2014 its population was estimated at just over 17.3 million.[8] Burkina Faso is a francophone country, with French as an official language of government and business. Formerly called the Republic of Upper Volta (1958–1984), the country was renamed "Burkina Faso" on 4 August 1984 by then-President Thomas Sankara. Its citizens are known as Burkinabé (/bɜːrˈkiːnəbeɪ/ bur-KEE-nə-beh)."...
****
Excerpt #2
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verlan
"Verlan ... 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.[2] The name verlan is an example: it is derived from inverting the sounds of the syllables in l'envers …, "the inverse", frequently used in the sense of "back-to-front".
[...]
Cultural significance
Verlan is less a language than a way to set apart certain words.[7] Many verlan words refer either to sex or drugs, related to the original purpose of keeping communication secret from institutions of social control. Verlan is generally limited to one or two key words per sentence. Verlan words and expressions are mixed within a more general argotique language.
Verlan is used by people to mark their membership in, or exclusion from, a particular group (generally young people in the cities and banlieues, although some French upper-class youth have also started using it as their slang); it is a tool for marking and delineating group identity.[7] Speakers rarely create a verlan word on the fly; rather, their ability to use and understand words from an accepted set of known verlan terms allows them to be identified as part of a verlan-speaking group.
Some verlan words have gained mainstream currency. Examples of verlan in cultural mainstream include the 1984 comedy Les Ripoux (My New Partner) (ripou is verlan for pourri, or rotten, and refers to a corrupt policeman); and the 1977 hit "Laisse béton" by singer Renaud (béton is verlan for tomber and the phrase means "drop it").
Verlan is popular as a form of expression in French hip-hop.[8] Artists claim that it fits well with the musical medium because "form ranks way over substance".[9]”...
-snip-
The French word "banlieues" means "suburbs".
The French word "tomber" means "to fall".
****
Excerpt #3
https://www.thoughtco.com/verlan-vocabulary-1371433 Verlan - French Slang; French Slang à l'envers by Laura K. Lawless
Updated October 02, 2016
"Verlan is a form of French slang that consists of playing around with syllables, kind of along the same lines as pig Latin. Unlike pig Latin, however, verlan is actively spoken in France. Many verlan words have become so commonplace that they are used in everyday French.
To "verlan" a word, simply separate it into syllables, reverse them, and put the word back together. In order to maintain the correct pronunciation, the verlaned word often undergoes some spelling adjustments.
Unnecessary letters are dropped, while other letters are added to make pronunciation logical. There are no real rules for this; it's just something to be aware of. Note that not every word can or should be verlaned; verlan is used essentially to emphasize or hide the meaning of the main word(s) in a sentence.
[...]
Verlan was invented as a secret language, a way for people (notably youths, drug users, and criminals) to communicate freely in front of authority figures (parents, police). Because much of verlan has become incorporated into French, verlan continues to evolve - sometimes words are "re-verlaned." Beur, commonly heard in the 1980's, has been reversed again to reub. Keuf has been re-verlaned to feuk, with a bonus - it now resembles a vulgar word in English.
[...]
[Some] Examples*:
un kebla verlan of un Black (from English)
meaning: black person
un keuf (now feuk) verlan of un flic
meaning: police officer (equivalent to cop, copper, pig)
une tof verlan of une photo
meaning: photograph
un reup verlan of un père
meaning: father
une zesgon verlan of une gonzesse
meaning: girl, chick
une teuf verlan of une fête
meaning: party
un sub verlan of un bus
meaning: bus
-snip-
*Other Verlan examples were given. I selected these examples for no particular reason.
-snip-
Click https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pig_Latin for information about "Pig Latin". Here's an excerpt from that page:
"Pig Latin is a language game in which words in English are altered. The objective is to conceal the words from others not familiar with the rules. The reference to Latin is a deliberate misnomer, as it is simply a form of jargon, used only for its English connotations as a strange and foreign-sounding language.
Origins[edit]
Early mentions of pig Latin or hog Latin describe what we would today call dog Latin, a type of parody Latin. Examples of this predate even Shakespeare, whose 1598 play, Love's Labour's Lost, includes a reference to dog Latin"...
****
Excerpt #4
From http://nymag.com/thecut/2014/05/french-how-to-sound-almost-fluent-now.html
"Je Kiffe French! How to Become Almost Fluent" By Tim Murphy, May 29, 2014
..."I'm also fascinated by le verlan, the slang, invented by French-Arab youth, consisting of simply reversing words, as in Pig Latin, which has caught on in the general French culture. It’s well worth learning because you will hear it everywhere, particularly among younger Parisians of all stripes.
It was first used by French youth of color to not be understood by the police or their parents, and it widely came to France's attention with the celebrated 1995 banlieue drama La Haine. Since then, it's often used by white French people just to show they're cool and chébran, which is verlan for branché, meaning trendy and plugged-in. It's also constantly evolving and is ubiquitous in French hip-hop.
Here is a fairly comprehensive glossary of verlan*. But the words you should definitely know if you want to understand contemporary French are:
meuf: reverse of femme, meaning woman
keum: reverse of mec, meaning guy
chanmé: reverse of méchant, which literally means evil or wicked, but also means cool or awesome
relou: reverse of lourd, meaning literally heavy but really meaning difficult or a pain in the ass
céfran: reverse of français, meaning French
beur: reverse of arabe, meaning Arab
ziva: reverse of vas-y, meaning Come on!
[...]
A few terms that technically aren't verlan but that you must know to be cool:
franchement: literally frankly, but cool kids use it as a sentence starter or ender to add emphasis
je kiffe: from an Arabic word, but in this case generally used to mean "like," as in "Franchement, je kif cette meuf."
ça déchire: literally "that tears." Means something is really cool. "Ca déchire, ca, cette nouvelle tube de Daft Punk." (That's awesome, that new Daft Punk song.)
That should hold you in good stead for now. A tobien, les paincos! (That's verlan for "See you later, buds!" Or the reverse of "A bientôt, les copains!")
-snip-
* given as a hyperlink for https://www.thoughtco.com/verlan-vocabulary-1371433
****
Excerpt #5
From http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=kiffe
"Kiffe
"kiffe" is used in French as a verb (kiffer, in english to kiffe), as an adjective (kiffant, in english kiffable) and as a noun (kiffe, a kiffe)... or just use it how you want to!
Kiffe comes from an arab word (kef) which means to like, to enjoy, a pleasure... which has been "imported" into France by North African people... and became "kiffe".
It simply means "to really enjoy someone or something!"
e.g: I kiffed that trip!
I would kiffe to meet her;
She really is kiffable
What a kiffe to drive that car!
Because it comes from some sort of French suburb slang (langage des cités), but is now used by everyone (though it is still 'slangish'), you can use it how you want to!
If anyone was wondering how to pronounce it, it sounds the same in english say "keef", like a reef but with a "k" instead!”
[...]
-by KSC-ONE April 02, 2009
****
Excerpt #6:
From http://stepfeed.com/20-arabic-words-that-are-now-french-slang-6265 20 Arabic words that are now French slang
North African words have been popularized by hip-hop. By Alya Kay, 2016-11-24
[Pancocojams Editor's Note: This article includes video clips of these words being pronounced]
"Much of modern French slang comes from the influence of North African Arabic spoken in Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco. Some of this slang is even used among families and friends outside the big French cities, thanks to the spread of hip-hop culture.
Disclaimer: these Arabic words are not used in their literal meaning, but rather as a French “interpretation."
1. Wesh
It comes from slang Algerian “esh” meaning “what’s going on." It's used as the equivalent of “wadup?” or “yo."
2. Kiffer
From the word “kif” in Arabic, literarily meaning “to enjoy." This is the same as “digging” something in English slang.
3. Le kif
This is almost the same as "kiffer," only that it’s a noun. It can be used similarly to “dope" in English slang.
15. Khouya
This literally means “my brother” or “bro”.
20. Chouf
It means “look” in Arabic and it is quite widespread in French slang vocabulary.
-snip-
-snip-
Update: March 27, 2018
In English slang [meaning African American originated Vernacular English] "dope" means something that is or someone who is "very good" (i.e. "cool", "hip", "the bomb", "hot" [in this context this term doesn't necessarily have any sexual connotations] "fire", "lit" etc.)
****
Excerpt #7
From http://www.economist.com/news/europe/21661043-langue-de-moli-re-gets-north-african-infusion-arabesque French slang Arabesque
The langue de Molière gets a north African infusion
Aug 13th 2015
"With a bright “Wesh meuf!” a French teenager hails a friend in slang that would appal linguistic purists. It is the sort of counter-cultural vernacular usually heard on the concrete estates of the outer-city banlieues, where French youngsters of Arab and African descent have long devised an alternative lexicon. But this greeting comes from a white middle-class girl in a posh high school near Paris. Is mainstream French, whose guardians have traditionally fought contamination, embracing more playful disruption than the purists like to think?
The word wesh, from Wach rak? (How are you?) in an Algerian dialect of Arabic, has crossed into mainstream youth culture in all but the snootiest corners of urban France. Meuf is a common word in verlan, the French backwards slang that spread in the banlieues in the 1970s and 1980s and which inverts syllables: it upends femme, French for woman. Plenty of other banlieue terms based on Arabic have edged towards the mainstream too, often via rap music, hip-hop or cinema, such as kiffer (to like or love, from kif, the Arabic word for cannabis). This word features in the title of a French novel, “Kiffe Kiffe Tomorrow”, by Faïza Guène. The French embassy even ran a cultural festival in New York entitled “I kiffe NY”.
Some words have become so firmly established in mainstream French (avoir la baraka, or to be lucky, from the Arabic for benediction) that they are considered passé by today’s youth. More contemporary street slang includes avoir le seum (to be annoyed, from the Arabic for poison). Other terms have yet to cross over from the banlieue, their incomprehensibility part of their angry charm.”...
****
This concludes Part I of this two part pancocojams series.
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
This is Part I of a two part pancocojams series about the use of Verlan language as well as the word "kiff", and other North African originated slang words by French speaking people.
This post provides general information about Verlan language and the use of the word "kiff" and some of its forms by French speaking people.
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2017/04/three-contempory-songs-from-seychelles.html for Part II of this post. Part II showcases three songs from Seychelles, East Africa by the singer Tania. Selected comments from those YouTube videos' discussion threads are also presented in this post, with special attention to comments that include the word "kiff".
This post is presented for linguistic and cultural purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.
****
INFORMATION ABOUT VERLAN AND THE WORD "KIFF"
These excerpts are presented in no particular order and are numbered for referencing purposes only.
Excerpt #1
From http://www.african-ls.com/blog/language-translation/is-there-a-difference-between-french-and-african-french/
"A QUICK INTRO TO AFRICAN FRENCH
Really there is no such thing as a language called, “African French”. The term is used to categorise the varieties of the language spoken in Africa. The language was of course brought by the French on colonial pursuits. Some 120 million people across Africa speak French in some way. The Organisation internationale de la Francophonie estimates there will be 700 million French speakers in the world by 2050, 80% of whom will be in Africa....
Those nations using French are known as ‘francophone’ African countries. Across Africa, French is more often than not spoken alongside a local, indigenous language, such as Arabic in Morocco or Wolof in Senegal. In some places it has become a dominant first language, such as in the region of Abidjan, Ivory Coast and Libreville, Gabon. In some countries, such as Tunisia and Algeria, French is used by the intellectual and political classes.
CATEGORIES OF AFRICAN FRENCH
African French can be broadly broken down into 5 types:
• West & Central – spoken in countries such as Senegal, Mali, Niger, Chad, Cameroon, DRC.
• Maghribi – French used in Arab North Africa such as in Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia.
• Djibouti – east Africa’s sole French speaker, Djibouti on the Horn of Africa.
• Indian Ocean – specific to Réunion, Mauritius, and Seychelle.
• Creole – some define them as a “French”, others not, but French mixed with local languages is widespread across the francophone countries.
[...]
One variant of African French in particular readers should be aware of is Français Populaire Africain (Popular African French) or FPA. It began as something of a “ghetto language” originally out of Ivory Coast; it spread through universities, film, dance and drama across borders. Over the years it gained acceptance. It is spoken in the urban sprawls of sub-Saharan African, especially in cities such as Abidjan (Ivory Coast); Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso), Dakar (Senegal) Cotonou (Benin) and Lomé (Togo).”…
-snip-
This article includes a map showing Francophone countries in Africa.
DRC = Democratic Republic Of The Congo )Congo Kinshasa, formerly known as "Zaire"
-snip-
Update: March 27, 2018
For some reason, that article didn't mention Burkina Faso in its list of West African nations that speak French.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burkina_Faso
"Burkina Faso ... is a landlocked country in West Africa. It covers an area of around 274,200 square kilometres (105,900 sq mi) and is surrounded by six countries: Mali to the north; Niger to the east; Benin to the southeast; Togo and Ghana to the south; and Ivory Coast to the southwest. Its capital is Ouagadougou. In 2014 its population was estimated at just over 17.3 million.[8] Burkina Faso is a francophone country, with French as an official language of government and business. Formerly called the Republic of Upper Volta (1958–1984), the country was renamed "Burkina Faso" on 4 August 1984 by then-President Thomas Sankara. Its citizens are known as Burkinabé (/bɜːrˈkiːnəbeɪ/ bur-KEE-nə-beh)."...
****
Excerpt #2
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verlan
"Verlan ... 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.[2] The name verlan is an example: it is derived from inverting the sounds of the syllables in l'envers …, "the inverse", frequently used in the sense of "back-to-front".
[...]
Cultural significance
Verlan is less a language than a way to set apart certain words.[7] Many verlan words refer either to sex or drugs, related to the original purpose of keeping communication secret from institutions of social control. Verlan is generally limited to one or two key words per sentence. Verlan words and expressions are mixed within a more general argotique language.
Verlan is used by people to mark their membership in, or exclusion from, a particular group (generally young people in the cities and banlieues, although some French upper-class youth have also started using it as their slang); it is a tool for marking and delineating group identity.[7] Speakers rarely create a verlan word on the fly; rather, their ability to use and understand words from an accepted set of known verlan terms allows them to be identified as part of a verlan-speaking group.
Some verlan words have gained mainstream currency. Examples of verlan in cultural mainstream include the 1984 comedy Les Ripoux (My New Partner) (ripou is verlan for pourri, or rotten, and refers to a corrupt policeman); and the 1977 hit "Laisse béton" by singer Renaud (béton is verlan for tomber and the phrase means "drop it").
Verlan is popular as a form of expression in French hip-hop.[8] Artists claim that it fits well with the musical medium because "form ranks way over substance".[9]”...
-snip-
The French word "banlieues" means "suburbs".
The French word "tomber" means "to fall".
****
Excerpt #3
https://www.thoughtco.com/verlan-vocabulary-1371433 Verlan - French Slang; French Slang à l'envers by Laura K. Lawless
Updated October 02, 2016
"Verlan is a form of French slang that consists of playing around with syllables, kind of along the same lines as pig Latin. Unlike pig Latin, however, verlan is actively spoken in France. Many verlan words have become so commonplace that they are used in everyday French.
To "verlan" a word, simply separate it into syllables, reverse them, and put the word back together. In order to maintain the correct pronunciation, the verlaned word often undergoes some spelling adjustments.
Unnecessary letters are dropped, while other letters are added to make pronunciation logical. There are no real rules for this; it's just something to be aware of. Note that not every word can or should be verlaned; verlan is used essentially to emphasize or hide the meaning of the main word(s) in a sentence.
[...]
Verlan was invented as a secret language, a way for people (notably youths, drug users, and criminals) to communicate freely in front of authority figures (parents, police). Because much of verlan has become incorporated into French, verlan continues to evolve - sometimes words are "re-verlaned." Beur, commonly heard in the 1980's, has been reversed again to reub. Keuf has been re-verlaned to feuk, with a bonus - it now resembles a vulgar word in English.
[...]
[Some] Examples*:
un kebla verlan of un Black (from English)
meaning: black person
un keuf (now feuk) verlan of un flic
meaning: police officer (equivalent to cop, copper, pig)
une tof verlan of une photo
meaning: photograph
un reup verlan of un père
meaning: father
une zesgon verlan of une gonzesse
meaning: girl, chick
une teuf verlan of une fête
meaning: party
un sub verlan of un bus
meaning: bus
-snip-
*Other Verlan examples were given. I selected these examples for no particular reason.
-snip-
Click https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pig_Latin for information about "Pig Latin". Here's an excerpt from that page:
"Pig Latin is a language game in which words in English are altered. The objective is to conceal the words from others not familiar with the rules. The reference to Latin is a deliberate misnomer, as it is simply a form of jargon, used only for its English connotations as a strange and foreign-sounding language.
Origins[edit]
Early mentions of pig Latin or hog Latin describe what we would today call dog Latin, a type of parody Latin. Examples of this predate even Shakespeare, whose 1598 play, Love's Labour's Lost, includes a reference to dog Latin"...
****
Excerpt #4
From http://nymag.com/thecut/2014/05/french-how-to-sound-almost-fluent-now.html
"Je Kiffe French! How to Become Almost Fluent" By Tim Murphy, May 29, 2014
..."I'm also fascinated by le verlan, the slang, invented by French-Arab youth, consisting of simply reversing words, as in Pig Latin, which has caught on in the general French culture. It’s well worth learning because you will hear it everywhere, particularly among younger Parisians of all stripes.
It was first used by French youth of color to not be understood by the police or their parents, and it widely came to France's attention with the celebrated 1995 banlieue drama La Haine. Since then, it's often used by white French people just to show they're cool and chébran, which is verlan for branché, meaning trendy and plugged-in. It's also constantly evolving and is ubiquitous in French hip-hop.
Here is a fairly comprehensive glossary of verlan*. But the words you should definitely know if you want to understand contemporary French are:
meuf: reverse of femme, meaning woman
keum: reverse of mec, meaning guy
chanmé: reverse of méchant, which literally means evil or wicked, but also means cool or awesome
relou: reverse of lourd, meaning literally heavy but really meaning difficult or a pain in the ass
céfran: reverse of français, meaning French
beur: reverse of arabe, meaning Arab
ziva: reverse of vas-y, meaning Come on!
[...]
A few terms that technically aren't verlan but that you must know to be cool:
franchement: literally frankly, but cool kids use it as a sentence starter or ender to add emphasis
je kiffe: from an Arabic word, but in this case generally used to mean "like," as in "Franchement, je kif cette meuf."
ça déchire: literally "that tears." Means something is really cool. "Ca déchire, ca, cette nouvelle tube de Daft Punk." (That's awesome, that new Daft Punk song.)
That should hold you in good stead for now. A tobien, les paincos! (That's verlan for "See you later, buds!" Or the reverse of "A bientôt, les copains!")
-snip-
* given as a hyperlink for https://www.thoughtco.com/verlan-vocabulary-1371433
****
Excerpt #5
From http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=kiffe
"Kiffe
"kiffe" is used in French as a verb (kiffer, in english to kiffe), as an adjective (kiffant, in english kiffable) and as a noun (kiffe, a kiffe)... or just use it how you want to!
Kiffe comes from an arab word (kef) which means to like, to enjoy, a pleasure... which has been "imported" into France by North African people... and became "kiffe".
It simply means "to really enjoy someone or something!"
e.g: I kiffed that trip!
I would kiffe to meet her;
She really is kiffable
What a kiffe to drive that car!
Because it comes from some sort of French suburb slang (langage des cités), but is now used by everyone (though it is still 'slangish'), you can use it how you want to!
If anyone was wondering how to pronounce it, it sounds the same in english say "keef", like a reef but with a "k" instead!”
[...]
-by KSC-ONE April 02, 2009
****
Excerpt #6:
From http://stepfeed.com/20-arabic-words-that-are-now-french-slang-6265 20 Arabic words that are now French slang
North African words have been popularized by hip-hop. By Alya Kay, 2016-11-24
[Pancocojams Editor's Note: This article includes video clips of these words being pronounced]
"Much of modern French slang comes from the influence of North African Arabic spoken in Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco. Some of this slang is even used among families and friends outside the big French cities, thanks to the spread of hip-hop culture.
Disclaimer: these Arabic words are not used in their literal meaning, but rather as a French “interpretation."
1. Wesh
It comes from slang Algerian “esh” meaning “what’s going on." It's used as the equivalent of “wadup?” or “yo."
2. Kiffer
From the word “kif” in Arabic, literarily meaning “to enjoy." This is the same as “digging” something in English slang.
3. Le kif
This is almost the same as "kiffer," only that it’s a noun. It can be used similarly to “dope" in English slang.
15. Khouya
This literally means “my brother” or “bro”.
20. Chouf
It means “look” in Arabic and it is quite widespread in French slang vocabulary.
-snip-
-snip-
Update: March 27, 2018
In English slang [meaning African American originated Vernacular English] "dope" means something that is or someone who is "very good" (i.e. "cool", "hip", "the bomb", "hot" [in this context this term doesn't necessarily have any sexual connotations] "fire", "lit" etc.)
****
Excerpt #7
From http://www.economist.com/news/europe/21661043-langue-de-moli-re-gets-north-african-infusion-arabesque French slang Arabesque
The langue de Molière gets a north African infusion
Aug 13th 2015
"With a bright “Wesh meuf!” a French teenager hails a friend in slang that would appal linguistic purists. It is the sort of counter-cultural vernacular usually heard on the concrete estates of the outer-city banlieues, where French youngsters of Arab and African descent have long devised an alternative lexicon. But this greeting comes from a white middle-class girl in a posh high school near Paris. Is mainstream French, whose guardians have traditionally fought contamination, embracing more playful disruption than the purists like to think?
The word wesh, from Wach rak? (How are you?) in an Algerian dialect of Arabic, has crossed into mainstream youth culture in all but the snootiest corners of urban France. Meuf is a common word in verlan, the French backwards slang that spread in the banlieues in the 1970s and 1980s and which inverts syllables: it upends femme, French for woman. Plenty of other banlieue terms based on Arabic have edged towards the mainstream too, often via rap music, hip-hop or cinema, such as kiffer (to like or love, from kif, the Arabic word for cannabis). This word features in the title of a French novel, “Kiffe Kiffe Tomorrow”, by Faïza Guène. The French embassy even ran a cultural festival in New York entitled “I kiffe NY”.
Some words have become so firmly established in mainstream French (avoir la baraka, or to be lucky, from the Arabic for benediction) that they are considered passé by today’s youth. More contemporary street slang includes avoir le seum (to be annoyed, from the Arabic for poison). Other terms have yet to cross over from the banlieue, their incomprehensibility part of their angry charm.”...
****
This concludes Part I of this two part pancocojams series.
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
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