La Javanaise
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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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.
See also
- Verlan – the inversion of syllables in a French word
- Louchebem – a form of French slang similar to Pig Latin, originally called Largonji
- Javanais
