Word formation
For examples of verlan words, see the Verlan category of words in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Words in verlan are formed by switching the order in which syllables from the original word are pronounced. For example, français [fʁɑ̃sɛ] becomes cèfran [sɛfʁɑ̃].

Verlan generally retains the pronunciation of the original syllables. In particular, French words that end in a ⟨e⟩ muet (such as femme) and words that end in a pronounced consonant and which usually have an ⟨e⟩ muet added at the end (such as flic) retain the sound of the ⟨e⟩ muet in verlan. In addition, verlan often drops the final vowel sound after the word is inverted, so femme and flic become meuf and keuf, respectively.

Different rules apply for one-syllable words, and words with multiple syllables may be verlanised in more than one way. For example, cigarette may yield garetsi or retsiga.[3]