North South : let's just reverse!

I just realised that the word for “now” in south and north Welsh, “Nawr” and “Rwan” is exactlly the same… at reverse (oh yes I know, I’m rediscovering electricity, forgive me…) So I was thinking how funny (and nice) it would be if it was the same for each different word grom notrh to south.: just reverse. So, just one word to learn.

My father used to speak very easily in what was called (a long time ago) : javanais / javanesee. In fact, of course, really nothing to see with isle of Java : just because it looked as a very strange and far far far over the seas language.
The “code” was : reversing the word. Not just the syllabus, as young people would do in some areas, but properly the whole letters of the word, beginning from the end. My name Marie-Christine would be heard " Enitsirc Eiram; autobus would have been subotua, and so on. Incredible how people using this “code” could speak fast !!! A real sport for the brain ! Afterwardss you may learn any tongue, even the celtic ones !

Hm, I reallly need very few to make me laugh… Moderator, you may throw this post away… :expressionless:

2 Likes
1 Like

I remember it (from about 50 years ago) as “verlan” (derived from l’envers backwards) which I mentioned here

1 Like

No in fact, verlan was just reversing the syllabus, not the letters. For example instead of saying “stylo”, you said “losty”. Janvanais was, mucn more difficult : you reversed the entire word, letter by letter. Stylo would become “olyts”.

Yes, I can see that would have been much more difficult. In fact, though, my brother and I used to do this in English. “Gnirb em taht” was “Bring me that”. The pronunciation resembled the Klingon language that emerged much later with the Star Trek TV series. A generation later, my son and I developed a whole new private language with its own complex grammar and vocabulary much to the bewilderment (and annoyance) of my wife. :laughing:

just reversing the syllabus

For syllabus read “syllables”?? :smile:

1 Like

Oui, syllabes bien sûr !.. But I’m also reminding another code, also called javanais (see how mysterious is this isle !..) where you had to put the “syllabe” (!) “va” between each other syllabes. “Stylo” would have then become styvalo; “chocolat” would have become “chovacovalat”; and it seems to me that the name “javanais” fits better for this latest one, because you hear “va” (which I suppose gave the name of the code. This one I spoke rather well, I remember…
The other code (all letters at reverse) might have been maybe for just some words easy to remind ? Because I can hardly imagine how you may speak a whole (long) sentence this way… My souvenirs are from a long time ago. My father was very strong at those llanguage games but was not Superman anyway, so I suppose he memorised a certain number of words, enough to impress hte young girl I was then ! :smile:

2 Likes

Your Javanais seems to have a lot in common with our Pig Latin which was traditionally used by parents to withhold secrets from their children (or vice versa). I wonder if other languages have these language games.

You’ve just reminded me, I and my siblings learnt each others names backwards. It must have carried on for a while because they are still set in my mind half a century later.

Anyway, on a similar thought, there are a few Welsh words that have gone through a bit of partial mirroring (or whatever the official term is).I think that it is fairly common.

One that I’m thinking of is Llynfi/Llyfni (the adjective - smooth).