Chépa, chui: six french ‘slurred’ words you may find hard to recognise

FRENCH PEOPLE RUN SOME EVERYDAY WORDS TOGETHER, MAKING IT HARD FOR NON-NATIVES TO IDENTIFY PHRASES THAT IN REALITY THEY DO KNOW. WE GIVE EXAMPLES Have you ever had trouble understanding

French people in real life, when you do not have access to subtitles or a dictionary to check on the spellings? We know the French language can be difficult because of its verb forms,

various irregularities and its slang. Slurred words are another aspect of French language-learning that books often cannot explain. _The Connexion_ looked at words or phrases that are often

difficult to understand because the pronunciation is slightly different than on paper. Try to say the phrases quickly and you will soon be understanding French people better. CHÉPA The sound

‘_chépa_’ or '_j’chépa_’ is an accelerated form of the sentence ‘_je ne sais pas_’ (I do not know.) Like some of the other instances explained below, the sound ‘je ne + verb starting

with an s’ sounds like ‘ch’ when said rapidly. The ‘ne’ part of the negative construction is almost always elided in speech. The sound ‘_ch_’ keeps the first singular form ‘_je_’, which

indicates the person asked does not know, when having only say ‘_sais pas_’ could mean something - rather than someone - does not know. Chéhap exists and also means chépa but with a twist on

‘_pas_’, which is flipped backwards in an example of verlan, a form of French language where spellings are reversed. CHUI ‘_Chui_’ falls into the same category as ‘chépa’ since it is the

shorter form of ‘_je suis_’ (I am.) The ‘j + s’ sound creates a ‘_ch_’ sound when pronounced quickly, like in the case of chépa. Popular French rapper Vald combined both ‘_chui_’ and

‘_chépa_’ in a song called ‘_chépakichui_’, which would be correctly written ‘_je ne sais pas qui je suis_’ (I do not know who I am.) QUI T’ES? OR T'ES QUI? ‘_Qui t’es_’ or _‘__t’es

qui__’_, sometimes written ‘t ki’ in text messages, means ‘_tu es qui?_’ or ‘_qui es-tu?_’ (who are you?). The -u sound gets chewed up mostly because the meaning is not lost if it is not

there. S’CUSE ‘_S’cuse_’ is a shorter form for ‘excuse’ and is used with every French subject pronoun (‘_s’cuse-moi__’_, ‘_s’cuse-toi_’, ‘_s’cuse-le_’ etc. (Excuse-me, excuse yourself etc.))

although the most common form is ‘_s’cuse-moi_.’ ‘_S’cuse_’ is often used within the phrase ‘_s’cuse-moi_’ and employed sarcastically to mean ‘Oh sorry that I do not know what you are

talking about.’ V’LÀ ‘_V’là_’ is the accelerated pronunciation of ‘_voilà_’ (Here it is.) ‘_22, v’la les flics_’ is a popular expression employed in Astérix et Obélix’ _bandes-dessinées_

(comic strips) or in popular French movies from the ‘60s. The expression was shouted to alert when police forces are coming but grew outdated over the years. Several theories have been

explored to understand the meaning behind the number 22. THE MISSING -E SOUND As a general rule, the e-sound is often chewed up by French people. ‘_Je_ + verb’ is transformed into ‘j’ +

verb’ most of the time like in ‘_j’mange_’, ‘_j’bois_’, ‘_j’rentre à la maison_’ (I eat, I drink, I’m coming home.) The e-sound is not only chewed when associated with a verb, however. It

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