Moribund French variety of the upper Mississippi, US
Missouri French
Paw Paw French
français du Missouri
The flag of the French colony of Upper Louisiana.
Native to
Missouri, Illinois, Indiana
Region
French settlements along Mississippi River of Upper Louisiana
Native speakers
Unknown; fewer than a dozen (2015)[1]
Language family
Indo-European
Italic
Romance
Western
Gallo-Romance
Oïl
French
Missouri French
Language codes
ISO 639-3
–
Glottolog
None
IETF
fr-u-sd-usmo
Counties where Missouri French is or was formerly spoken.
This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.
Missouri French (French: français du Missouri) or Illinois Country French (French: français du Pays des Illinois) also known as français vincennois, français Cahok, and nicknamed "Paw-Paw French" often by individuals outside the community but not exclusively,[2] is a variety of the French language spoken in the upper Mississippi River Valley in the Midwestern United States, particularly in eastern Missouri.
The language is one of the major varieties of French that developed in the United States. At one point it was widely spoken in areas of Bonne Terre, Valles Mines, Desloge, De Soto, Ste. Genevieve, Old Mines, Cadet, St. Louis, Richwoods, Prairie du Rocher, Cahokia, Kaskaskia, and Vincennes as well as several other locations.[3] Speakers of Missouri French may call themselves "créoles", as they are descendants of colonial Louisiana French people of the Illinois Country (Upper Louisiana) and their native-born descendants.
Today the dialect is highly endangered, with only a few elderly native speakers remaining. It is thought that remaining speakers live in or around Old Mines, Missouri.[4]
^Lecci, Stephanie (13 July 2015). "Paw Paw French: Two 20-somethings bet St. Louis can save a vanishing dialect". St. Louis Public Radio. Retrieved 5 July 2018.
^Vivrett, Elmer Joseph (1983). "Will the Circle be Unbroken?". Archived from the original on 14 August 2010. Retrieved 3 July 2018.
^Zagier, Alan Scher (24 June 2014). "History buffs race to preserve dialect in Missouri". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved 3 July 2018.
^https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oy9WZNShBU&list=PL6m5I_hyKgoHHjyWUgmmOd1tblfSnjNOo Local news report from 2013-2014 documenting the near extinction of Paw Paw French
§ Brackets and transcription delimiters. MissouriFrench (French: français du Missouri) or Illinois Country French (French: français du Pays des Illinois) also...
distinct from the varieties of Canadian French and Louisiana French. Once widely spoken throughout the area, MissouriFrench is now nearly extinct, with only...
and the MissouriFrench (Illinois Country Creoles). The term Créole was originally used by French settlers to distinguish people born in French Louisiana...
20th-century Canadian migrants MissouriFrench, spoken in Missouri by descendants of French settlers in the Illinois Country Muskrat French, spoken in Michigan by...
French French Guianese French Meridional French Haitian French Indian French Jersey Legal French Lao French Louisiana French Cajun FrenchMissouriFrench South...
of the French language that developed in what is now the United States, the others being Louisiana French and the nearly extinct MissouriFrench, Muskrat...
Frenchville French Louisiana FrenchMissouriFrench Muskrat French New England French (a variety of Canadian French spoken in New England) Haitian French Saint-Barthélemy...
Varieties of the French language are spoken in France and around the world. The Francophones of France generally use Metropolitan French[citation needed]...
of all Germans in Missouri Rhineland owned real estate, and were the highest employed group in the region, besides the MissouriFrench; they were artisans...
Franco-Canadians (French: Franco-Canadiens), are an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to French colonists who settled in France's colony of Canada...
Louisiana French (Louisiana French: français de la Louisiane; Louisiana Creole: françé la lwizyàn) is an umbrella term for the dialects and varieties of...
passed through Spanish and French hands before becoming part of the United States through the Louisiana Purchase. The Missouri River was one of the main...
England FrenchMissouriFrench Colonial French New France Quebec Saint Pierre and Miquelon Cajun Louisiana Louisiana Creole Latin America French language...
France : '"... until the end of the fifteenth century, the French of the chancellery spread as a political and literary language because the French court...
state. The three colors also highlight the French influence on the state in its early years. The Missouri flag was established on March 22, 1913, when...
Albert O. French and Charles C. French, brothers who initially were partners with J.F. Gerleman, started French Gerleman in St. Louis, Missouri. The 1930s...
between 1857 and 1887 Paw Paw Tunnel, in Maryland "paw-paw French", a nickname of the MissouriFrench Pawpawsaurus, or pawpaw Lizard, a dinosaur Paw Paws, a...
continued existence of the term Créole in the critically endangered MissouriFrench. The Mississippi Gulf Coast region has a significant population of...
Global Information
