Missouri French

Missouri French
Paw Paw French
français du Missouri
The flag of the French colony of Upper Louisiana.
Native toMissouri, Illinois, Indiana
RegionFrench settlements along Mississippi River of Upper Louisiana
Native speakers
Unknown; fewer than a dozen (2015)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3–
GlottologNone
IETFfr-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]

  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ Vivrett, Elmer Joseph (1983). "Will the Circle be Unbroken?". Archived from the original on 14 August 2010. Retrieved 3 July 2018.
  3. ^ Zagier, Alan Scher (24 June 2014). "History buffs race to preserve dialect in Missouri". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved 3 July 2018.
  4. ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oy9WZNShBU&list=PL6m5I_hyKgoHHjyWUgmmOd1tblfSnjNOo Local news report from 2013-2014 documenting the near extinction of Paw Paw French