The French name, Pays des Ilinois, means “Land of the Illinois [plural]” and is a reference to the Illinois Confederation, a group of related Algonquian native peoples.
Is the word Illinois French?
Illinois isn’t the version of the name; rather, it is the French pronunciation of the original word. The word Illinois is derived from the Native American word “iliniwok” or “illiniwek,” which literally means “best people”; it was used to refer to the 10 to 12 tribes found around the river.
Was Illinois settled by the French?
French explorers and settlers concentrated along the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, establishing outposts while seeking a route to the Pacific Ocean. As the first Europeans to reach Illinois around 1673, the French were welcomed by the Illiniwek tribes, for which they named the land.
What is the origin of the word Illinois?
Illinois comes from “Illiniwek,” which is what the Illini people were called. The name means “best people.” Illinois is the spelling we use for the indigenous people the French explorers encountered in the region in the late 17th century.
What is the relationship between the Illini and the French?
The Illinois and the French became co-dependent trade partners and military allies, while at the same time the French sought to “civilize” the Illinois by converting them to Christianity. These interactions spawned changes in other aspects of life, including technology, settlement, marriage, and population size.
Is the i silent in Illinois?
Illinois. If you don’t know by now, Chicagoans will be quick to correct you. Illinois has a silent “s” sound, so it should be pronounced “Il-ih-NOY,” not “Ill-ih-NOISE.” And for more places with hard names, This Is the Most Mispronounced City in the U.S.
Why dont you say the S in Illinois?
Illinois. The common pronunciation of the state of Illinois ends with NOY, but you might hear a pronunciation ending in z, similar to that in noise, especially in southern areas of the U.S. The word is French-based so the French pronunciation ill-i-NOY makes less noise.
Who first settled in Illinois?
French explorers Jacques Marquette (1637-1675) and Louis Jolliet (1645-1700) descend the Mississippi to the Arkansas River and return to Wisconsin via the Illinois River—the first Europeans to reach the Illinois country.
When did the French come to Chicago?
Marquette and Jolliet, in 1673, are among the better known French explorers who began their journeys here. (Thirty years later, when traders had established themselves in Chicago as well, overland traffic between the two settlements was maintained by way of the Green Bay Indian Trail.
Who colonized Chicago?
The first settler in Chicago was Jean Baptiste Point du Sable, a free black man, who built a farm at the mouth of the Chicago River in 1790. He left Chicago in 1800. In 1968, Point du Sable was honored at Pioneer Court as the city’s founder and featured as a symbol.
What does the word Illiniwek mean in French?
The name “Illiniwek” means “the best people.” This translated into “ Illinois ” due to the French man’s translation, and is why Illinois is named so. The Illini tribe, as they were called, were the original people in what is now Illinois , Indiana , Missouri and Iowa .
What Indians were named after Illinois?
The Illini
The state is named after one tribe, the Illiniwek.
Is Missouri French?
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.
| Missouri French | |
|---|---|
| The flag of the French colony of Upper Louisiana. | |
| Native to | Missouri, Illinois, Indiana |
Who gained control of Illinois after the French and Indian War?
Britain and the United States
The British gained control of Illinois after winning the French and Indian War in 1763. However, just 20 years later in 1783, the land became part of the United States after the Revolutionary War and was made part of the Northwest Territory in 1787.
Who Colonised Illinois?
The first Europeans to visit Illinois were the French explorers Louis Jolliet and Jacques Marquette in 1673, but the region was ceded to Britain after the French and Indian War. After the American Revolution, Illinois became a territory of the United States, and achieved statehood in 1818.
How do people from Chicago say Illinois?
One is “chi-CAW-go.” Another is “chi-CAH-go,” with the long “a.” The third and fourth are “chi-CAH-ga” or “chi-CAW-ga,” with an “a” sound rather than “o” sound at the end of the word. Most of our callers, born-and-bred Chicagoans of a certain age, said “chi-CAW-go.”
How do locals pronounce Illinois?
Illinois
It’s “Ill-annoy.”
What does Chicago mean in Native American?
The most-accepted Chicago meaning is a word that comes from the Algonquin language: “shikaakwa,” meaning “striped skunk” or “onion.” According to early explorers, the lakes and streams around Chicago were full of wild onions, leeks, and ramps.
Why is the C silent in Connecticut?
The ⟨cc⟩ of flaccid now sometimes represents a single soft ⟨c⟩ pronunciation /ˈflæsɪd/, which is a simplification of /ˈflæksɪd/. The ⟨c⟩ is silent before ⟨t⟩ in indict and its derivatives such as indictment, in the name of the U.S. state Connecticut, and in some pronunciations of Arctic and Antarctic.
Why is Arkansas’s silent?
But “it is absolutely certain that the name as pronounced by the Indians was the same as if pronounced in our language Arkansaw,” according to the “Publication of the Arkansas Historical Association. The “s” on the end is simply a French addition then and a silent one at that.
What is the oldest town in Illinois?
Kaskaskia, the oldest town in the state and the first capitol of Illinois | Library of Congress.