French language in the United States: Difference between revisions

Content deleted Content added

Inline

Revision as of 05:04, 21 April 2007

The French language is spoken as a minority language in the United States. French speakers are particularly located in southern Louisiana and in northern New England, bordering Canada. French is the second most-spoken language in four states: Louisiana, Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont.

Cajun French is spoken in some parts of Louisiana (a colony of France from 1682 to 1762 and again from 1800 until it was sold to the United States in 1803). Cajuns are descendants of the Acadians who were expelled by the British in 1755 from what is now Nova Scotia. Canadian French is also spoken in parts of northern New England in the form of either Quebec French or Acadian French, a legacy of significant immigration from Canada between 1880 and 1930. More than 13 million Americans claim some French ancestry, and 1.6 million over the age of five speak the language at home [1], making French either the third or fourth most-spoken language in the country, behind English, Spanish, and - if Chinese languages such as Mandarin and Cantonese are grouped together - Chinese. Some Americans of French heritage who have lost the language are currently attempting to revive it, with varying degrees of success^{[citation needed]}. The city of Miami is home to a large Francophone community, consisting of French expatriates, Haitians, and French Canadians (although the Haitians mainly speak French as their second language, their first being Haitian Creole); there is also a growing community of Francophone Arabs in and around Orlando. Many retired individuals from Quebec have moved to Florida or winter there.

Until the 1980s, French was the most popular foreign language studied in the United States. (Indeed, French has traditionally been the foreign language of choice for English-speakers across the globe.) That distinction has since been claimed by Spanish — likely a consequence of increased interest in Latin America and Spanish-speaking communities in the United States. French is currently the second-most studied foreign language in the country ahead of German and behind Spanish. Most U.S. high schools and universities offer French language courses, and degree programs in the language remain common.

Francophone communities

More than 10,000 inhabitants

North Miami, Florida 40% French-speaking of 59,880 inhabitants

More than 1,000 inhabitants

Madawaska, Maine 83% French-speaking of 4,534 inhabitants
Fort Kent, Maine 62% French-speaking of 4,233 inhabitants
Van Buren, Maine 77% French-speaking of 2,631 inhabitants
Frenchville, Maine 80% French-speaking of 1,225 inhabitants

Fewer than 1,000 inhabitants

Eagle Lake, Maine 50% French-speaking of 815 inhabitants
St. Agatha, Maine 80% French-speaking of 802 inhabitants
St. Francis, Maine 61% French-speaking of 577 inhabitants
Grand Isle, Maine 76% French-speaking of 518 inhabitants
Saint John Plantation, Maine 60% French-speaking of 282 inhabitants
Hamlin, Maine 57% French-speaking of 257 inhabitants

Seasonal variations

Florida, and a few other resort regions (most notably Old Orchard Beach, Maine and Cape May, New Jersey) popular are visited in large numbers by francophone Quebecers during winter and summer breaks.

French Place-Names

Many places in the United States have names of French origin, a legacy of past French exploration and rule over much of the land and in honor of French help during the founding of the country:

Alabama

Bay Minette, Alabama ("Cat Bay")
Bayou la Batre, Alabama ("Bayou of the Battery")
Belle Fontaine, Alabama ("Beautiful Fountain")
Bon Secour, Alabama ("Safe Harbor")
Citronelle, Alabama (named after the citrus trees.)
Dauphin Island, Alabama (named after the Dauphin, French crown prince)
Mobile, Alabama (French pronunciation of the indigenous Mauvilla tribe)

Alaska

Juneau, Alaska named after Joseph Juneau, French-Canadian prospector and gold miner

Arizona

Picket Wire, Arizona (Corruption of French Purgatoire "Purgatory")

Arkansas

Arkansas (named by French explorers from Indian word meaning "south wind")
Aux Arc, Arkansas (now spelled Ozark, town and mountain chain)
Belleville, Arkansas
Bois D'arc, Arkansas (local wood traded by the Native Americans)
Fayetteville, Arkansas (named for French general, Marquis de LaFayette)
Petit Jean, Arkansas (named after a French sailor on the Arkansas river)
La Petite Roche, Arkansas (state capital, translated into "Little Rock"]
Maumelle, Arkansas
Paris, Arkansas
Smackover, Arkansas
Terre Rouge, Arkansas

California

Artois, California (named after Artois, France)
Bel Air, California ("Good Air")
Fremont, California (named for John C. Frémont, American soldier, explorer and politician of French ancestry)

Lafayette, California (named for the French general, Marquis de Lafayette)
Montclair, California ("Clear Mountain")

Colorado

Laporte, Colorado (from la porte, "the door." One of several American communities named "La Porte," "Laporte" or "LaPorte.")

Delaware

Delaware (named after Lord de la Warre (originally de la Guerre meaning; "of the war"),

Florida

Duval County, Florida (named for William Pope DuVal)
La Belle, Florida ("The Beauty")

Georgia

LaGrange, Georgia (named for the French Estate of Marquis de Lafayette)

Idaho

Boise, Idaho (from boisé, "Wooded")
Coeur d'Alene, Idaho ("Heart of the Awl")

Illinois

Illinois French version of Illini, a local Native American tribe
Belleville, Illinois ("Beautiful City")
Des Plaines, Illinois ("of the Plains")
Joliet, Illinois (named after explorer Louis Jolliet)
La Grange, Illinois ("The Barn")
La Salle, Illinois (named after explorer René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle. La Salle literally means "the Room.")
Marseilles, Illinois
Prairie du Rocher, Illinois ("prairie under the rock")

Iowa

Des Moines, Iowa ("of the Monks")
Dubuque, Iowa (named after explorer Julien Dubuque)

Indiana

Lafayette, Indiana (named for the French general, Marquis de Lafayette)
Terre Haute, Indiana ("High Ground")
Vincennes, Indiana (named for François Marie Bissot, Sieur de Vincennes)
Versailles, Indiana
Delaware County, Indiana (Muncie, Indiana is the county seat)
La Porte, Indiana (named by French explorers travelling up from the south, this area was the first clearing or "door" out of the heavy woods to the south.)

Kansas

La Cygne, Kansas ("The Swan"; after the Marais des Cygnes River, which was named by French explorers)

Kentucky

Louisville, Kentucky (named in honor of King Louis XVI in 1778)
Paris, Kentucky
Versailles, Kentucky

Louisiana

Louisiana (named in honor of King Louis XIV in 1682)
Abbeville, Louisiana (after Abbeville, France) (One of several communities in the United States named "Abbeville".)
Baton Rouge, Louisiana ("Red Stick")
Belle Chasse, Louisiana ("Good Hunting")
Chalmette, Louisiana ("Pasture land, fallow land")
Chataignier, Louisiana ("Chestnut tree")
Des Allemands, Louisiana ("of the Germans")
Destrehan, Louisiana (named in honor of Jean N. Destréhan, Creole politician)
Grosse Tête, Louisiana ("big head")
Jean Lafitte, Louisiana (named for Jean Lafitte, a famous pirate)
Lafayette, Louisiana (named for the Marquis de La Fayette. There are a number of cities named either "Lafayette" or "Fayetteville" in the United States.)
Lafourche Parish, Louisiana (from la fourche, referring to a forked path)
La Place, Louisiana (named for early settler Basile LaPlace.)
Mandeville, Louisiana (named for developer Bernard Xavier de Marigny de Mandeville)
Metairie, Louisiana (from a French word for sharecropping)
New Orleans, Louisiana (named for Philip II, Duke of Orléans, who was Regent of France at the time of the city's founding)
Pointe à la Hache, Louisiana ("Axe Point")
Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana (from pointe coupée, "cut point")
Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana ("Good Earth")

Maryland

Havre de Grace, Maryland (named after Le Havre (originally Le Havre de Grâce, lit. harbour/haven of grace), France)

Montana

Havre, Montana (named after Le Havre (originally Le Havre de Grâce, lit. harbour/haven of grace), France)

Maine

Maine (one theory suggests the state was named after the historic French province of Maine)
Presque Isle, Maine (from the French words presque meaning "almost", and isle meaning "island". The town is surrounded on three sides by water, and therefore is "almost an island")

Michigan

Belleville, Michigan ("Beautiful City;" named for a Paris district)
Cadillac, Michigan (named after explorer Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac)
Charlevoix, Michigan (named for Pierre François Xavier de Charlevoix (1682-1761), a French Jesuit in New France)
Detroit, Michigan ("Strait")
- Dozens of Detroit streets are named after early French settlers
Grand Blanc, Michigan ("Large White")
Grand Marais, Michigan ("Large Marsh")
Grosse Ile, Michigan ("Big Island")
Grosse Pointe, Michigan ("Big Point")
Isle Royale National Park, Michigan ("Royal Island")
L'Anse, Michigan ("The Cove")
Marquette, Michigan (named after explorer Jacques Marquette)
Montcalm County, Michigan (named for Louis-Joseph de Montcalm, French military commander in the French and Indian War).
Montmorency County, Michigan (named for the Montmorency family, a noble family influential in the administration of New France)
Presque Isle, Michigan (from presqu'île, "peninsula")
Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan ("St. Mary's Falls")
St. Ignace, Michigan (French translation of St. Ignatius)

Minnesota

Baudette, Minnesota
Duluth, Minnesota (named after Daniel Greysolon, Sieur du Lhut)
Grand Marais, Minnesota ("Big Marsh"; some speculate "Big Harbor" in founders' accent)
Hennepin County, Minnesota (named in honor of the 17th-century French explorer Father Louis Hennepin.)
St. Cloud, Minnesota (named after a Paris suburb)
Voyageurs National Park, Minnesota (named after the French-Canadian explorers)

Mississippi

Bay St. Louis, Mississippi
Biloxi, Mississippi
D'Iberville, Mississippi (named after Pierre Lemoyne, Sieur d'Iberville, governor of New France)
Gautier, Mississippi ("Walter;" named after the Gautier family, who established a homestead on the site in 1867.)

Missouri

St. Louis, Missouri (named in honor of King Louis IX, later canonized as Saint Louis)
Ste. Genevieve, Missouri
Creve Coeur, Missouri ("broken heart")
Portage des Sioux, Missouri

New York

Chateaugay, New York (named after Chateauguay, Quebec.)
Dunkirk, New York (named after the city of Dunkerque, France, because of the similar harbor.)
Massena, New York (named after Andre Massena, one of Napoleon's field marshalls.)
New Rochelle, New York (named after La Rochelle, France.)
Rouses Point, New York (named after early settler Jacques Rouse.)

Utah

Provo, Utah (named after Étienne Provost)

Vermont

Vermont (Originally Vert Mont, or "Green Mountain")
Lamoille County, Vermont - Either for a misspelling of Champlain's intended name of Lake Champlain, or for the Old French la Moelle ("the marrow").
Montpelier, Vermont (named after Montpellier, France)
Orleans County, Vermont
Orleans, Vermont (named after Orléans, France)

Washington

Beaux Arts Village, Washington (from "fine arts")
Bellevue, Washington ("Beautiful View")
Des Moines, Washington ("of the Monks")
Grand Coulee, Washington (from coulée or couler, meaning "to flow")
La Crosse, Washington
Normandy Park, Washington (named after Normandy)
Palouse, Washington (from pelouse, meaning "lawn")
Pend Oreille County, Washington (named after the Pend d'Oreilles tribe. French for "earring")

Wisconsin

Couderay (From Lac Courte Oreilles, "Short Ears")
Eau Claire, Wisconsin ("Clear Water")
Fond du Lac, Wisconsin ("Bottom of the Lake")
La Crosse, Wisconsin
Lac du Flambeau, Wisconsin
Lac La Belle, Wisconsin
Lake Butte des Morts ("Hill of the Dead")
Lac Courte Oreilles ("Short Ears Lake")
Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin ("Dog Prairie")

Wyoming

Grand Teton National Park (from French grands tétons, "large breasts" - presumably referring to the mountains' shape)

@@ Line 208: / Line 208: @@
 *[[Marietta, Ohio]] (to honor [[Marie Antoinette]])
 *[[Marseilles, Ohio]]
+*[[Vermilion River (Ohio)]]
 ===Oklahoma===