Illinois Country French or "Paw Paw" French in Missouri | Living St. Louis

A local dialect of French survived in the Old Mines community well into the 20th century, and there are a few people today working to preserve it. The language is known by several different names, like Missouri French, Illinois Country French or Paw Paw French. Very few, if any, native speakers remain today. At one point, the creole language was spoken in parts of Missouri, Illinois and Indiana.
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[@ChansonsDzuPaysDesIllinoues]

I (Adam Paulukaitis) should clarify my comment about how many speakers are left, when I said that there wasn’t any speaker who was perfectly fluent, I meant that nobody nowadays speaks it as thoroughly as the generation that died out in the 70s and 80s. People like Matt Pratt and Dennis can speak it well; they’re just not to the level of the first-language speakers born 100+ years ago.

[@dennisstroughmatt7194]

Absolutely correct Adam. It's almost easier to say some are "fluid" with the language having been around many who spoke in conversational settings, but the time of the truly "fluent" speakers is in the past. But we still try to have fun with it. You're doing a great job with the postings, vids, and recordings Adam.

[@Christian_Martel]

Bonjour! At 5:33 you said a word in Illinois French for tornado. My Quebecois ears heard something like « tourniquet » which is an old word here in Canada we used for a turnstile or sometimes used to describe a spinning top.

[@lucd2320]

@@Christian_Martel In French (from France) a "tourniquet" is also used for a turnstile, but also for a merry-go-round (the children playground one, not the carousel).

[@JenXOfficialEDM]

@@lucd2320 Languages fascinate me. Here in the US, "ennui" means boredom which leads to comtempt, and not just boredom. "Bougie" means fancy and not "a candle." Pronunications vary too. Up in Ontario, people pronounce "ui" as "way" and not like "oui." I would like to hear some "Paw Paw" French, I could not make it out in the video. Until now I only knew the fruit pawpaw.

[@lucd2320]

@@JenXOfficialEDM I agree, it's a very interesting topic. The "way" pronounciation reminds me of the French "ouais" ("way"), which is our own "yeah", or "yep". The American "bougie" got me intrigued and according to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary, it's a deformation of "bourgeois", which makes sense. And last but not least... the American "ennui" sounds like a stereotype of the French in American films ^^ (but it is also worth checking the Merriam-Webster for that).

[@Kayambo974]

10 minutes of talking about Missouri French and not letting us listen to it. That’s astonishing.

[@jeanmarcphilippe1]

C'est ce que je me suis dit aussi !😂

[@BeatlesTranscriber]

@@jeanmarcphilippe1 Mdr c’est très drôle

[@armandrioux3660]

Well, the French was inside the songs, but the acoustics were poor...

[@Kayambo974]

@@armandrioux3660 exactement

[@TheJeanjean62]

At least put some sound archives if you can't find people who speak it now. I couldn't believe they didn't had at least a few clips. And the person doing the story voice over every time someone sings in french.

[@georgewashington687]

Le meme chose se passe ici en la louisiane. Moi, je suis francais a cote de ma mere et cajun (acadien) a cote de mon pere. C'est domage, mais toujours quand les anglophones sont arrives dans un endroit la langue des peuple de cet region va commencer de mourir. Alors, Citoyons de Quebec, faite attention parce que un jour, peu a peu les enfants vont parler anglais et vont oublier leur langue maternelle. Soyon fier d'etre un francophone et n'oublie pas qu'est ce que les anglais on fait contre nous. Pardon comment j'ecris le francais, pas des accents et il y'a beaucoup des erreurs. 😢

[@hreisho6375]

Oui l'anglais risque, à terme, d'écraser la langue des quelques locuteurs français qui restent sur le continent américain mais ne vous méprenez pas les français font exactement la même chose pour les langues qui sont parlées sur leur territoire national (basque, corse, occitan, breton, alsacian, etc...). Alors évidemment je n'irai pas jusqu'à dire que c'est justice mais il en est ainsi de la nature humaine... Et c'est pour cette raison là que nous nous devons de continuer à parler la langue de nos ancêtres quelle qu'elle soit.

[@derguy6480]

Le Basque est aujourd'hui enseigné dès la petite école. Il y a eu un grand renouveau et les gens sont fiers de le parler . J'ai moi-même eu le plaisir de parler en Français à des gens de la Louisiane. Il ne faut pas abandonner les langues de notre patrimoine. Je suis Française et Basque et fière de l'être .

[@derguy6480]

Le Basque est aujourd'hui enseigné dès la petite école. Il y a eu un grand renouveau et les gens sont fiers de le parler . J'ai moi-même eu le plaisir de parler en Français à des gens de la Louisiane. Il ne faut pas abandonner les langues de notre patrimoine. Je suis Française et Basque et fière de l'être .

[@toughcookie128]

Vous avez absolument raison. Même ici au Québec la langue anglaise tente de s'imposer, mais on a pas dit notre dernier mot!

[@MarcusVinicius116]

Vous écrivez très bien je trouve. J'adore les particularismes linguistiques du français de Louisiane. Cela nous montre à nous français de métropole comment nos ancêtres parlaient. Et à propos quelle terrible erreur Napoléon a commise en vendant la Louisiane aux jeunes USA pour une poignée de lentilles. Même chose quelques dizaines d'années auparavant avec le Québec.

[@sebastienlemay6120]

Very interesting as a French speaking Québécois. Although I can't believe in that whole segment we couldn't hear at least some conversations to hear how that specific French dialect sounds.

[@justinbiebre6086]

Je viens de regarder la série québécoise, Une affaire criminelle sur la chaîne Arté, et elle est sous titrée en français et heureusement car j'aurais eu du mal à comprendre, pas à cause de l'accent, mais plutôt à cause de la syntaxe et de certains mots de vocabulaire et je me disais que c'est un "français" qui a évolué d'une autre manière qu'en France et je trouve ça très Interressant. Longue vie au français québécois !

[@thegreatestbaldeagle2999]

Les WASP (White Anglo-Saxon Protestant) américains se sont surpassés pour bien se résumer avec cette vidéo

[@estebantia2413]

A 10 mins documentary about paw paw french and not 10 seconds hearing it. Just all English again and again. Just amazing. Lol

[@playlist1883]

Incroyable de constater que des poches francophones subsistent jusqu'à aujourd'hui ux États-Unis. Merci pour le sujet !

[@desgrangesjean-marie5397]

ils ne parlent pas français, alors bon ! c'est juste des ricains de bases qui se cherchent un passé comme tous les américains blancs

[@helenemartin9535]

C'est formidable de sauver cette langue française. Merci à tous ❤

[@nicolas_-_-_]

Bonsoir. Ça n'a pas grand chose à voir avec notre français d'aujourd'hui.

[@olivierpuyou3621]

Quand en tant que français de France je regarde la carte, tous les noms de lieux que je vois écrits sont totalement français (ancien fort, rivière fourchue etc.) Les gens parlent juste le français du 16/17ème siècle et c'est parfaitement compréhensible si on tend juste un peu l'oreille. Très heureux qu'il reste un peu de français aux USA.

[@michellelaudet5363]

Moi, je m'en demande si il y a des mots patois du différent régions de la France, par example le Gascogne...🤔🤷‍♀️

[@thomasharter8161]

@@michellelaudet5363 Non les colons venaient des provinces où les gens parlaient la langue d'oïl

[@thomasharter8161]

Ce n'est pas exactement le même français qu'à l'époque puisque dans le reportage ils le disent qu'il y a des différences d'un endroit à l'autre. Et des mots d'autres langues y ont été ajoutés ou remplacés.

[@michellelaudet5363]

@@thomasharter8161 Il y a d'autres "patois" que le Gascon... Moi, je ne connais pas les noms des autres, parce que moi, j'ai vecu dans le Gers, donc c'est le Gascon et le Breton que je connais par leur nom...

[@michellelaudet5363]

Aussi, je n'aime pas appellant ces autres langues patois, parce qu'elles sont des langues pour les gens, un parti de leur ame.

[@beowolf8331]

I'm from Quebec Canada and think it's sad to it disappeared! The last names are great! Villmer for Villemaire, Politte for Hypolitte, at 5:42 Bourisaw for Bourassa, Vallée for Lavallée, Portell for Portal, Clerc For Leclerc, Du Rocher for Durocher, Medard for Menard,, (maybe Medard was a first name that became a last name just like Politte). But Carriere is still quite common in Canada

[@beowolf8331]

You guys need to be heard by a french canadian media so that we get a festival in Illinois to unite french people from louisiana to acadia. We build french schools in africa and asia.. your communities should become a part of the wolrd francophony.. exhange students and so on.. we could reconnect to each other..

[@cslej1676]

@beowolf8331 you should check out the videos about the Louisiana French. Many of us have grandparents who learned English as a second language, lots of French last names and variations of them, descending from Acadia (Cajuns), Quebec, as well as directly from France. There are large communities filled with French heritage! What’s funny about this video, besides not knowing Illinois or Missouri had French history, is that I hear the old couple’s yankee accent which sounds odd to me, cause in Louisiana many people, especially older ones, have a heavy “French-ish” accent. 😅 The language is also dying but there has been an effort over many years to teach children in school (look up CODOFIL)

[@ChansonsDzuPaysDesIllinoues]

Medard and Menard are actually both found in Missouri.

[@boonskis]

I have Québécois grandparents on my Mom’s side here in Michigan….in the family tree, we some other modified names like what you’re mentioning: Francoeur-> Hart, Beausoleil-> Bousley, Poisson-> Fish, Lajoie -> Lashway and more! I think, for the most part, immigrants tried to dissimulate their origins or at least to make the names easier for non-French speakers to say. J’ai appris moi-même le français et suis venu plein de fois au Québec aussi, la famille est originaire du Maskinongé (St Justin)

[@joffreyjo4076]

Médard est un évêque de l'époque gallo romaine dans le nord de la France. Il y a plusieurs villes et quartiers (et édigices religieux) qui portent ce nom en France.

[@kristo5747]

Born and raised in France, I've lived in America over 30 years speaking nothing but English. It feels me with happiness and pride to know there are still places like this in this great country. And yes, I too would have loved to hear more "paw-paw" French being spoken.

[@trese2658]

French is still spoken in the Cajun areas of Louisiana which was once a French colony.

[@bayersbluebayoubioweapon8477]

Yeah I have a feeling you’d really enjoy Cajun Louisiana. The cuisine alone.,

[@normanduke8855]

My cousins and second cousins' first language is French. They live in the St. John River valley of Northern Maine. We are Acadians (Cajuns). Moi, je parle pas le Francais belle par ce que je nee dans les Etats Unis ( Connecticut) et mes parents parlons Francais chez nous comme une lange secret devant les enfants, mais Francais etait la premier langue pour eux. ( I do not speak good French because I was born in the United States [ Connecticut ] and my parents spoke French at home like a secret language in front of the children, but French was their first language.)

[@user-co9wi2lj2j]

@@normanduke8855 you speak it pretty well, i guess i understood everything. A native speaker from France.

[@normanduke8855]

@@user-co9wi2lj2j Merci bien. How i would love to travel in France. I was taught a bit of French each day from les Soeurs D'Assumption long ago in grade school. I assure you, though, that I feel French through and through in spite of being born in the USA.

[@normnorm2743]

I’m a French Canadian from Montréal and originally from Québec city and I can tell you that the word « tourniquette » is in use here as well. It doesn’t mean a twister though, but a revolving gate. Thanks for sharing this. It means a lot to us, french Canadians, to see that our langage still exist somewhere else in North America.

[@djbone94]

We use this word in France too talking about turnstile

[@normnorm2743]

@@djbone94Turnstile est le mot que je cherchais qui ne me revenait pas. J’ai opté pour revolving en espérant être clair.😂 Merci de la précision.

[@djbone94]

@@normnorm2743 ne me remercie pas j'ai juste cherché tourniquette sur google translate 😄

[@normnorm2743]

@@djbone94 😂😂😂

[@russelletfilstaximetre233]

ça me fait capoté a quel point les américains qui parle un dialecte francophone pense qu'il sont les seul avec leur langue. De la louisiane a caraquet le française d'amérique se comprend très bien !

[@robertwaguespack9414]

Je suis de Louisiana et je suis fier d'etre francais.

[@carolewinstead8270]

I'm from France and live in Louisiane!

[@AuxaneST]

C'est votre langue d'héritage.

[@deedeechur]

Je suis Français et j'adore les francophones du monde entier. Louisiane est le deuxième prénom de ma fille 💐✨

[@cekilechef648]

Mais tu es français ou américain ?

[@robertwaguespack9414]

@@cekilechef648 je suis des etats unis. Mais nous qui sommes acadiens et creoles sommes un type de francais. Nous sommes hereux d'etre americain.

[@DiphdatheFrog]

Merci de maintenir la connaissance de notre langue, l'Amérique du Nord fut en partie bâti en partie par les colons francophones et avec nos amis Autochtones, les Premières Nations. Ça fait chaud au coeur de voir ça. Thanks for keeping the knowledge of our language, North America was built in part by French speaking settlers and our friends of the First Nations. It warms my heart to see that.

[@ferretyluv]

We like to say that America’s father is Britain but our mother is France.

[@danarcher9012]

I am currently living in Northern Alberta. Most of the speakers up here are English, but there are some French villages near Peace River, where French is spoken by (mostly) older people. Their language is similar to Québécois French. I am amazed that a French culture and language had persisted in Missouri. Great story.

[@MarieWilson-jz8jm]

Many French Canadian communities in Alberta.

[@IosuamacaMhadaidh]

We have many French words in names of streets or towns here in and around St. Louis and St. Charles Missouri, although we don't pronounce them correctly. Like Belle fountain (local American English speakers say bell fountain) St. Francois (we say Francis) Florissant and Carondelet (we say the T) and Laclede (pronounced like la-kleed here instead of la-klêd). There are lots more but those are a few common ones.

[@joyfulsongstress3238]

There are quite a few communities throughout Alberta where French is spoken as a first language by a significant number of the inhabitants. Even here in Edmonton, there are several francophone schools not including the french immersion schools.

[@randywatts6969]

Old country French still spoken in Louisiana, as a Canadian going through there, I was surprised it hasn’t died out there yet.

[@kocmnkhorror787]

As someone who grew up 20min from the Mississippi river, I have a deep love & reverence for the many river cultures and lands it has nurtured. Coastals love to deride the interior as "flyover country", but I'm immensely proud of the heart that's still here. I truly hope that one day the greater St Louis region can be revitalized.

[@Xerxes2005]

"La Guignolée" is a song from Québec. It's nice to hear it sung in USA, with some variations.

[@BR-kv5kj]

As a French living in France, I discovered a lot about these people. I went to Québec, Canada and USA a lot of times, but neither in Canada nor in France knows these historic survivals. Thank you for this video. Longue vie aux French Illinois. Long life and a lot of love for these people.

[@Christian_Martel]

Thank you, I’ve just learned a variation of French I didn’t know. Merci de nous avoir fait découvrir une variante de français que je ne connaissais pas. Continue la musique mon Dennis! Salutations du Québec!

[@lesfreresdelaquote1176]

Ce sont les descendants des voyageurs qui partaient du Canada à la fin du XVIIIième siècle pour s'installer à l'Ouest. Le français du Missouri, c'est une variante du français du Québec, avec sa propre évolution due à son isolation quand les voyageurs à partir des années 1840 ont cessé de se rendre à l'Ouest quand ces terres sont devenues définitivement américaines. Une grande partie des premiers villages européens à l'Ouest dans les Prairies ont été créé par les Canadiens ce que les Etats Unis se sont empressés d'effacer de leur histoire. En fait, la fameuse conquête de l'Ouest a été facilitée par le fait que les Canadiens avaient créé des villages et des forts que les Américains ont simplement repris à leur compte. Il suffit d'examiner les noms des lieux pour s'en convaincre: Grands Tétons, la Roche Jaune (devenu Yellow Stone), la Prairie elle-même. Je dis Canadien, parce que à l'époque il n'y avait pas d'ambiguïté sur qui ils étaient. Il y a toute une histoire du Canada français qui a été totalement effacée et oubliée et ces gens qui ont exploré le continent américain bien avant que les Anglais ne s'en emparent mériterait que quelqu'un raconte leurs aventures.

[@thomasharter8161]

@@lesfreresdelaquote1176 Donc les Louisianais d'origine n'étaient que dans le sud de la Louisiane? Dans le nord ils étaient tous originaires du Canada?

[@lesfreresdelaquote1176]

@@thomasharter8161 Si je me souviens bien, la découverte de Louisiane s'est faite en descendant le Missouri et le Mississippi. L'origine des Louisianais francophones est assez complexe. Il y a eu au moins trois vagues de Français qui sont partis de France pour s'y installer, plus une vague initiale venue du Canada, les premiers explorateurs. La première vague venue de France est partie vers 1720 et elle a été rejointe au moment de la révolution par des Français venus de Haiti (les Créoles). La vague des Acadiens est arrivée vers la fin du XVIIIième. Beaucoup s'étaient réfugiés en France après le Grand Dérangement, en particulier sur l'île de Ré. Lorsque le Roi d'Espagne, qui contrôlait à l'époque la Louisiane, a eu besoin de colons, il leur a offert de venir s'installer. Les Français venus de Haiti sont arrivés avec leurs esclaves qui parlaient créole. Les francophones se sont alors divisés en trois populations distinctes, une population riche propriétaire terrien issue souvent de Haiti (à l'époque la colonie française la plus riche) et qui avaient un comportement aristocratique, les Acadiens beaucoup plus pauvres qui se sont isolés dans les Bayous et les Noirs qui parlaient le créole d'Haiti. J'ai même lu que la maison typique du Sud avait été inventée par des colons français du Sénégal. Aujourd'hui persistent le français cajun et le créole, en revanche les Aristos ont abandonné le français pour l'anglais, vers le début du XXième. Même si ce français là a persisté jusqu'à la deuxième guerre mondiale.

[@deniseritchie3200]

The Louisiana Purchase of 1803 comprised not only today's Louisiana, but also the Mississippi River basin and lands west of the Mississippi. French settlements stretched westward from Eastern Canada and northward from Louisiana across the mid-west. It's amazing that remnants of the language remain and, I hope, will be encouraged to flourish. The pronunciation of "icitte" for the word "ici" makes me smile. It's a word I often heard growing up among Francophones, but one that was discouraged as "bad French".

[@thomasharter8161]

@@deniseritchie3200 Icitte n'est pas du mauvais français. Les Français ont arrêté de prononcer '' tte '' c'est pour ça que le mot à changer. Comme pour '' hospital '', ils ont arrêté de prononcer le '' S '' c'est pour ça que le mot s'écrit et se prononce maintenant '' hôpital '' .

[@beaucoup_blue]

This is beautiful. I'm from Cajun country and a lot of these stories sound familiar. Had no idea this existed. I love it

[@Peshkatari]

My wife and I attended the Fete de L'Automne near Old Mines in 2018 and 2019 (we're both of partial French descent), and had a great time. We met both Dennis and Miss Natalie (two of our "heroes", for their work in trying to preserve as much of the Missouri French culture as possible) there. We're very glad to see in this piece that Miss Natalie is still busy doing what she can in that regard, and of course Dennis is still playing those great old Creole songs with his band (we're hoping we can get our local French festival here in Madison, WI, to bring him here to play during it this year). Thanks so much for doing this piece on Old Mines, its French based culture, and French language.

[@lunarmodule6419]

"Astheure" also exist in Canadian french and in the northern part of France. Contraction of "à cette heure" (at this time/hour) means "nowadays" or "right now".

The expression was still used when I was a child in (deep) Normandy in France, by the old folks.

[@olfer07]

@ Yes, it comes from Normandy!

[@alaingadbois2276]

@ Ça se dit encore au Québec, bien que maintenant est surtout employé.

[@davidhocde007]

J'ai connu ça à Segré, dans le Haut-Anjou.

[@axelsqip]

Pour ma part, je l'utilisais couramment étant enfant (j'ai 64 ans) en Charente-Maritime. Je pensais que ça n'existait que dans le patois saintongeais.

[@louisemiller8115]

Impressionnant de découvrir cette présence française dans l'Amérique profonde. Bravo à ceux qui tentent de préserver cette culture très particulière.

[@drfunkestein5841]

Je suis français et je suis ravie de voir que ce vieux français existe encore en Amérique, ca fait chaud au coeur. Haut les coeurs !!! Gardé votre spécificité, c'est très important. Bravo la nouvelle France!!! I'm French and i'm delighted to see that this old French still exists in America, it warms my heart. Stay strong!!! Keeping your specificity is very important. Bravo la Nouvelle France!!!

[@project.pawpaw]

This is fantastic reporting! A forgotten language named after a forgotten fruit, both having a moment in the spotlight

[@NinePBS]

Thank you for your feedback! Hopefully you've seen our story on the paw paw but here is the link just in case: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nJuVi5-blM6trKM.

[@Cam_the_cool_boy]

I’m a Politte (which means I’m related to the Pratt’s, and probably the Boyer’s, who knows), and ever since I heard about Missouri French, I’ve wanted to learn it! Old Mines is like my second home

[@missourimongoose8858]

Im from southeast missouri and i went to school with a few polittes lol even had a teacher by that name

[@ChansonsDzuPaysDesIllinoues]

If you’re a Politte, you’re automatically a Robart also. They’re the same family - just certain members of the family started going by the (grand)father’s nickname Politte, short for Hypolite Robart.

[@Cam_the_cool_boy]

@@ChansonsDzuPaysDesIllinoues Très cool, merci!

[@danielleleboeuf2123]

Lache pas la musique! From French Louisiana!

[@acirka]

:)

[@joyfulsongstress3238]

Wonderful story! My Father's paternal ancestors were descended from Huguenot Acadians who fled persecution, war, and the threat of death in France. They ended up becoming British loyalists and moved to England. When my grandparents and great-grandparents returned to Canada (West Coast this time) my Grandfather and his parents could still speak French. Unfortunately with the death of my Grandfather when my Father was only 6 years old, that ended my Father's exposure to it. I learned quite a bit in school, and I continue to work towards fluency, but it is sadly not the same dialect. C'est dommage!

[@davidhocde007]

Salut, de Nantes, rue des Acadiens...

[@Hrng270]

The people of Illinois and Alabama must preserve other French languages that gave rise to the English language: the Occitan, Norman and Champagne languages. The foundation of the English language passed through these languages in the middle and modern ages. It will be great to have this cultural affection quadrupled with them too. Hugs, beautiful video. Gratitude.

[@Romalvx]

Really interesting, this musician and his great effirt in keeping French folk songs should be praised by the international French language institutions, and really this file should be sent to Unesco to keep this unvaluable heritage!

[@ChansonsDzuPaysDesIllinoues]

Dennis and his group actually performed at the Library of Congress! kzbin.info/www/bejne/fpbEqmqwndJ2Z9ksi=r0yccDdjmOrfq4cH

[@pierreernoult]

Vive la langue française !

[@jouhannaudjeanfrancois891]

Lots of similarities in the vocabulary with our french in Quebec, also New Brunswick's shiac

[@user-hz7gk4yg8x]

I'm from Southern Illinois and we have a creek called the beaucoup.

[@user-vw1cl8kq3p]

merci!

[@michelleblanchet-voyet8050]

Very happy to discover ! To remember where WE Come fromage IS VITAL Great thanks

[@bandolinho19]

En tant que français, je suis admiratif de votre volonté de garder vivante ces origines et cette culture. Continuez comme ça, nous sommes fiers de vous ! As a french guy i trully admire the way you keep alive those traditions and cultures. Don't give up, we are so proud of you. Cheers from France

[@sheedcainiste2061]

Bravo 👍. Hoping this culture will thrive again .

[@rocou945]

I'm from Québec and i can very easily understand about 75% of what they say and 100% when written except particular expressions. we have a lot of those in Quebec also that make French from France scratch their heads lol. it must be a similar relationship France has with Quebec that Quebec has with Paw Paw French. it's really cool!

[@armandrioux3660]

C'est avec étonnement et plaisir que je découvre ce coin en français aux États-Unis, hors de l'évidente (salutaire) Louisiane!!! Je ne serais pas vraiment surpris que d'autres «poches de français» se révèlent avec le temps. /// It is with astonishment and pleasure that I discovered this corner of French in the United States, outside of the obvious (thank God!) Louisiana!!! I wouldn't really be surprised if other "pockets of French" reveal themselves over time.

[@Vava-ry9fq]

hi, i am a french from France and "TOURNIQUET" means 2 things in french : "turnstile" or "merry-go-round". Thank you for your channel. Keep going.

[@AuxaneST]

The gentleman explains in other comments that it's not tourniquet but tourniquière.

[@AdventuraHighway31]

Very nice topic, we are French living in Alabama, currently visiting our daughter, French teacher in Illinois. Content de voir qu'il subsiste encore des traces de français dans le midwest, bravo!

[@jeremieyirmeyahu3468]

I there ! I am French living in La Réunion (French Colony in Southern hemisphere) where they speak their own French Créole. I went to the Us where I spent 2 years and once I had to drive across the country for job. I drove across Louisana and I found a radio station broadcasting in French Cajun ( wich brought a tear in my eye 🙂) I noticed some similarities in the pronunciation with Reunion (and Canadian French by the way) In your documentary I noticed a 5:12 (Missouri French Word) the word "astheure” (Now) which is the same as Reunion Creol "aster" which is a contraction of ” a cette heure ” Thx for sharing

[@francoispoirier9262]

Thank you so much ! Next documentary would be nice to ear this language. The french Canadians were so important of the north américan story. Thank you from Québec were it all begins.

[@MrPatgiard]

Personnellement, j'ai été capable de lire et facilement comprendre tous les écrits dans ce reportage, incluant les inscriptions sur les vieilles cartes datant de l'époque de la Nouvelle-France.

[@celiabarrett2107]

I'm glad it's being preserved in songs at least. Interesting video.

[@acirka]

Merci, reportage intéressant!

[@IosuamacaMhadaidh]

Slàinte mhath! Good on y'all! As a Missouri boy born and raised I never heard of this! I'm heavily of Scots heritage myself, and learning Gàidhlig (Scottish Gaelic) for the ancestors and hopefully for future generations, so I completely understand why you want to preserve the language. I have family who went through similar circumstances in Canada with our language in the 18th century before migration to America, with the added stigma of being Jacobites who lost living amongst loyalists.

[@charlesrb3898]

I moved to Toronto 50 years ago and have heard French spoken on the street about five times. I have a neighbor from France who speaks to his kids in French.

[@missourimongoose8858]

Im from southeast missouri and half the towns around here are french lol

[@user-gd1xp6de6l]

Also found in some areas of Kansas

[@GodfreyMann]

Bizarre to have a video about a dying language with two of its best proponents interviewed, but not hearing it spoken even once by them or anyone else (other than a few single words by a linguist (not a native)).

[@jaymareachealee3351]

There is a dwindling population of french speakers in Trinidad and tobago.

[@edmerc92]

The narrator repeatedly refers to the language as a creole, but I doubt that’s the case. A creole by definition is a pidgin language that gains native speakers. I would imagine that Missouri French was never a pidgin but simply the form of French the colonists of the 18th century spoke. It may have some African/Native influences but that alone doesn’t make it a creole.

[@alaingadbois2276]

All I noticed is completely French, but an informal version. Slang if you want, with a few expressions borrowed from English. Very similar to French in Quebec and Acadie.

[@tubeofme21]

You are right, it is not a créole, just old French/ancien français.

[@ChansonsDzuPaysDesIllinoues]

They use the term creole only because the French of the Illinois Country (including Missouri) historically referred to themselves as créoles (the original meaning being someone of Spanish or French origin being born in the New World). In terms of linguistics, it’s certainly a dialect of French, not a creole.

[@iamsaved7]

I would love to know more about the people of West-African descent who were are part of this community. Their influence was referenced briefly in this video. La Haute-Louisiane, like la Basse-Louisiane was inhabited by people of various backgrounds.

[@ChansonsDzuPaysDesIllinoues]

Yes, we’re working on finding them. They had all left the Old Mines area by the early 20th century. A lot went to St. Louis and other big cities and integrated with anglophone communities there. I just recently shared one of their Bouki stories told in both Missouri French and English by a native speaker in the 1970s: Bouki, Rabbit, and the Garden - told by Marguerite Politte in Missouri French and English kzbin.info/www/bejne/r5q7i2trmrichLM.

[@iamsaved7]

@@ChansonsDzuPaysDesIllinoues Yes, it is a nice video. A version of that story was told here in "La Basse Louisiana." In the Louisiana version, Compère Lapin asks to be thrown into the brier patch ("zérons" in La. Creole or "les ronces" in La. French).

[@ChansonsDzuPaysDesIllinoues]

@@iamsaved7 yeah, another storyteller in Missouri said it was “dans les éronces” instead of the dew.

[@christopheklinger3217]

What a discovery that french or a version of it was spoken in Illinois or Missouri

[@lucybecker8]

Wow this sounds exactly like joual, the French Canadian language.

[@oscillatine]

I quite understand what they sing and say, so nice to preserve their language! Greatings from France!

[@playlist1883]

It's funny to hear that man sing in old french. I'm french and i cannot mke any of it ! 😂

[@davidhocde007]

Moi non plus. Ils parlent un français plutôt médiéval, je trouve. C'est très joli mais pas évident à comprendre.

[@micheleswiderski7080]

Félicitations! et gros merci de nous partager cet apercu d'un ancien francais bien a vous.

[@user-ds8no1ro2q]

My parents had a form of Canadian French as their first language. It made me proud of my heritage but it has completely disappeared from southern New England where I live. I struggle to retain the French I learned in school by speaking it to myself and by watching shows like this. Merci beaucoup!

[@didiersenecal5352]

Bravo très intéressant.

[@harperwelch5147]

Great doc! I posted on FB so that others would see it!

[@jakklump]

The town of Old Mines mined Baryte, which contains barium that you ingest in a "barium meal" that shows up with a CT scan. Baryte is also used in oil and gas drilling, radiation shielding, paint, plastics, sugar refining, glass for computer screens, paper manufacturing and even as gemstones. You have eaten or touched some today without knowing it.

[@fboussard638]

Excellent bravo les gars !

[@catherinemartina6469]

So is ours it’s on the way out beautiful beautiful French dialect we had from the 1800s France all gone

[@katanaki3059]

This is super interesting! I love language and dialects and never heard of this niche of unique culture.

[@Feroal2]

What a shame they were discouraged to speak French

[@Xerxes2005]

It happened in Canada too. Outside of Québec, it was forbidden to teach French in schools. Teachers had to hide French books in their classes.

[@aboulahab3610]

@Xerxes2005 Same thing for German. Mostly because of Germanophoby since the 1st World War. Parents discouraged their children speaking German. German churches changed to English out of fear and intimidation. German schools are abolished...when I moved to a supposedly German town in central Missouri I was probably the only one who speaks German besides couple octogenarian and nanogenarian I met in nursing home where my wife worked as nurse. I'm not even German..

[@martinchabot_FR]

It was even the same in France with all regional dialects and languages (like briton or euskara which is a very ancient language) during most of 19 and 20th century.

[@Feroal2]

@@martinchabot_FR as a québécois and catalan that is upsetting. There should be nothing but support in regard to the continued attempt at keeping these languages alive.

[@user-rv4vi6mh8n]

From France. Even if i have bien influenced by english and american rock n roll and movie culture, I am pleased to hear french words from your mouth. So i thank you for it. Best regards !

[@PhD777]

Outstanding informative video!

[@isabellejoyaux1674]

C'est vraiment passionnant! Merci

[@pwaly]

Bravo !! Je suis Français et créole de l’île de la Réunion. I’m proud to see another French speaking creole cousins preserving our common language and their culture and traditions. 👏👏Flag of Acadia Emoji

[@Kate-qq3ez]

Très intéressant, merci !

[@johngore7744]

As a bilingual English Quebecois I find this fascinating J’espere que vous pouvez preserve votre culture Peace from Montreal .

[@netfun8087]

Fascinating!

[@marydawkins4190]

I've been able to trace my French maternal ancestors all the way from Montreal, Canada down to St. Genevieve, MO. I never even knew about the French migrations down the Mississippi until then, but it makes so much sense. I've visited St. Genevieve several times and toured all their historic sites. Now I'll put Old Mines on my list!! It's such a cool part of our history. I lived in South Louisiana for a long time, too, and even worked at a world famous Cajun/Creole restaurant in the French Quarter in New Orleans and know that food so well. I still dream about the food!! The French contributed a lot to American culture in different ways.

[@wendylbranchfield7959]

This was absolutely fascinating!

[@bucketofbarnacles]

A wonderful report.

[@tombryant9878]

Everyone hears about Cajun French, so wonderful to hear French is still there. ❤️>>>🇨🇦

[@MrPendell]

Guy from Saskatchewan here- up here there was a significant population of Francophones through most of the 20th century, with their own unique cultural and linguistic traditions, and some of the distinctive qualities of the variations of French spoken here came from Francophones who were Métis- descended from marriages between early french explorers and fur traders in western Canada and the native populations they found there, the Plains Cree, Saulteaux, Dakota/Lakota, and the Dene. More recently, with the diversity of francophone dialects and accents immigrating from around the world, and the predominance of English as a first language in Canada everywhere except Quebec (and even to some extent there), there may have been a bit of a shift in what typical Saskatchewan French sounds like. I notice some things about the music and the costume which are strongly reminiscent of Métis culture up here- the music is definitely familiar, and it it looks like some of the performers are wearing a Métis sash belt. I visited Cape Girardeau some years ago in the course of my work, but understood only in a very vague way at the time that there was a Creole presence and tradition in the area or what that meant in terms of the ethnic identities of people there. Wish I had known at the time to keep my eyes open for this sort of thing.

[@dgib1694]

It is the responsibility of the French Canadiens to connect with these people and help them keep their French alive with all sorts of exchange and cooperation. They belong to a larger community.

[@rickyrekk5008]

Very interesting, thank you!

[@yvesd_fr1810]

J'ai habité deux ans aux USA, dont un dans l'Illinois. Le nombre de noms d'origine française est impressionnant : Déjà Saint Louis, mais aussi Creve Coeur, Des Plaines, La Grange, Prairie du Rocher, Versailles et Toulon, ou les contés de DuPage, Fayette, Menard... Il y aussi des noms d'explorateurs français : Joliet, La Salle et Marquette. Je travaillais à Champaign (de champagne ou champs plats en français)... Meme Chicago est prononcé à la française, cad comme chi-ca-go et pas comme "tchi-ca-go. Et aux USA, mes favoris sont "prairie du Chien", "lac du flambeau" (Wi), Bâton Rouge (Louisianne), et la "cache la poudre river" (montagnes rocheuses?) !

[@normanduke8855]

The main heart of the United States was explored and discovered by the French Voyageurs and trappers, hence all of the French names which still survive. The English had their thirteen little colonies but they were terrified to go into the woods because of the Indians. The French had no fear. They married the Indians and became family. We are in great debt to the Marquis de Laffayette. Without him there would be no United States.

[@comment8767]

The towns of Papineau and Beaverville in Iroquois County, Illinois, has French Speakers 40 years ago. I do not know how many are left. There is also L'Erable in the same county. Obviously the name "Illinois" is also French.

[@Sophie-ve2xq]

Grâce à votre reportage on découvre qu'il subsiste encore la langue française du 18ème siècle aux Etats-Unis. Je connaissais le cajun pratiqué en Louisiane et qui persiste mais je ne connaissais pas le paw paw french. Encore merci aux habitants de Old Mines de faire perdurer le français. Bravo à vous!

[@Panorabeach]

Intéressant, merci !

[@wackyruss]

Wow! I had no idea French was spoken in Missouri! I knew it was spoken in Louisiana by the Cajuns & Creoles but had no idea it was spoken so widely in other States!!! History really is incredible. German was also spoken in Central Texas.

[@soniatriana9091]

Hello!! Thank you for creating & sharing this very nice & insightful short documentary!! I found that it mimic what is happening everywhere nowadays! I thinks it’s also because their parents are the 1st generation to have been brought up with the traditional parenting lifestyles before Social Media became an all consuming aspects of their parents’s lives & unfortunately also of their younger teachers’ personal & professional lives!? Our 1st youth to experience Social Media in the mid 1990’s were & continue to be too heavily influenced by Social Media!!Although, they were more heavily influence by their parents, grandparents, cultural customs, & beliefs before everything CHANGED because of Social Media!

[@DianaJewell-jf9ep]

This reminds me of the voyagers songs that went from Canada to Mackinaw Island Michigan to trade furs with the Hudson Bay company.

[@engelinaschuurmans7648]

This language should be preserved ❤️👍

[@AnneDowson-vp8lg]

I'm English and my (European) French is very rusty, but I am fascinated to learn that there are still French speaking people in parts of the USA that were originally part of the Louisiana Purchase. I had no idea. I applaud you for keeping it alive, and apologise for the oppression of the English speaking world. I hope you can keep it alive and the music is great!

[@maryjeanjones7569]

When the British kicked the French Acadians out of Nova Scotia in 1763, they went to Louisiana and became known as Cajuns.

[@sgt.mcgillicuddy2948]

C’est exactement la même chose qu’ici en Louisiane. Nos personnes âgées ont été punis quand ils étaient jeunes pour parler français. Ils ont été fait pour se sentir bête parce que la langue avait été vu comme de basse classe. Asteur y’a peu de gens qui parlent encore, triste c’est sûr

[@sharonboyer929]

My aunt latt aunt mann from tincan in cadet and old mines grandpa Bill always talk paw paw French learn many many things I miss them so very much im 72 and I rember every everything they ever taught me my husband is buried there in old mines and I am a friend I am pound to say miss Natalie is my true.friend sharon boyer,,,,,,,

[@Reazzurro90]

I find it extremely annoying when older people say "young people don't want to learn it so it'll die" or "what use is there with it?" Sorry but how do you expect to get people interested when you tell them it's worthless to learn?

[@lunarmodule6419]

It has to come from the person who wants to learn. You can't push it. In Quebec young people are on internet, Netflix, and video games because they like it. And so they expose themselves to English.

[@Reazzurro90]

@lunarmodule6419 I mean that is somewhat true, but someone needs to encourage the learning of it. If you tell them "it's a useless language" how does that encourage learning?

[@goodmaro]

You don't! Couldn't you believe it was their sincere opinion that there was no use to it? What part of this is hard to understand?

[@Reazzurro90]

@@goodmaro i believe the couple was sincere. But also ignorant and misguided.

[@CortexNewsService]

I think they said that because there isn't a way for it to be reinforced. For example, I learned French in college. But I haven't used it since. I can still read it a bit and understand a little, but it has never been used in my daily life. There isn't any utility to it so no reason to keep it up.

[@mehdiseawitch3518]

Super 👍🏻 j’ai adoré 😊

[@Darkdragon5544]

Anyone who wants this to survive must seek support in Québec! We're trying to become a country on our own, but we also want to be a haven for "North American French heritage". In Canada and the US, we layed the first stones to build the cities and the communities with that heritage. Our story is not the anglophone story. It's not a left-right politic thing. Language isn't just a vehicle for ideas, it's the actual vehicle of culture! Anyone, reach out! Our community has built strong bridges with Louisiana already, we can build some with Missouri!

[@drakec.9327]

The area I live in, approx. 60 mi. so. of Chicago, Illinois had many French, French-Canadian settlers. In fact there is a small museum in the city of Kankakee devoted to them. My wife's father was French-Canadian. Quite a few small towns with French names.

[@nilsniemeier5345]

Great stuff! Though when the reporter described the 1970s and 1980s as the "late 1900s" my wife and I died a little :-)

[@anthonyfrench3169]

I'm living in Japan now, but watching this video, I kinda wished they had Paw Paw classes when I was in school in St. Charles County Illinois.

[@JohnsJohnson-ns5xm]

Cape is my home town great place to grow up as a kid.

[@LouisEmery]

5:11 I notice one word in that list: astheure. Some people from quebec use it. It is the way "a cette heure" is heard. Meaning "at this hour (time)". You have to remember the past.

[@Mariebo59]

Merveilleux, suis vraiment impressionnée et agréablement surprise de connaître des endroits aux États-Unis où la langue française vie encore. Un beau signe du passage de francophones qui ont su garder un peu de la culture de leurs aïeux. BRAVO I am so happy. It gives me the taste of going to visit you to discover the history of your community.

[@canadiancontent352]

As a person of french descent The last second is so familiar to me. Fight the good fight and garder votre heritage

[@chipevans1939]

Interesting! I never would have known.

[@tinaplate620]

Thank you for sharing. I saw a song “La Belle Françoise” in the rapportage and I’m hoping it is the same version I learned as a child in Northern Maine. I’m hoping there are other songs we have in common. Are there specific dishes that are common to the Missouri French? The Acadians have ployes, a buckwheat flatbread, which can be rolled up “like a crêpe” to clean off juices/gravy/sauce from a roast.