Re: Chicago & Michigan

From: Rick McCallister
Message: 62758
Date: 2009-02-02

--- On Mon, 2/2/09, Francesco Brighenti <frabrig@...> wrote:

> From: Francesco Brighenti <frabrig@...>
> Subject: [tied] Chicago & Michigan
> To: cybalist@yahoogroups.com
> Date: Monday, February 2, 2009, 4:45 AM
> --- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com,
> "david_russell_watson"
> <liberty@...> wrote:
>
> > --- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "Andrew
> Jarrette" <anjarrette@>
> > wrote:
> >
> > > Why are "Chicago" and
> "Michigan" pronounced with [S] rather than
> > > [tS]? Never understood those ones.
> >
> > Nor have I.
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Chicago
> "The name 'Chicago' is the French version of
> the Miami-Illinois word
> shikaakwa ('wild leek'/'skunk'), named for
> the plants common along
> the Chicago River."
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michigan
> "[The State of Michigan] was named after Lake
> Michigan, whose name
> is a French adaptation of the Ojibwe term mishigami,
> meaning 'large
> water' or 'large lake'."
>
> Cheers,
> Francesco

There are tons of French or Gallicized Native American toponyms in the US Midwest and W. Canada. Remember that the first trappers and traders were French and Quebecois? Some went through strange turns, though --e.g. Low Freight River < l'eau froid. Some kept a semi-French pronunciation, e.g. Chicago, others didn't, e.g. Ohio.