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Why
do we call it the Ozarks? The
French clipped Indian tribal names By
Dr. Gerald Cohen In
a Dec. 8, 2005 query to the American Name Society, Michael McCafferty
wrote: “When
the historic French took ethnonyms and reduced them to more manageable
forms, are the resulting forms called ‘nicknames’?” His
examples were: Les
Miamis, shortened to les Mis Les
Peouareouas, shortened to Les Pez (pronounced /lépé/) Les
Ouiatanons, clipped to Les Ouyas Les
Pouteouatamis, reduced to Les Poux. I
then replied: “Ah,
so that’s how the Arkansas (Indians) had their name shortened to the
‘Arks’ that appears in ‘Ozarks’ (French ‘Aux Arks’); this
was part of a pattern of the French clipping Indian tribal names.” To
which McCafferty responded: “Exactement!
The historical French were really into this kind of thing. They’re all
over the place.” He further explained: “Re: Aux Arcs---There is also
an early recording for the name of the Maumee River of northwestern Ohio
and northeastern Indiana that made it into English in the form “Omie,”
which is of course “Aux Mis,” “at the Miami.” He
concluded: “And ‘clipping’ seems to be the approved designation
for this phenomenon, according to the messages I’ve received.” REFERENCE Vogel,
Virgil J. 1963. Indian Place Names in Illinois. Pamphlet Series No. 4.
The Illinois State Historical Society, Springfield, Illinois 1963.
p. 102: “OZARK:
‘The Illinois Ozarks are an extension of the Ozark hills of Arkansas.
...the mountains of that name. The spelling was an American phonetic
rendering of the French Aux Arcs, a contraction which designated an
early French post among the Arkansa or Quapaw Indians.”
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