I am from a Rural Area of Missouri (65 miles SE of St. Louis) and we said it with an e not an ah. Now I am in the good old state of Virginie :-) (Virginyah) ----- Original Message ----- From: "rbozzay" <rbozzay@earthlink.net> To: <MO-STLOUIS-METRO-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, December 24, 2003 2:16 PM Subject: Re: [StL-Metro] Missouri > What I find humorous is that I grew up in South St. Louis. We all said > Miz-ou-ree. > We thought folks in Kansas City and the rural areas said Miz-ou-rah. > Now from the notes on this list it sounds like even this varied from street > to street in the same area. > Or perhaps from time to time. > > I don't think this controversy will ever end. What is even funnier is that > it is a Native American Word, phonetically written down by French Jesuit > priests and who knows what it really should sound like! > Sounds like a game of telephone gone astray and lasting for centuries! > > I believe though, that if what those early French explorers heard was " rah" > the spelling would not be with an "i" at the end. Maybe it should be > Miz-ou-rye! (only joking!) > > I do think though the French heard something along the lines of "ee" > because they spelled it like in Mardi Gras and that is the long e sound. > Well, actually they spelled it with an "it" at the end like in petit (we say > petite which is close to the French). So maybe we are all saying it wrong! > > Some URLs for your reading enjoyment (?)... > > http://members.sockets.net/~joschaper/moname.htm > > http://www.mpiweb.org/news/newsbytes/v942news.asp see last article on this > web site > > > Laura > > > > > > > ==== MO-STLOUIS-METRO Mailing List ==== > > For tips on researching St. Louis Church Records: > http://members.gtw.net/~seamus/churchrecords.htm > > > > > > > > ==== MO-STLOUIS-METRO Mailing List ==== > To unsubscribe from this list, email MO-STLOUIS-METRO-L-request@rootsweb.com; in the subject line, put only the word UNSUBSCRIBE with nothing in the message body. You can contact Michelle or Laura at MO-STLOUIS-METRO-admin@rootsweb.com. >