Some Illinois Words: Places*
Illinois Language** French Language English Language
inokinghi

/inokinki/?

(in•oh•KING•gih)?

 le pais des Illinois the Illinois Country
mitchisipi8i

/mihcisiipiiwi/

(mich•ih•see•PEE•wih)

 grande rivière Mississippi River
metchagami8i

/meehcakamiwi/

(may•cha•kam•IH•wih)

 grande eau Lac Lake Michigan
In8ca asipi8mi

/inoka? asiipiomi/

(in•OH•kah? ah•see•pih•OH•mih)

 rivière des Illinois Illinois River

*From the French-Illinois dictionaries compiled by Jacques Gravier in 1700 (Manuscript at Watkinson Library, Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut) or Jean Le Boullenger in 1725 (Manuscript at the John Carter Brown Library, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island; photocopy at Illinois State Museum, Springfield). The Illinois words in these dictionaries represent the Peoria dialect of the Miami-Illinois language (Belting 1958; Costa 1994).

**Words set in italics are phonemic spellings as recorded by Jacques Gravier or Jean Le Boullenger; words set in /slashes/ are written in the phonemic spelling system used by modern linguists (Costa 1994); words set in (parentheses) are guides to pronunciation. The symbol "8" represents the letter "w" when it precedes a vowel; it represents the letter "o" in other positions. For example, masc8te8i (prairie) is written phonetically as /maskoteewi/ and is pronounced "mas•koh•TAY•wih."

For help with pronunciation, consult the Miami-Illinois pronunciation guide.