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The state is named for the Missouri River, which was named after the indigenous Missouri Indians, a Siouan-language tribe. They were called the ouemessourita (wimihsoorita[12]), meaning "those who have dugout canoes", by the Miami-Illinois language speakers. As the Illini were the first natives encountered by Europeans in the region, the latter adopted the Illini name for the Missouri people.[13] While many American states have names that its natives and non-natives pronounce dissimilarly, Missouri is the only one whose name is pronounced differently even just among its present-day natives[14]—the two most common pronunciations being Listeni/məˈzɜri/ and Listeni/məˈzɜrə/.[15] [16] This situation of differing pronunciations has existed since the late 1600s. Further pronunciations also exist in Missouri or elsewhere in the United States, involving the realization of the first syllable as either /mə/ or /mɪ/; the stressed second syllable as either /ˈzɜr/ or /ˈzʊər/;[17] the third syllable as Listen /i/, Listen /ə/, Listen centralized /ɪ/ ([ɪ̈]), or even ∅ (in other words, a non-existent third syllable);[16] and the phoneme /r/ as either of two allophones: Listen [ɹ] or Listen [ɻ].[18] Any combination of these phonetic realizations may be observed coming from speakers of American English. Politicians often employ multiple pronunciations, even during a single speech, to appeal to a greater number of listeners.[14] Often, "eye dialect" spellings of the state's name, such as "Missour-ee" or "Missour-uh," are used informally to phonetically distinguish pronunciations. Missouri (see pronunciations) is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States.[7] Missouri is the 21st most extensive and the 18th most populous of the 50 United States. Missouri comprises 114 counties and the independent city of St. Louis. The four largest urban areas are St. Louis, Kansas City, Springfield, and Columbia.[8] Missouri's capital is Jefferson City. The land that is now Missouri was acquired from France as part of the Louisiana Purchase and became known as the Missouri Territory. Part of the Territory was admitted into the union as the 24th state on August 10, 1821. Missouri's geography is highly varied. The northern part of the state lies in dissected till plains while the southern part lies in the Ozark Mountains (a dissected plateau), with the Missouri River dividing the two. The state lies at the intersection of the three greatest rivers of North America, with the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers near St. Louis,[9] and the confluence of the Ohio River with the Mississippi north of the Bootheel. The starting points for the Pony Express, Santa Fe Trail, and Oregon Trail were all located in Missouri.[10] The mean center of United States population as of the 2010 Census is at the town of Plato in Texas County.[11] |
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