Origin of the state name Connecticut

From an Indian word (Quinnehtukqut) meaning ?beside the long tidal river?



The pronunciation is k??net?k?t meaning the second c is silent.

Indian word says nothing. What nation of Indian does this word orginate from? I am not well versed in east coast Indian nations so I will use others as examples. Does the word come from Cherokee, Choctaw, Illini, Osage etc.

These are not tribes but nations. An example would be Europe is composed of different nations ; Germany, France, etc.

The same goes for American Indians. The Delawares were not related the the Nez Perce, they were seperate. But these nations had tribes within them. The Sioux nation had the Yellowhands, Lokota (I believe) and others.

With all that said, if you know please post, it would be interesting to find out.

Rev. Thomas Hooker was a/the founder of Connecticut. Every year Willamantic has a Hooker Day celebration. The Hotel Hooker is a prominent landmark there. Neat, huh?

Per wikipedia: The name of the state is an anglicized version of the Algonquian word “quinatucquet”, meaning “upon the long river”.[22] The Connecticut region was inhabited by the Mohegan tribe prior to European colonization.

“Indian word says nothing. What nation of Indian does this word orginate from? I am not well versed in east coast Indian nations so I will use others as examples. Does the word come from Cherokee, Choctaw, Illini, Osage etc.”

Wouldn’t it be faster to just look it up yourself? I know the answer. I also know that the Cherokee came from the southeastern part of the U.S. There’s really quite an interesting story there. You might want to look it up. Oh goodness, the Choctaw are from the southeast too. My mind is blown.

Here is my favorite Connecticut ha-ha:

In his film, Small Time Crooks, Woody Allen’s character becomes very rich as a result of his criminal schemes. He then hires someone to teach himself and his wife how to act and sound like cultured people, so that they can blend in with the “old money” types.

Their tutor asks Woody where/how he should begin his schooling of the low-class couple, and Woody’s response is:
“I would like to learn how to spell Connecticut. Don’t ask me why.”

A copy/paste into Google and one click, and I get the answer - Mohegan.

How hard is that? :smiley:

The second c is silent (see shenning post above) and as someone who lived there for a year in 1999, I can’t believe that there are some who live there today and don’t know how pronounce Connecticut. Goldwing above cites wikipedia for the origin, which is correct. I would just add that Algonquin word is also spelled quinnehtukqut and quoenhtukqut, all of which mean something like “beside the long tidal river” referring to the Connecticut river. If you try pronouncing these Indian words, you’ll experience no second c sound.

“He then hires someone to teach himself and his wife how to act and sound like cultured people”.

Wouldn’t the teacher already know how to sound cultured? Why would the teacher teach himself?

“Please, I would like you to teach myself…”

He then hires someone to teach him and his wife how to act and sound like cultured people.

“If you try pronouncing these Indian words, you’ll experience no second c sound.”

That depends on what sound the letter “h” represents in the transcription. I look forward to the results of your research.

Born and bred in Connecticut. Never heard anyone pronounce it how it’s spelled in my life. I say it Con-neti-kit.