Missouri French in the context of "Varieties of French"

Louisiana French (Louisiana French: français louisianais; Louisiana Creole: françé Lalwizyàn) includes the dialects and varieties of the French language spoken traditionally by French Louisianians in colonial Lower Louisiana. As of today Louisiana French is primarily used in the state of Louisiana, specifically in its southern parishes.

Over the centuries, the language has incorporated some words of African, Spanish, Native American and English origin, sometimes giving it linguistic features found only in Louisiana. Louisiana French differs to varying extents from French dialects spoken in other regions, but Louisiana French is mutually intelligible with other dialects and is most closely related to those of Missouri, New England, Canada and northwestern France.

New England French (French: français de Nouvelle-Angleterre) is a variety of French spoken in the New England region of the United States. It descends from Canadian French because it originally came from French Canadians who immigrated to New England during the Grande Hémorragie.

New England French is one of the major forms of the French language that developed in what is now the United States, the others being Louisiana French and the nearly extinct Missouri French, Muskrat French and Métis French. The dialect is the predominant form of French spoken in New England (apart from standard French), except in the Saint John Valley of northern Aroostook County, Maine, where Brayon French predominates.

The French Louisianians (French: Louisianais), also known as Louisiana French, are French people native to the states that were established out of French Louisiana. They are commonly referred to as French Creoles (French: Créoles). Today, the most famous Louisiana French groups are the Alabama Creoles (including Alabama Cajans), Arkansas Creoles, Louisiana Creoles (including Louisiana Cajuns), and the Missouri French (Illinois Country Creoles).

Perche Creek, or Roche Perche Creek is a stream in Boone and Randolph counties in the U.S. state of Missouri. Besides the Missouri River it is the largest stream in Boone County, Missouri and forms much of the western border of the city of Columbia, Missouri. The northern source is in southeast Randolph County approximately six miles south of Moberly.

Perche Creek was named for a natural bridge on a cliff of the Missouri River near the former location of the mouth of the Perche. The Missouri French called it Roche Perche ("pierced rock") and the Kentuckians and Virginians who settled Boone County adopted the name from them. Currently the Roche Perche flows into the Missouri River about a mile north of Providence.

The French language is spoken as a minority language in the United States. Roughly 1.18 million Americans over the age of five reported speaking the language at home in the federal 2020 American Community Survey, making French the seventh most spoken language in the country after English, Spanish (the most spoken Romance language, and French is second), Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, and Arabic.Several varieties of French evolved in what is now the United States:

• Acadian French, spoken in Northern Maine by descendants of colonists in Acadia
• Louisiana French, spoken in Louisiana by descendants of colonists in French Louisiana
• New England French, spoken in New England by descendants of 19th and 20th-century Canadian migrants
• Missouri French, spoken in Missouri by descendants of French settlers in the Illinois Country
• Muskrat French, spoken in Michigan by descendants of habitants, voyageurs and coureurs des bois in the Pays d'en Haut
• Métis French, spoken in North Dakota by Métis people

More recently, French has also been carried to various parts of the country via immigration from Francophone countries and regions. Today, French is the second most spoken language (after English) in the states of Maine and Vermont. French is the third most spoken language (after English and Spanish) in the states of Louisiana, Connecticut and Rhode Island.