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French pronounciation help needed

Replies: 12

French pronounciation help needed

Posted: 24 Nov 2008 1:45PM GMT
Classification: Query
Surnames: Coallier
My g.g.grandfather moved from Quebec to the US in about 1845. He was illiterate and couldn't spell or write his own name. He depended upon non-French speaking Irish priests to spell his name on many documents. This part I know: his last name (in Canada) was Coallier. In the US his name was spelled Collier or Quillia. His first name in the US was spelled "Uger", "Ludger" and "Ugene". (I think the Ugene was a measured attempt at making his name more English or American.) He named his US born son after himself but depended upon the Irish immigrant priests to spell the son's name. The son's legal name at birth was "Joseph Eugene Quillia, Jr.". Apparently, Uger did not go by the name "Joseph". I kept repeating "Uger" and "Ludger" over and over again with the best French accent I could do and read every single Coallier name written in the Drouin collection and born in Quebec within a 20 year time frame around 1835. At the time, I didn't know that his son was a "Junior" named after his father. Anyway, I came up with the name "Eucher Coallier", born 1834-43 in Boucherville. I believed that "Eucher" was the name that sounds like "Uger" and "Ludger". Then I stumbled upon someone today whose name was "Joseph Ulr Hyacinthe Coallier", born 1834-43 in Boucherville. There's a little yellow triangle next to J.U.H. Coallier's name, so there must be an alternate name based on the handwritten church documents. Could someone who speaks French fluently please sound out "Eucher Coallier" and "Ulr" and write out what it sounds like and which name in your opinion is the correct person based on your pronounciation of those two names? Thanks.
Attachments:
SubjectAuthorDate Posted
pqrstny 24 Nov 2008 8:45PM GMT 
pinestick 25 Nov 2008 1:09AM GMT 
pinestick 25 Nov 2008 1:50PM GMT 
hrw30 25 Nov 2008 6:28PM GMT 
beaug1 21 Dec 2009 3:09AM GMT 
pqrstny 22 Dec 2009 2:15PM GMT 
CLemyre 24 Dec 2009 7:53PM GMT 
pqrstny 27 Dec 2009 7:58PM GMT 
pqrstny 27 Dec 2009 8:27PM GMT 
clairelanthie... 27 Dec 2009 9:08PM GMT 
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