''-eaux'' is the standard

French language French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the Latin spoken in Gaul, and more specifically in Nor ...

plural form of nouns ending in ''-eau'', e.g. ''eau'' → ''eaux'', ''château'' → ''châteaux'', ''gâteau'' → ''gâteaux''. In the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, it often occurs as the ending of Cajun surnames.

American surnames

This is a common ending in the United States for historically Cajun surnames, such as Arceneaux, Babineaux, Boudreaux, Breaux, Busteaux, Laundreaux, Legeaux, Marceaux, Monceaux, Rabideaux,

Robicheaux Robicheaux is a surname of Cajun French (french: français cadien) derivation. People * Coco Robicheaux (1947–2011), U.S. blues musician * Ron Robicheaux, a U.S. baseball player from the Louisiana ''Ragin' Cajuns'' drafted by the Pittsburgh Pi ...

, Seaux, Thibodeaux, and Trabeaux. This combination of letters is pronounced with a long "O" sound .

United States spelling and use

Although there is debate about the exact emergence of this spelling in the United States, it has been claimed that the spelling originated from immigrants who did not speak or read English having to make an "x" mark at the end of their printed name in order to sign a legal document. Since many Cajun names of French origin already ended in "-eau," the names' endings eventually became standardized as "-eaux." This claim has been disputed by the historian Carl Brasseaux, who insists that the "-eaux" ending was one of many possible ways to standardize Cajun surnames ending in an "O" sound. Brasseaux claims that Judge Paul Briant is most responsible for the "-eaux" ending during his oversight of the 1820 U.S. Census in Louisiana and that the "x" ending is completely arbitrary. In addition, the counts of Pontchartrain and Maurepas spelled their surname "Phelypeaux", indicating that at least some literate settlers of Louisiana used that ending.Segura, Chris. (August 5, 1999). "Speaker takes mystery out of Cajun x-factor Cajun surnames"
''American Press'', on Acadian-Cajun Website, Retrieved 2006-11-08 Several surnames end in -eau (the standard French spelling), especially surnames that start with "C", as in Cousineau, a common Cajun surname. The "-eaux" ending is used among residents of south

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

as a marker of their Cajun heritage, particularly at sporting events for

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 nea ...

, McNeese State University,

Nicholls State University Nicholls State University is a public university in Thibodaux, Louisiana. Founded in 1948, Nicholls is part of the University of Louisiana System. Originally named Francis T. Nicholls Junior College, the university is named for Francis T. Nicholl ...

, the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, and the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

, typified as "Geaux Tigers", "Geaux Cowboys", "Geaux

Colonels Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel wa ...

", "Geaux

Cajuns The Cajuns (; French: ''les Cadjins'' or ''les Cadiens'' ), also known as Louisiana ''Acadians'' (French: ''les Acadiens''), are a Louisiana French ethnicity mainly found in the U.S. state of Louisiana. While Cajuns are usually described as ...

", or "Geaux Saints" being pronounced as "Go Tigers", "Go Cowboys", "Go Colonels", "Go Cajuns", and "Go Saints". LSU trademarked the phrase "Geaux Tigers" in 2005. However, in the

, a letter "e" or "i" that immediately follows a "g" will cause the "g" to become soft. Therefore the pronunciation of "geaux" is actually /ʒo/, and not /go/. Preserving the hard g-sound would either require removing the "e" (resulting in "gaux") or inserting a silent "u" after "g" ("gueaux").

Steve-O Stephen Gilchrist Glover (born June 13, 1974), known professionally as Steve-O, is an American entertainer, television personality, stunt performer and YouTuber. His career is mostly centered on his performance stunts in the reality comedy tel ...

's line of shoes, labeled "Sneaux Shoes", is pronounced (snow shoes).

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:-Eaux

Eaux ''-eaux'' is the standard French language plural form of nouns ending in ''-eau'', e.g. ''eau'' → ''eaux'', ''château'' → ''châteaux'', ''gâteau'' → ''gâteaux''. In the United States, it often occurs as the ending of Cajuns, Cajun surna ...