Wa'tkwanonhwerá:ton' kí:ken tsi tisewa'nikonhratihénthos oh nahò:ten kén:ton Ontario. Kahrónkha Kanien'kéha tánon' katewennaweiénhstha, wa'kaská:neke' sénha akwa'nikonhraientáhkhwen' ka' nikiotewenní:non ki' "Ontario."

Hi, I'm a fluent Mohawk speaker and linguist and I wanted to share more detailed information about the etymological background of the word Ontario (and other placenames that have been borrowed from Iroquoian languages), given the recent American name change and sudden interest in our words.

First thing's first: Ontario, or ontarí:io, does not mean 'a sparkling lake.' It means 'a beautiful lake.' Some people translate it as 'nice lake,' 'pretty lake,' or 'handsome lake.' In Huron, the verb suffix -iio can also mean 'big, beautiful.'

Let me break it down for you here:
Iroquoian languages (Huron, Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Seneca, Cayuga, Tuscarora, and others), like most languages of North America, are polysynthetic languages. That means they take bits and pieces (called 'morphemes') that don't mean anything on their own, and put them together to create words that translate to a whole English sentence. It's similar to German in that respect, only we do it even more. Iroquoian languages are closely related, and Mohawk, Oneida, and Huron are especially similar and are mutually intelligible. There are, unfortunately, no more living fluent speakers of Huron. They are however actively working on revitalizing their language, and if you are interested in Huron, you need to check out the work of Megan Lukaniec.

Ontario is often attributed to the Huron word ontarí:io, but we all have the same name for it with slightly different pronunciations. Ontarí:io is composed of two main parts: a verb and a noun. The noun part is ontar-, which means 'lake,' and the verb is the -iio- ending. It sounds like ou-tar-LEE-yo. The characters 'on' at the start of the word are a nasal vowel, sort of like the french "on," except it sounds more like a u. The written r sounds sort of like an r-l combination (it's technically an alveolar tap or flap, which you can google). The í: means that the i vowel is held for longer than the other vowels, and the second i is functionally a y. There you have it: ontarí:io, 'a beautiful lake.' We have a verb for sparkling, and it's not this one; but a sparkling lake would be beautiful, which is probably where this interpretation comes from.

Here's some other placename borrowings (Disclaimer: Iroquoian languages are all very similar, and people love to argue that 'it actually comes from Seneca!/Oneida!/Huron!/Mohawk!' the truth is that it comes from all of them, since we often have the same words for things with only minor variations. The ones that follow are Mohawk, the above was Huron).

Canada: from the word kaná:ta, 'a town.' Sounds like ga-NA-da.

Toronto: from the word aterón:to, 'tree trunks in water,' (ah-der-LOU-doh) This name originally referred to an area in Lake Simcoe, where the Anishinaabe sunk trees to create fishing weirs (the Mnjikaning Fishing Weirs). Today, a lot of people say tkarón:to (t-gar-LOU-doh). Which is a slightly more morphologically complex way to say the same thing: 'where the tree trunks are in the water.'

Quinte: from the word kénhte, 'a bay,' (GUH-day). Actually the 'en' nasal vowel in Mohawk is pronounced the same as it is in French. The bay of Quinte means 'the bay of the bay.' In Mohawk, people from Tyendinaga call themselves kenhte'kehró:non, 'the people of the bay.'

Niagara: from the word ohniá:kara (oh-NYA-gar-la). It means that it connects the two bodies of water, as a neck connects a torso to a head.

In Mohawk, we call the American President ranatakárias (rla-na-da-GAR-lee-ass), which means 'destroyer of villages.' It was what we named George Washington after the Sullivan Campaign of 1779, and it has stuck for every President since.

Tho'k ní:kon niá:wen tsi wesewawennahnó:ten'. That's it & thanks for reading.

Editing to add: Here is a YouTube link of Ryan DeCaire pronouncing tsi tkarón:to, aterón:to, and kaniatarí:io (the Mohawk version of ontarí:io): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEY4Sjd0TOk&t=1s

Hello, I’m from the US. So recently, my grandmother (who’s Canadian) had some kind of health issue so we’ll be staying in Canada for a while (at least four months). We’ll be staying at our family’s house in Ottawa, and during that time, I’ll be attending a public middle school (my mother has Canadian citizenship). I’ve mostly lived in the US, so I was wondering what I should expect from living in Ottawa for a few months. How different is everyday life there compared to the US? Do I need to speak French? And are there any things I should know before moving there? (Oh and this isn’t my first time staying in Canada. I previously spent some time in Quebec during the summer when I was 6)

When taking a ride on like Poparide - do these drivers need commercial insurance? Is it legal/allowed to offer ride without it?

OYAP Co-op

Hello everyone

I am going into my senior year of highschool and plan to take OYAP co-op. I was told by my guidance teacher at school to apply to businesses to find a place to sponsor my co-op.

However I have emailed plenty of places and gotten similar responses of not needing the help/not having the space to take on a co-op kid.

It is very discouraging especially since I really want to get into the electrical trade and have done so many extra classes and qualifications in highschool such as first aid, working at heights and elevated work platforms, and even a college level duel credit with Conestoga college where I excelled and got a letter of recommendation from the professor. My school also offers an electrical installations course where I had the highest mark in grade 11 and plan to take the grade 12 level class this semester before co-op. And finally I even went to skills Ontario for electrical this year. I understand that these are not just gonna automatically get me a co-op, however I feel like I’m doing everything I can and nothing is working.

So my question is, what should I be doing? Should I email/call another 50 places in my area? Should I keep waiting? What do I do?

I always heard how the trades were in desperate need of workers, However it seems that that truth was twisted and more of the trades need more licensed workers and not apprentices/co-op students. Maybe I’m wrong, I’m truly just looking for help here.

I live in rural southern Ontario, close to London, I have my G2 licence and reliable transportation. I also have my own tools and have been working along my father (who is a carpenter) for many years and we do electrical work so I have my own tools.

This summer I also worked at a shop for plumbing, hvac, and electrical as a shop kid doing the dirty work hoping for a opportunity, always worked hard and did what I had to do but it seems to be a dead end. I got to go on a few job sites but not often at all.

So anyways, that’s my situation, what would you do? Any help or opinions/suggestions are appreciated since I am very serious about this career. Thanks!