Attached at the vowels
Image from chroniclingamerica.loc.gov This front page of The Coeur d’Alene Press from 1892 shows the “o” and “e” attached in the newspaper’s nameplate. This attachment is called a ligature, and is common in French words. It was used in the word “Coeur d’Alene” in many publications until around late 1907, when the vowels were separated.
This excerpt from "Ranch Life and the Hunting Trail" by Theodore Roosevelt shows (in the third line of the writing) the interesting way Coeur d'Alene was spelled around the turn of the 20th century. (Screenshot)
By DEVIN WEEKS
Staff Writer
The name of the Lake City has not always been presented as we now see it.
In many historical references, the name contains a typographic ligature that attaches the "o" to the "e" — "Cœur d’Alene."
"I have read, as you well know, every single Coeur d'Alene Press from 1892 to this morning," local historian Robert Singletary said Friday afternoon. "Going back and looking, it was never a consistent thing. It seems it was never consistent."
The name has also been presented with a circumflex (a diacritical language mark) over the first "e" in "Alene" — "Cœur d'Alêne." This is probably an early version of the spelling of the name (translated to "Hearts of Awls"), which Singletary said was not a known term until used by the French Iroquois fur traders to describe the native people.
"I’ve never been able to find those three French words together," Singletary said. "It is not a proper French combination of words; it is three separate words that have been truncated."
This early Coeur d'Alene spelling with the ligature can be found on old railroad flyers, books, maps and in other documents, and even appeared in The Coeur d'Alene Press' own nameplate and advertisements a century or so ago.
The lack of the ligature was commented on when The Press received a letter to the editor last year.
The letter, signed "Ariadne Penguine" of Petoskey, Mich., heartily complimented the citizens of Coeur d'Alene for "populating a place so lovely in name," but expressed that the lack of ligature is a disservice.
"No instance where the town is named uses the correct ligature," the letter reads. "While the œ may seem insignificant, I can assure you it makes a great difference in how your town is perceived, and the beauty the name evokes. I would urge you to change the spelling not only in the newspaper, but also on all street signs, road maps, etc. that are within your control."
The letter was actually written by two students who enjoy researching linguistics and language evolution.
"We do care passionately about the aesthetic appeal of ligatures," one of the writers, Brynne Garver of Petoskey, said in an email to The Press.
"Although neither of us have yet been to Cœur d’Alene in person, we have been greatly impressed by the beauty of the town’s surroundings and the romantic aura of its name, and we believe that officially adopting the 'œ' ligature in the word 'Cœur' instead of the separated letters 'o' and 'e' would provide the town with a powerful mark of distinction, connecting it to the language of its French colonial heritage."
Garver's friend and co-writer, Walter Zonenberg of Sacramento, said their research led them to read about Coeur d'Alene.
"We realized its one of those words that can be combined using a ligature," he said. "There's a forgotten heritage of English words that were spelled that way."
He said he found the combined "o" and "e" in spellings of "Coeur d'Alene" in books and writings leading up to the 20th century, including "The Geology and Ore Deposits of the Cœur D'Alene District, Idaho," published in 1908, and "Ranch Life and the Hunting Trail," written by Theodore Roosevelt and published in 1899.
"It's a special town, it has a special name," Zonenberg said.
The last time the ligature appeared in the nameplate of The Press was Nov. 10, 1907. Singletary said it was Nov. 18 of that year the letters began to appear separately in print.
"That 'o' and 'e' lasted a long time for the (nameplate) of The Press," he said.
To illustrate the inconsistencies surrounding the ligature's usage, he did find a 1907 Press issue where it appears in some places but not others.
Singletary said the ligature did not appear in other publications of that time period, such as a history of North Idaho book he has in his collection from 1903.
"This was back when they had the old type and they were typesetting all this," he said.
That it was removed from The Press and publications possibly printed at The Press without mention is a mystery.
"I don't know if it was just a choice of the printer, but whatever happened, it changed between Nov. 10 and 18 of 1907," Singletary said. "The 18th is where it disappeared."