Can you mispronounce Arkansas?

You can’t pronounce it Arkansas or Arkansasss. In the actual state of Arkansas, it is pronounced AR-kan-saw. The final s is silent because the name is a French spelling of a native word for the Quapaw people.

Why is Arkansas pronounced wrong?

In 1881, a heated disagreement between the state’s two senators, one who said “arKANzis” and the other who said “ARkansaw,” led to a ruling by the state legislature making the “ARkansaw” pronunciation official. Ever since, Americans have gone along with the s-less, first-syllable-stressed version of Arkansas.

Is the S silent in Arkansas?

Arkansas was named for the French plural of a Native American tribe, while Kansas is the English spelling of a similar one. Since the letter “s” at the end of French words is usually silent, we pronounce Bill Clinton’s home state “Arkansaw.” The “s” on the end is simply a French addition then and a silent one at that.

Where did name Arkansas come from?

Quapaw Indians
The word “Arkansas” came from the Quapaw Indians, by way of early French explorers. At the time of the early French exploration, a tribe of Indians, the Quapaws, lived West of the Mississippi and north of the Arkansas River. The Quapaws, or OO-GAQ-Pa, were also known as the “people who live downstream,” or UGAKHOPAG.

What is Arkansas named after?

Arkansas was named for a related Siouan tribe, the Quapaw. The Algonquians called them “Akansa,” joining their own A- prefix (used in front of ethnic groups) to the Kansa name (the same root as that for Kansas).

How do you pronounce Arkansas?

Kansas is an English spelling of the tribe’s name, leading to the current pronunciation. Arkansas is french, and the trailing “s” is therefore silent. This is why the official pronunciation of Arkansas sounds more like the original Native American word.

Is the name Kansas pronounced Kansas or Arkansas?

“It is clear, then, that the name Kansas, is spelled in English, while the name Arkansas is of French orthography, and that the two names should not be pronounced alike,” according to the Arkansas Historical Association. There’s evidence that some people tried to say the “s” (as in Ar-kan-zus) after the formation of the state government.

What does Arkansas stand for?

The name, Arkansas, is a French pronunciation of a Siouxan word meaning “land of downriver people”. It is pronounced: In 1881, the Arkansas General Assembly passed Concurrent Resolution No. 4. The resolution was further modified in 1947 as Arkansas Code 1 April 105, and reads thusly:

What is the correct way to pronounce the name AR-kan-saw?

The pronunciation “AR-kan-saw” is the proper way. It’s a French spelling of a Native name—probably the Myaamia name for the Ugaxpa (Quapaw) people, which means “downriver people,” although it’s also been explained as “people of the south wind.”