I'm just a guy of whom several refer to as "Mr. Beat." I'm here in the American
state of Arkansas, and yes what you see on the screen right now is how you spell it.
But why do they spell it that way?
And now I'm in the American state of Kansas. That's the Arkansas River,
and what you see on the screen right now is also how you spell it. But hold up cause many in
Colorado call this river the “Arkansaw” River. So not only is there an Arkansas River.
There's also (come here) an Arkansas City, Kansas….often just called "Ark City."
So what is going on here? Why is it pronounced "Arkansas" here
and "Arkansaw" everywhere else? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6P8QmDS0Q4
Simply put, it comes down to how both first got their names.
Arkansas got its name from the French. Kansas got its name from English-speaking Americans.
In the 1500s, when the French arrived in North America in modern-day Kansas and Arkansas (oops
I mean Arkansaw), they encountered two particular American Indian tribes. The first tribe,
some Siouan-speaking folks who lived along the modern-day Kansas River, which they called the
“Kansa.” And the second tribe, more commonly known today as the Quapaw, who lived along the
modern-day Arkansas or Arkansaw River. The French called them by their Algonquin name, “Akansa.”
However, over time, future visitors to the area further complicated things by writing
down different things when trying to document the rivers and areas these two tribes lived in. The
Kansa were also called the Kantha, Kances, Konza, Kauzas, Cannes, and Canceys. Eventually Kansa won
out, yes probably due to more English-speaking folks moving out there. Oh, and the plural
of Kansa? Kansas. And those English speakers pronounce the s at the end of words by golly!
Meanwhile, the French name of the Quapaw, Akansa, won out for some reason. Oh, and the plural of
Akansa? Akansas. But those French speakers DIDN’T pronounce the s at the end of words, so it was
just Akansaw. But wait a second, where is the R? Well, no one knows for sure how or why the “R”
was added to make it “Arkansas,” but one theory is that the Akansa used this awesome bow for hunting,
and the French might have been really impressed with it. The French word for bow is “arc,” so
maybe the French explorers being all impressed with their bows influenced their pronunciation.
Another theory suggests that, since the Arkansas river arcs a lot, let’s call it ARCansaw.
Regardless, even after both Kansas and Arkansas officially joined the United States, there were
apparently a lot of people still arguing about how to pronounce Arkansas, or Arkansaw. Both
the river AND the state. The Arkansaw people even sometimes spelled it “Arkansaw” to promote their
beloved pronunciation. But you know how stubborn people are about pronunciations. Some of the most
vicious comments on my channel, in fact, are from people horribly offended by how I pronounce words.
Anyway, even the first two U.S. Senators of Arkansas,
Chester Ashley and Ambrose Sevier, argued over the pronunciation. In 1881, the Arkansas
legislature finally settled the matter once and for all, declaring that the state’s name should
be spelled like this but pronounced like this. So if you mispronounce Arkansas in Arkansas,
YOU ARE BREAKING THE LAW SON. Arkansas is the only state to pass a law like this by the way.
So, both spelled similarly, but both having wildly different pronunciations, and now you know why.
Like many things in North America, it comes down to the conflicting legacy of both the French and
English. For the record, both pronunciations are correct,
but feel free to argue about it in the comments.
So which pronunciation do YOU like better? I’m from Kansas, so obviously it’s Ar-kansas,
bro. Because it’s like “our Kansas,” eh? As always, I appreciate you
letting me know in the comments what you think. And now, here’s my monthly
shout out to all my Patreon supporters who donate at least $15 or more each month,
starting with my most generous supporters who donate at the George Washington level.