Why is Arkansas pronounced Ar-kan- SAW?

SDStaff Mac and SDStaff Tech reply:

Because, unlike other states (Illinwaw, for instance), the original French pronunciation stuck.

Of course, as native Kansans will tell you, “Arkansas” is pronounced ahr-KAN-suz.

Seriously, Arkansas is a French variant of the Siouxian word Quapaw (also a tribe located in the area around the area where Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Arkansas almost meet, and, additionally, a town in northeastern Oklahoma, between Miami and Baxter Springs, Kansas). Quapaw means, literally, “downstream people.”

How the French got “Arkinsaw” from “Quapaw,” on the other hand, is a mystery to us.

SDStaff Mac and SDStaff Tech, Straight Dope Science Advisory Board

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