Why Arkansas is pronounced ‘Arkansaw’ and not ‘Ar-kansas’ (2024)

by: Kyler Swaim

Posted: Jun 15, 2024 / 02:00 PM CDT

Updated: Jun 15, 2024 / 04:51 PM CDT

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — Saturday marks 188 years since Arkansas was admitted to the Union as the 25th state on June 15, 1836.

After becoming a state, the decision was split on not just its pronunciation but also the spelling, according to the Arkansas Secretary of State’s Office. One senator was introduced as being from “Arkansaw” and the other from “Ar-kansas”.

Before entering statehood, Arkansas had different pronunciations than those.

Here are a few:

In the Journal of 1673 by Marquette and Joliet: AKANSEA
In LaSalle’s map: ACANSA
A map based on La Harpe’s journey in 1718 through 1722: the river was called ARKANSAS and the Indians were called LES AKANSAS
Around 1811, Captain Zebulon Pike called it ARKANSAW.

The name “Arkansas” came from the Quapaw Indians by way of French explorers.

During the time of early French exploration, the Quapaw tribe was called the Arkansas, or “south wind” by the Algonkian-speaking Indians of the Ohio Valley.

“The word ‘Arkansas’ itself, while not French, is the complicated result of French speakers trying to spell out the name of the indigenousQuapawas enunciated to those Frenchmen by other indigenous peoples,” the Encyclopedia of Arkansas said.

The name was so confusing to residents that in 1881, a legislation was passed saying the state would be spelled “Arkansas” but pronounced “Arkansaw”.

Whereas, confusion of practice has arisen in the pronunciation of the name of our state and it is deemed important that the true pronunciation should be determined for use in oral official proceedings. And, whereas, the matter has been thoroughly investigated by the Historical Society of the State of Arkansas and the Eclectic Society of Little Rock, which have agreed upon the correct pronunciation as derived from history and the early usage of the American immigrants. Be it therefore resolved by both houses of the General Assembly, that the only true pronunciation of the name of the state, in the opinion of this body, is that received by the French from the native Indians and committed to writing in the French word representing the sound. It should be pronounced in three (3) syllables, with the final “s” silent, the “a” in each syllable with the Italian sound, and the accent on the first and last syllables. The pronunciation with the accent on the second syllable with the sound of “a” in “man” and the sounding of the terminal “s” is an innovation to be discouraged.
Resolution 1-4-105

The Secretary of State’s Office said the spelling dictates the nationality of the French who first explored the area and the pronunciation preserves the first inhabitants of the Natural State, the Quapaw.

Happy Birthday, Arkansas!