this post was submitted on 15 Dec 2023
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xkcd

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[–] SuzyQ@sh.itjust.works 13 points 2 years ago (3 children)

I have an inkling that the two Arkansas are pronounced differently. "Are-Kansas" and "Are-Can-Saw".

[–] abouttocomealive@lemmy.world 11 points 2 years ago (2 children)

One is Akansas

[–] SuzyQ@sh.itjust.works 2 points 2 years ago

I see that now. I did not see it then.

[–] Aatube@kbin.social 1 points 2 years ago

Are-ken-saw, A-kan-saw and a Kan-sahs

[–] wander1236@sh.itjust.works 4 points 2 years ago (1 children)

One has no R

[–] SuzyQ@sh.itjust.works 2 points 2 years ago

I see that now. I did not see it then.

[–] Nougat@kbin.social 3 points 2 years ago (1 children)

That's because Arkansas (ARE-can-saw) retained the native language pronounciation, while Kansas (CAN-zuhs) was Anglicanized.

[–] misophist@lemmy.world 2 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Today I learned the native language was French!

[–] Nougat@kbin.social 3 points 2 years ago

The word “Arkansas” came from the Quapaw Indians, by way of early French explorers. ... The state’s name has been spelled several ways throughout history. In Marquette and Joliet’s Journal of 1673, the Indian name is spelled AKANSEA. In LaSalle’s map a few years later, it’s spelled ACANSA. A map based on the journey of La Harpe in 1718-1722 refers to the river as the ARKANSAS and to the Indians as LES AKANSAS. In about 1811, Captain Zebulon Pike, a noted explorer, spelled it ARKANSAW.