To correct what was stated in the above article, in Kansas we pronounce the state of Arkansas just like the rest of the nation (ark-an-SAW). However, any other uses of the word (in a street name, for example) are indeed pronounced ahr-KAN-suz here in Kansas.
Now, as to whether the words Arkansas and Kansas are related, I have always been told that “Kansas” is named after the Kansa Native Americans and that that is why Arkansas is pronounced that way (and that it’s Kansas that is mis-pronounced). But this contradicts what the above article says, and I most definitely could be mistaken.
I’m from Arkansas, and every time I hear someone say ar-KAN-suz, I am just a little disappointed that knocking the teeth down the back of someone’s throat is considered Assault.
The Arkansas River rises in Colorado and flows east to join the Mississippi in Arkansas. Colorado natives - at least the ones I ran across - seem to call it the “Ar-KAN-zis”.
An excellent, and definitive article over on the American Dialect Society Mailing List, by Frank Abate, who is the Editor in Chief of the U. S. Dictionaries Program of Oxford University Press, located in Connecticut.
Just for the record, it’s technically battery, not assault. Putting someone in immediate apprehension of having his/her teeth knocked down the back of his/her throat is assault.
That was the traditional definition, and I never saw anything wrong with it, but stage legislatures keep mucking about with things they don’t understand…
Let’s note that the pronunciation of a word relative to one usage does not necessarily mandate its pronunciation relative to another usage. Whether “Norfolk” is NOR-folk, NOR-fawk, or NOR-fork depends on the particular city being referred to; Berlin, Germany, is ber-LINN, but several U.S. communities are named New Berlin, pronounced New BERR-lin. So the Ar-KAN-zuss River can flow from KAN-zuss into ARK-un-saw, if that’s how the folks along its banks choose to reference it.
I agree that any particular entity (a city, per your example) can be pronounced as its citizens/denizens choose. In Arkansas, for example, the town of Monticello is pronounced with a soft “s” sound, not the “ch” sound of Jefferson’s home. That should not apply, however, to the Arkansas River. It is one entity and its name should be pronounced consistently throughout its length.
Presumably, it was named the Arkansas River becuase it empties into the Mississippi River in the State of Arkansas. As such, it should be pronounced the same as its namesake state for its entire length.
Upstream hilljacks just need to get with the program.
I disagree with the OP’s contention that Arkansas is pronounced “Ar-KAN-zus” when used as a street name, though it may depend on the city. In Lawrence, many streets are named after states, and I have never heard anyone pronounce Arkansas St as anything other than “ARK-an-saw”.
No, unless it’s used in a battery (or in defending Battery Park!). It functions to threaten bodily harm, which is assault. Only if it were out of ammo and you clubbed someone with it would it be a battery rifle.
On the other hand, a laser rifle with built-in rechargeable power supply – what would that be?
The first one (according to my Kansas-born granny, who was from Galena, which Salina doesn’t rhyme with).
I’ve been told that the river is pronounced ar-KAN-suhs in Colorado and Kansas, but AR-kin-saw in Oklahoma and Arkansas.
