why is arkansas spelled this way and pronounced arkansaw?

Question

it's spelled ar-kansas but its pronounced arkansaw?

Answer 1

The state name Arkansas ultimately derives from the name of an Siouan people who lived in the valley of the Arkansas River. The area was first settled by the French, who usually used the spelling Arkansa to refer to the tribe and to the village in which they lived. They used the plural, Arkansas, to refer to members of the tribe.

The French used the name in the plural to refer to the Arkansas River--la rivière des Arkansas, "the river of the Arkansas"--and the name Arkansas was then applied to the territory, and, eventually, to the state.

After the region was de-Frenched in the early nineteenth century, the pronunciation remained the French one--or, rather, an Anglicized version of the French one--which would be something like "Arkansaw." In fact, the Arkansaw spelling is the one used on the Act that created the territory. But in the end, the original Arkansas spelling is the one that prevailed, but it did so with an Anglicized version of the French pronunciation.

Answer 2

It dates back the the Lewis and Clark expedition and the name of the river that fed into the Mississippi river. The river was pronounced ark-an-saw, thus the land became to be known by that name. Eventually becoming the Arkansas territory, then the state. Basically its the translation of a native American word into English. To truly answer your question you would likely need someone familiar with the french language and its history to give a more complete linguistic answer.

Answer 3

idk, but some things in English just don't make sense. (actually, most things in the English language don't make sense)