Why Are Kansas & Arkansas Pronounced Differently? 

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America did not explain . Name Explain explained

Growing up speaking Spanish, it was only logical to me that the placed named Arkansas sounded exactly the same and the place named Kansas , just an Ar at the beginning. I wish things were as simple as they once were when I was a kid lol

Kansas resident here. Interesting video, but a few things to add: - The Kansas River runs west to east, and the Kansas-Missouri border is defined by where the Kansas River dumps into the Missouri River (where Missouri looks like it took a bite out of Kansas) appropriately in Kansas City. - Speaking of which, I'd love to see an explanation of how Missouri wound up with two pronunciations - Missou-ree and Missou-ruh. I'm Team Missou-ree. - Arkansas is not the only state with a silent S in its name. I present to you Illinois.

In spanish usually you mention the american locals that way: los inkaS, los astecas, los mapuches

If you want to know how the states got their shapes (not names), then read the book "How the States Got Their Shapes", by Mark Stein. I enjoyed it.

The Kansas River does not divide Missouri and Kansas. I live in Kansas City, KS. The KS River merges with the Missouri River. At Kaw Point Park. Which sits at the confluence of the rivers.

Great video Patrick, and I appreciate the information and perspective. That said, there's only one "I" in Algonquin.

The only addition I would make is that the Arkansas River (and a city name after the river) is pronounced R-kan-zus, when within the state of Kansas, rather than Our-kan-saw after the state of Arkansas. Basically, we want to be more the important pronunciation while within our borders.....lol. Native Kansan here.

I am not confusion anymore.

3:26 This is just so entirely, entirely wrong I don't even know where to start. The Kansas River isn't a "natural border" for Missouri and Kansas; it in fact flows almost entirely West-to-East... Not North to South. However, the *Mouth* of the Kansas River is where the Missouri border's straight line south is demarcated. Side fun fact: Kansas City predates the state of Kansas and was originally just called "Kansas," until inevitably forced to make the distinction.

I’d take the explanation of why Kansas got its pronunciation I’m about to type with a grain of salt as it came from a some “guide” at museum I went to there as a kid. Why a grain of salt? Because he explained in it more detail, but I don’t remember many of those details. I had asked the question to him and basically as a kid stopped paying attention once he had said enough that I felt satisfied what I had asked. I grew up with family all over the US, including these two states. Anyways, the gist of what the museum person in Kansas said basically comes down to the area that’s Arkansas was already known to Americans by its French name. As he pointed out we didn’t rename Baton Rouge to Red Stick, we left its French name intact. So the folks were already pronouncing the area along that part of the Mississippi River the French way. The area that was Kansas however was just a plains area and there wasn’t much interest or activity regular Americans in the area until a bit later. The state takes its name from the Kansas River named after the people just like you said, but the river is pronounced using the English pronunciation because by the time settlers, etc, were entering the territory the French and Spanish had long been gone from the area. I remember him talking a lot about trading posts and rests stops being the main thing by Europeans in the area for a long time so a lot of things weren’t named with lasting official names or had multiple different names until later when the area was officially settled by Americans. Again, though, I wasn’t paying too much attention to these added details he provided because I was satisfied with the answer being that folks in the past called one place by what they already knew it as and the other they called because by then different people speaking a different language were settling it so the pronunciation just naturally shifted to their language’s pronunciation. I’m from Oklahoma and we have lots of towns with names from native tribal languages (it was the Indian Territory where tribes from all over the US were forced to relocate to after all so it makes sense there’d be a lot) as well as towns named after other places in the world but pronounced differently for any number of different reasons (language of the settlers, change in language over time, intentionally changed pronunciation, the more well known place’s pronunciation is how it would be in another language versus the native’s language, etc) so that was a satisfactory answer to me as a kid as it seemed to be a common theme I noticed with place names in the US as a kid (and even today whenever learning again). I think you did a great job explaining the roots of the name change, including why Arkansas isn’t called Quapaw. And even if you are “late” to the trend of making videos on this topic, it’s still good you made it because not everyone follows the other channels that have covered this before you (in the clip of other channels you showed I only know for certain of one channel shown that I’m subscribed to besides yours for example) so you covering is good for those whom you’re their primary source for these types of questions to get answered. Hope you reach your goal and get to make the video on the origin of all the state’s names (I’d say you could include the territories, federal district, and sovereign nations in compact free association with the US, but I’m not sure how interesting people might find those as some seem very obvious once they’re explained….kinda like some state’s names, especially the ones with “new” in their names).

As an Arkansan myself, I was eager to watch this when I saw it. Thank you for the interesting little journey through history! God be with you out there everybody. ✝️ :)

The reason Kansas didn't get the frenchification treatment was due to the fact that most French settlers were in the States of Louisiana, Arkansas, and Missouri. All other states were barely inhabited by any French settlers. For the most part the western portion was settled by Spanish settlers coming from New Spain (Mexico).

Another side note: One of the tributaries of the Mississippi river is the Arkansas River. In the state that shares the same name, it is pronounced like that state. But it also flows through Kansas, where it's pronounce "are-can-zus." I'm not sure how the people in the in-between state pronounce the name of this river, but I'd bet money it's not pronounced "Oak-la-home-a."

In Russian, Arkansas is actually pronounced the same way as Kansas, just with an "Ar" at the beginning. The stress of both falls on the last syllable, end they're pronounced in a Russian manner: cun-ZUS and are-cun-ZUS. I was _very_ surprised when I started learning English 😅

I am confusion

A little tip when pronouncing most written indigenous American names/words (or transcribed when they have their own writing systems) is that G is more likely than not prounounced hard like in all native/non-romance based words in English. Some examples of the hard G in English get = native word Ghetto = italian loan, George - based on French pronunciation which is now the even more soft zh sound (still hard in italian, and gutteral or very aspirated in spanish depending on variety), Ghost (no real clue why this spelling, maybe because pf the connection to Dutch geest which is gutteral or aspirated like in spanish, but the Middle English spelling was "gost" from the Old English "gast") girl = native word... Basically we can think Native = G and it also works for native american words LOL

something fun I found is Kansas City, Nicaragua; as a person that live in Kansas I find it weird and fascinating because I wonder...Why? another thing that is interesting is besides the Kansas City, Kansas there is also an Arkansas City, Kansas.

I have to think there's some French reason they added an "R", but what is it?

finally an answer to the question I had for years

Kansan here- we have an Arkansas River that runs through our state, and many of the people here like to pronounce that Arkansas as "ar-KANSAS" when the river is in our state, even if they pronounce the state itself correctly. It's "our river in our Kansas" lol

Just wanted to say "I see you fellow wrestling fan". Going in raw brother!

I am confusion! AMERICA EXPLAIN!

Well dear you are close. The kansas river runs east to west from junction city area to Kansas city. There is an Arkansas River that runs through Wichita.. then there is a town around Wichita named Arkansas city(ark city).

Hi, I grew up in Kansas and used to go to Kansas City every summer to visit Worlds of Fun; here's something I would like to add. Here's another interesting fact: There are two places in the U.S Midwest named Kansas City, and they both sit and prosper along the Missouri River. Kansas City, Kansas (incorporated into Kansas in 1872), and Kansas City, Missouri (incorporated into Missouri in 1853, originally named City of Kansas; the name was changed to Kansas City in 1889), remain two separately incorporated cities with separate Government systems, however, the two cities work as one large bi-state metropolitan area. Also, you got the placement of the Kansas river wrong xD; it's not a North to South line more like a East to West line. The Kansas river flows into the Missouri river joining at Kaw Point. The Missouri river is what's used as the border between Kansas and Missouri (not the Kansas river), it's the reason Kansas has such a nice rectangle shape with what looks like a bite was taken out in the top right corner, that's the Missouri river.

In the region where I live in Brazil, there's a somewhat lamr small town called Caçapava. When people want to sarcastically joke that it is cooler than it is, they refer to it as "Kansaspava City".

3:29 that is not where the river flows lol The Kansas River flows east and just the mouth of the Kansas river is in Kansas City. Which actually used to be called the Town of Kansas

You should do a collab with Mr.Beat who did a video on this very topic.

I just assumed the relation between kansas and Arkansas is the same as sin and arcsin

The correct was to write Arkansas phonetically is Ar-kan-saw, not Our-kan-saw. This is because not all dialects of English pronounce "our" as a homophone for "are". Most (that I've heard anyway) pronounce that word ow-ur.

Missed opportunity to reference the “I am confusion” meme

There are 2 other US states where the last letter in the name is silent: Illinois & Maine. From what I've read both names also have French origins. Illinois for sure and Maine is likely to have been named for the Maine province in France

The interesting thing is that there is Arkansas City, Kansas near the KS-OK border. It’s pronounced Ar-kansas City. We Kansans call it Ark City for short. As for the Arkansas River, only we Kansans pronounce it as the Ar-kansas River. I think the other states (Colorado , Oklahoma, and Arkansas) call it the same as the state of Arkansas. I went to Arkansas last year. I had to stop and think about how to refer to the river itself. I was commenting on how messed up the river bridge was in Fort Smith when at a gas station off I-540.

Fun fact : In French today we usually pronunce the at the end of Arkansas, like we would when pronuncing other english place name.

I always wondered about this.

The state names are different, but the demonyms of both have "kansan" in them. Great video, Patrick! Glad to see Arkansas get noticed a little. Don't worry about the pronunciation of it: "Our-kan-saw" "Ar-kan-saw" who cares?

When Kansas comes up and you start saying "Kansaw" and everyone thinks wtf, are you stupid? That's when you have ADHD

Did you find anything about the supposed referendum concerning the pronunciation of Arkansas? I’ve been told that, when the Arkansas territory received statehood, they held a vote to decide how Arkansas would be officially pronounced from then on. Do you have any insight into whether or not this happened? I think passing a resolution about it is hilarious though. I wonder what took them 45 years!

Haven't watched yet, but I'm gonna say it's because of the A and R in front of the Kansas

So boiled down it’s «one’s named by Spanish, the other by French»

Fun Fact: Most Americans can easily name 49 of the 50 States. The number one state missed is.... um.... Nebraska

Kansas was biznis centrum like Kaunas in Lithuania. Chinese (看 kán means look). International (sas means this). Ar can be like Or

Someone out-there is not confusion anymore.

Why no intro haiku peom? That was so much better and more unique than just telling people to like and subscribe.

I like how you lay blame squarely on Oklahoma for getting in between Kansas and Arkansas, when Missouri is just as guilty. I also think it's kinda poetic that years after someone angrily taps a computer screen while screaming "AMERICA EXPLAIN", we get a video from Name Explain about it.

6:05 of course it was the French with their weird words and whatnot

Did you read this from a travel center when you visited the states? Thank you for the 3rd grade lesson on the branding of the states.......... now let me tell you about Henry the 5th since i just watched it on Netflix...... A reply is not necessary. Thanks good luck passing the 5th grade

Maybe we should start calling Arkansas Quapaw.

Adding a like and a comment.

How can Ohio and Idaho be anagrams of each other? Ohio has neither an A nor a D in it

thanks

The way you described the pronunciation of "Arkansas" isn't entirely accurate because I actually pronounce "our" as [æuɹ], but I pronounce "Arkansas" as [ˈaɹkʌnsa], not [ˈæuɹkʌnsa]. I couldn't stress this enough to anyone: Just use the freaking IPA. Twill make phonetic explanation much easier.

I grew up in a city on the Kansas River. It's not where you say it is. Did you make mistakes about other things?

The explanation: Well that’s because the French used to pronounce it with a silent S The French pronunciation nowadays: ARR-KAN-SASSSSS

Ppl who live in Kansas call the Arkansas river the ar-kan-zus river and ppl who live in Arkansas call it the ar-kan-saw river, even though they appropriately pronounce the states properly

This doesnt make sense because how did the Alogonquian get the letter A? The letter A is not natively apart of any Native language of the Americas it had to come from some kind of European language as no native languages were written in a latin based script so having a letter A would be impossible. Otherwise it would be in many languages such as Innuit and Greenlandic langauges as well as languages in South America.

Kansa means 'the people' in Finnish. Coinsidence? Yea. Probably.

Capitalist: Kansas Communist: OUR Kansas . . . but make it Francais!

I pronounse the states like this: "Kensas" and "Arkensas".

This dude explains how to technically “APPROPRIATELY” pronounce these two states & then continues to of course pronounce Arkansas as ARE- Kan- SOORE. Kansa & CANCER are not only also pronounced different they’re extremely different things. Always adding Rrr’s to the end of all words that end in a vowel..yup makes sense. 🤯

Arkansas would be ARE-kan-saw, not OUR-kan-saw. Our is pronounced differently in different American accents, with some even making it into a two-syllable version, like how some turn 'hour' into a two-syllable word.

Oxford Settled the Issue back in the 1970s. Much as My Best Bud doesn't agree. The Proper Pronunciation is R Kansas! R Kan Saw Doesnt Work. People from the Former say it's a French Dialect.

Kansa = folk in the Finnish language. Funny coincidence. Love for algorithms. ❤

Arkansas, Louisiana, & Texas!!!

Whatever, I'll keep pronounce it as "Kan-sas" and "Ar-kan-sas" lmao

When Arkansas was a territory, it was spelled Arkansaw.

English spelling is such a mess.

Lauren Bacall

[kænzas] vs [ɑɹkænzas] nothing different watafak are you talking about?

Kansas City is in both Missouri and Kansas... the city is on the border.

kansas city is in missouri , kansas is a state and arkansas is a state

Hello

As always the french are to blame!

Kansus

FTA

Idaho and Ohio are not anagrams.

Your phonics are wrong. It is not our-kansaw. it is arr-kansaw.

I've lived in Kansas City, Missouri most my life, and just to clarify, though there is a Kansas City in Kansas, they are not the same city. Tho the two Kansas Cities are adjacent to each other, they're divided by the state line between Kansas and Missouri, with two different city governments overseen by different county and state governments. If you've heard of the Kansas City Chiefs, the American 'football' team, they are based in Kansas City, Missouri, not Kansas.

No one pronoucnes Arkansas as (ower-can-saw). We do not pronounce "our" as "ar" unless you're very inbred or a pirate. WTF.

OK, There is truth to the Native American Tribal names being kept by the arrogant invaders. Why would they change the names of the land they were stealing this far inland? And Kansas City, Kansas is not an ill named Kansas City, Missouri " bleeding" over the border. Ask a native American. Or someone who was educated in the U.S.. Also, Arkansas is pronounced Ar- kan- saw, not Our- kan-saw. The more you know...

I knew this but it’s still stupid. Change the spelling or change the pronunciation. 👍