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Arkansans or Arkansawyers


Mith242

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Well I'm pretty sure I know at least one persons vote on this. If I remember correctly Arkansawyer is an older term generally used. Of course there's the whole how Arkansas got it's name in the first place and so on. The French named a lot of things so that would explain some of the odd spellings to any those reading this outside of Arkansas. Ouachita is pronounced like wa-shi-taw. Arkansas is named after what we now call the Quapaws. There have been a number of different spellings. Some old sources had it listed as Arkansea. For a while I believe the official name of the territory was the Arkansaw Territory, before we became a state. The state goverment eventually decided it would be spelled Arkansas and pronounced arkansaw.

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Ouachita is pronounced like wacrapaw. 

huh? We pronounce it "Wacrapa" here.

Here's history of Arkansas name:

The early French explorers of the state gave it its name, which is probably a phonetic spelling for the French word for "downriver" people, a reference to the Quapaw people and the river along which they settled. Other Native American nations living in present-day Arkansas were Caddo and Osage Nation.

The state is the only one with an official pronunciation. The traditional form "arkanSAW" was made official by the state legislature in 1881.

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huh?  We pronounce it "Wacrapa" here.

Here's history of Arkansas name:

The early French explorers of the state gave it its name, which is probably a phonetic spelling for the French word for "downriver" people, a reference to the Quapaw people and the river along which they settled. Other Native American nations living in present-day Arkansas were Caddo and Osage Nation.

The state is the only one with an official pronunciation. The traditional form "arkanSAW" was made official by the state legislature in 1881.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Am I missing something? Ouachita is pronounced "wa shi taw."

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Hahahahah

That's hilarious!

it's the filters....................

yes, it's wa shi taw

but "sh-it" becomes "crap"

makes sense now..

wacrapa!

:rofl:

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I'm glad you said this. I was really confused to the pronunciation of Ouachita got an "r" in it :rofl:

I had never heard the term "Arkanswayer," but I like the way that sounds better "Arkansan." Kansas already has "Kansan" -there is no need for two.

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huh?  We pronounce it "Wacrapa" here.

Here's history of Arkansas name:

The early French explorers of the state gave it its name, which is probably a phonetic spelling for the French word for "downriver" people, a reference to the Quapaw people and the river along which they settled. Other Native American nations living in present-day Arkansas were Caddo and Osage Nation.

The state is the only one with an official pronunciation. The traditional form "arkanSAW" was made official by the state legislature in 1881.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

My computer was acting screwy last night, but I kept wondering how that would happen when I know I had spelled it right. At least I know I'm not going crazy now. :D

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Well I'm pretty sure I know at least one persons vote on this.  If I remember correctly Arkansawyer is an older term generally used.  Of course there's the whole how Arkansas got it's name in the first place and so on.  The French named a lot of things so that would explain some of the odd spellings to any those reading this outside of Arkansas.  Ouachita is pronounced like wacrapaw.  Arkansas is named after what we now call the Quapaws.  There have been a number of different spellings.  Some old sources had it listed as Arkansea.  For a while I believe the official name of the territory was the Arkansaw Territory, before we became a state.  The state goverment eventually decided it would be spelled Arkansas and pronounced arkansaw.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

lol....it's the filters man...the filters.

it's still not fixed.

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I think Arkansawyer might have had something to do with Kansas, but I'm not sure on that. I know I hate it when they pronounce it ar-kan-sas river. But yeah Arkansawyer was a term that was used more frequently in the past.

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I think Arkansawyer might have had something to do with Kansas, but I'm not sure on that.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

No, it does not. The term was in use long before Kansas was even considered for statehood. In fact, before the spelling we have today was adopted, Arkansas was sometimes spelled "Arkansaw." It only takes common reasoning to see how a resident of a state would be pronounced similarly to the state name itself, and hence the term "Arkansawyer" comes from AR-kin-saw.

The reason I am bringing up this topic is to let y'all know that the term "Arkansawyer" still endures. I have seen two uses of the term recently in the Democrat-Gazette. The first sighting was in a recent editorial, called "Welcome Y'all," which discussed the visit of South Korean students to North Little Rock. I sighted the second usage of the term in an online article in the Northwest Arkansas Times about a proposed development in south Fayetteville. A developer in Memphis refers to himself as "an Arkansawyer" in the third paragraph.

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No, it does not. The term was in use long before Kansas was even considered for statehood. In fact, before the spelling we have today was adopted, Arkansas was sometimes spelled "Arkansaw." It only takes common reasoning to see how a resident of a state would be pronounced similarly to the state name itself, and hence the term "Arkansawyer" comes from AR-kin-saw.

The reason I am bringing up this topic is to let y'all know that the term "Arkansawyer" still endures. I have seen two uses of the term recently in the Democrat-Gazette. The first sighting was in a recent editorial, called "Welcome Y'all," which discussed the visit of South Korean students to North Little Rock. I sighted the second usage of the term in an online article in the Northwest Arkansas Times about a proposed development in south Fayetteville. A developer in Memphis refers to himself as "an Arkansawyer" in the [url="http://www.nwanews.com/story.php?paper=nwat

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