Editing Arkansas (section)

==Etymology==
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The name ''Arkansas'' initially applied to the [[Arkansas River]]. It derives from a [[French language|French]] term, ''Arcansas'', their plural term for their transliteration of ''akansa'', an [[Algonquian languages|Algonquian]] term for the [[Quapaw]] people,<ref name="bright">{{cite book|last1=Bright|first1=William|title=Native American Placenames of the United States|date=2007|publisher=University of Oklahoma Press|location=Norman|isbn=978-0-806135984|page=47|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5XfxzCm1qa4C&q=Akancea%2C%20Acansea%2C%20Acansa%20(Dickinson%2C%201995)&pg=PA47}}</ref> which is believed to translate to "south wind people."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Arkansas Secretary of State |url=https://www.sos.arkansas.gov/education/arkansas-history/how-did-arkansas-get-its-name |access-date=2024-07-09 |website=www.sos.arkansas.gov}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Origin of Names of US States {{!}} Indian Affairs |url=https://www.bia.gov/as-ia/opa/online-press-release/origin-names-us-states |access-date=2024-07-09 |website=www.bia.gov |language=en}}</ref> These were a [[Dhegiha Siouan]]-speaking people who settled in Arkansas around the 13th century. ''Kansa'' is likely also the root term for [[Kansas]], which was named after the related [[Kaw people]].<ref name=bright/>

The name has been pronounced and spelled in a variety of ways.<ref name="Arkansas" group = "lower-alpha"/> In 1881, the state legislature defined the official pronunciation of Arkansas as having the final "s" be silent (as it would be in French). A dispute had arisen between the state's two senators over the pronunciation issue. One favored {{IPAc-en|ˈ|ɑr|k|ən|s|ɔː}} ({{respell|AR|kən|saw}}), the other {{IPAc-en|ɑr|ˈ|k|æ|n|z|ə|s}} ({{respell|ar|KAN|zəs}}).{{Refn | name="Arkansas" | group = "lower-alpha" |

The region was organized as the [[Territory of Arkansaw]] on July 4, 1819, but the territory was admitted to the United States as the state of Arkansas on June 15, 1836. The name was historically pronounced {{IPAc-en|ˈ|ɑr|k|ən|s|ɔː}}, {{IPAc-en|ɑr|ˈ|k|æ|n|z|ə|s}}, and several other variants. The residents of Arkansas have called themselves either "Arkansans" or "Arkansawyers". In 1881, the [[Arkansas General Assembly]] passed the following concurrent resolution, now Arkansas Code{{spaces}}1 April{{spaces}}105:<ref>{{Cite journal|url=http://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/assembly/ArkansasCode/0/1-4-105.htm |format=official text |title=Code |place=AR, [[United States|US]] |publisher=Assembly |issue=1–4–105 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110924223556/http://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/assembly/ArkansasCode/0/1-4-105.htm |archive-date=September 24, 2011 |website=Arkansas State Legislature }}</ref>
{{Blockquote |Whereas, confusion of practice has arisen in the pronunciation of the name of our state and it is deemed important that the true pronunciation should be determined for use in oral official proceedings.

And, whereas, the matter has been thoroughly investigated by the State Historical Society and the Eclectic Society of Little Rock, which have agreed upon the correct pronunciation as derived from history, and the early usage of the American immigrants.

Be it therefore resolved by both houses of the General Assembly, that the only true pronunciation of the name of the state, in the opinion of this body, is that received by the French from the native Indians and committed to writing in the French word representing the sound. It should be pronounced in three (3) syllables, with the final "s" silent, the "a" in each syllable with the Italian sound, and the accent on the first and last syllables. The pronunciation with the accent on the second syllable with the sound of "a" in "man" and the sounding of the terminal "s" is discouraged by Arkansans.}} Despite this, the state's name is still frequently mispronounced, especially by non-Americans; in fact, it is spelled in [[Cyrillic alphabet|Cyrillic]] with the {{respell|ar|KAN|zəs}} pronunciation.

Citizens of the [[state of Kansas]] often pronounce the [[Arkansas River]] as {{IPAc-en|ɑr|ˈ|k|æ|n|z|ə|s}}, in a manner similar to the common pronunciation of the name of their state.}}

In 2007, the state legislature passed a non-binding resolution declaring that the possessive form of the state's name is ''Arkansas's'', which the state government has increasingly followed.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/004291.html|title= Arkansas apostrophism|website=Language Log |date=March 10, 2007 |first=Mark |last=Liberman |access-date=April 17, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite act|type=House Concurrent Resolution |date=March 14, 2007|legislature=[[Arkansas House of Representatives]]|title=Declaring "Arkansas's" as the correct spelling of the possessive form of the name of our state |url=https://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/Home/FTPDocument?path=%2FBills%2F2007%2FPublic%2FHCR1016.pdf}}</ref>