Date: Fri, 10 Mar 1995 10:53:35 -0500

From: Anne McCoy aam10[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]COLUMBIA.EDU

Subject: Re: Arkansas Tangent



On Thu, 9 Mar 1995, Peter McGraw wrote:



In response to Leonard Schiefer's tangent: My grandmother, who lived most

of her life in Oklahoma, pronounced the Arkansas River as "Ar-KANSAS,"

and when I asked why, explained that it was because it flowed between

Arkansas and Kansas. Many years later a fellow grad student, who hailed

from Ft. Smith, Arkansas, insisted that the river was pronounced just like

the state, and said he also didn't recall hearing any other pronunciation

on radio stations based in nearby Oklahoma. Does anyone have any light to

shed on this?



Peter McGraw

Linfield College

McMinnville, OR







I grew up in Tulsa, OK, and we always pronounced it like the state name,

not Ar-KANSAS,

Anne McCoy

Columbia U. Press