Native Arkansan here (AR-Can-San, although "Arkansawer" was debated at one point). You'll get no pushback from me as to many of my state's less laudable qualities and dubious personalities. In exchange, I suppose I could list the Rhodes or Fulbright Scholars, MacArthur Grant winners, Medal of Honor recipients, artistic, and literary luminaries, inventors, and scientists born here, but why bother? You believe whatever makes your locally-sourced, Non-GMO, organically certified spring roll bounce (all things I endorse, BTW). If you want to blame someone for the curious pronunciation of my state's name, it's not some ridge-running hillbilly you should accuse, Zola. Rather, I humbly assert you should point your compass toward the French. The Arkansas Secretary of State's office provides a brief primer as to how things got the way they are ( https://www.sos.arkansas.gov/education/arkansas-history/how-did-arkansas-get-its-name ). So, yes, existentialism, democracy, Monet, Croissants... but their transliteration of the Algonquin name of the indigenous people of the river valley still missed the mark. I return now to my moonshine still.