Resolution changing possessive of Arkansas moves forward
Lawmaker filed proposal on behalf of historian friend
Last updated Friday, March 2, 2007 5:39 PM CST in News
By Andrew DeMillo
The Associated Press
LITTLE ROCK -- A lawmaker said an apostrophe may have hurt the Legislature's image.
Rep. Steve Harrelson said he hoped a resolution declaring "Arkansas's" as the correct spelling of his home state's possessive form would move through the Legislature as quietly and uneventfully as possible.
But before a House panel endorsed the nonbinding proposal, Harrelson apologized to his colleagues for the measure.
"I did not expect to receive all this attention, which in my opinion has reflected somewhat poorly on the Legislature as a body and a group must not have a whole lot to do," Harrelson, D-Texarkana, told the House Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs on Friday morning. "For that, I apologize."
Harrelson said he filed the proposal as a favor to a family friend, Parker Westbrook of Nashville, who describes himself as a "longtime practical Arkansas historian."
After Arkansas became a state, confusion remained on its spelling and its pronunciation, as many maps from the time spelled it without its final "s." A resolution by the Legislature in 1881 formalized its current spelling and pronunciation, making its final "s" silent.
Harrelson said although the "'s" is recommended by some grammar guides such as Strunk and White's "The Elements of Style," The Associated Press Stylebook does not agree. The Morning News generally follows The Associated Press Stylebook.
Harrelson said because it's a nonbinding resolution, there would be no cost associated with the proposal. State agencies would not have to worry about changing their stationery to comply, he said.
Despite his apologies, Harrelson can already find support from Gov. Mike Beebe, who plans to sign the measure if it comes to his desk.
"I don't think it will require him to put an apostrophe in his name, though," Beebe spokesman Matt DeCample said.
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