Arizona

The story

1. O'odhamalĭ
2. O'odhamṣonak
3. O'odhamalĭ ṣonakder.?
4. Basqueharitz
5. Basqueon
6. Basqueona
7. Basqueharitz onader.?
8. English todayArizona

Uncertain. Possibly from O'odham alĭ ṣonak (literally “small spring”) (traditionally through the Spanish intermediary form Arizonac; compare modern Arizona), a name initially applied to an area around a silver-mining camp in Sonora. Alternatively, perhaps from Basque haritz ona (literally “good oak”), as the area had many Basque herders, and a descendant of them established the ranchería of Arizona (circa 1735) in Sonora. Suggestions of derivation from *arizuma, supposedly a Nahuatl word meaning “silver-bearing”, are considered implausible, and derivation from árida zona (literally “dry zone”) is considered a folk etymology.