We won’t be getting into the neh-VAD-uh / neh-VAH-duh distinction with this one, as we have already looked into how Nevadans prefer their state name to be pronounced in a previous article. But the question is, why do Nevadans insist so much in going against the grain, with how the rest of America pronounces the name of their state?
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To be perfectly clear, it’s not a capital offense to pronounce ‘Nevada’ one way or the other, but it does say something about the person pronouncing it. More than the geographical element, Nevadans want to differentiate themselves from the rest of the country as a source of local identity.
Historically, Nevada made its way into its statehood much later in 1864, the 36th state to be admitted into the Union. And there wasn’t exactly any particular local symbol that represented Nevada and made it stand out from the other states.
It was a hodgepodge of demographic groups when it first started out. There’s no state dish, no distinguishing ‘Nevadan accent’, and even sports teams have only been recently created, with the Vegas Golden Knights NHL hockey team in 2017, and the recent relocation of the football team, the Las Vegas Raiders in 2020. (Originally, the Raiders were based in California.)
So, in a way, presenting their state to the rest of America might have been difficult for Nevadans, and one way to make inroads was to start with how locals wanted their state name to be pronounced. Although not necessarily a faux pas as to merit scorn or ridicule, the distinctive pronunciation that locals set have become a symbol for community, one of the things that ties Nevadans together.
Of course, with more and more people moving to Nevada in recent years, will that pronunciation hold up? Well, we can say that the longer people live among a certain community or group, the more they are able to assimilate themselves with the rest of the group. And so, there may not need to be any worry regarding that.
(Video credit: KCLV Channel 2/Youtube)
Source: neatorama