A Note on "nəˈvædə"

I'll bring this up now so it can be settled once and for all time.

Nevada is often a house divided: North vs. South; urban vs. rural; left vs. right; &c. &c. &c.  Nevadans, however, can always rally around the pronunciation of the State's name - say "NevAHda" and you invite intense wrath.

Defenders of the "incorrect" timbre make one argument: it's a Spanish name, use the Spanish pronunciation. But here's the thing:

Take a name where the pronunciation is ambiguous - I'll use "Cara."  Seeing it in writing, is it "CAH-ra," or "CARE-uh?"  The truth is that it's however the person chooses to say it.  The parents, when baby Cara is brought into the world decide upon their pronunciation.  As our figurative Cara grows up she (or maybe he) may decide to change the pronunciation; that would be her (or possibly his) right to do so.  How our Cara decides to say it is Cara's decision and it is right regardless of how you think it should be, or how another, different Cara pronounces the name.

So it is with Nevada.  Nev-A-da..."A" as in "cat."  Yes, it's an anglicized pronunciation of a Spanish word.  But it's a Spanish past participle that has been adapted into a proper noun - our (Nevadan's) proper noun.  And as with figurative Cara up there, it's ours to decide how to say it.  The town in Iowa calls itself "Ne-VAY-da."  To say nothing about "TAY-has" (read: Texas). Their right.  Our right.

Our proper name, in IPA, is nəˈvædə, and for a non-Nevadan to argue otherwise is pure arrogance.

There, I said it.  And now back to our regularly scheduled programming and pictures of cows and stuff.

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(Ward Charcoal Ovens State Historic Park, nəˈvædə)