Filed under: Language-specific, Phonology, Sociolinguistics | Tags: nevada, politics, pronunciation
With the Nevada caucus approaching in two days, I noticed something interesting while listening to political chatter: Nevadans don’t like people who mispronounce the name of their state.
A caller made a comment on NPR’s “Talk of the Nation” concerning the pronunciation of “Nevada”, and how Nevadans joke that Americans from the east coast constantly mispronounce it.
I got to thinking: I wonder if Nevadans subconsciously think less of political candidates who pronounce their state “the east coast way.” This pronunciation could be approximated thus:
[nɛvaɾə]
Of course, if you say it that way, then (supposedly) Nevadans won’t like you. Instead, try it like this:
[nəvæɾə]
Luckily, being from California, I pronounce it “correctly.” Who’d have thought that an ɑ and a schwa would mean so much?
