Knowing Nevada: Debunking the pronunciation of the name Nevada

As that tune that Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers sang in the timeless classic Shall We Dance (1937), "you like tomato and I like tomata," folks in the silver state can draw our lines in the sand when it comes to the proper pronunciation of our state's name.

Long-time residents have staked claim in the pronunciation of the state. Some may even take offense to a visitor, or even a politician, pronouncing the state incorrectly.

From President Trump to President Bill Clinton, those in the political realm have been known to pronounce it in a variety of ways. Which seems to not sit well with native Nevadans.

So which is it? Is it Ne-vah-dah? Or is it Nev-ada?

Linguistics Professor Valerie Fridland says for the past 150 years, we have adopted the name from our Spanish settlers.

"Nevada is a Spanish word, translating to snow capped or falling snow," says Fridland. "The state was originally part of the Mexico territory before we had any new world settlers."

According to the New World Dictionary, an encyclopedia that has evolved throughout decades, and the NBC Book of Pronunciation, originally published in the 1940's...

It's pronounced, phonetically, Nev-AD-A.

"We here in Nevada stake claim that we are right because we live here and it gives us license to determine whether something is the right name," says Fridland.

Once the state approached ratification, pioneers and settlers inherited the name. Yet, there is a reason the pronunciation varies from coast to coast.

"We had settlers from Britain, Ireland, and Germany when the United States colonized and that language spread out through westward expansion." says Fridland

She mentions this large difference between northern and southern dialects from British settlers of the thirteen colonies. Fridland says the northern accent focuses on more direct pronunciation of the vowel 'a' such as rat, bat, mat, and the southern accent emphasizes strong vowels that sound as though they are saying 'raht', 'baht', 'maht'.

In terms of westward expansion, Fridland and her students have conducted several studies which focus on the western dialect. News Four's Miles Buergin, a native Nevadan, took part in a verbal study at the University of Nevada, Reno where he was asked to pronounce certain phrases and those conducting the study concluded that he had a Nevada accent.

"Certain words such as long 'a' sounding nouns and verbs with light emphasis on consonants can be heard from native Nevadans," says Jazmine Boulton, a Senior at UNR.

It's no surprise that Nevadans take offense to their state's name being mispronounced because of the different dialects from the west to the east.

So if you choose to come to the great state of Nevada, just remember, it's Nev-ada, not Ne-vah-dah.