Wide Open?
The state of Nevada has adopted a slogan for its tourism campaign: Nevăda: Wide Open, referring both to the 'correct' pronunciation of the name of the state (marked in all the ads with the phonetic system I was taught in elementary school) and the ... wide-open possibilities of the desert, I suppose. Does this strike anyone as odd, though? I always think of that sound (IPA æ) as more 'constricted' than 'open'.
I also heard a rumor that they are goign to make (or have already made) license plates that say "Nevăda" in an attempt to teach out-of-state-people the error of pronouncing it "Ne-VAH-duh". Nevadans are fiercly defensive of the proper pronunciaton of their state's name.
edit: here's a link
I also heard a rumor that they are goign to make (or have already made) license plates that say "Nevăda" in an attempt to teach out-of-state-people the error of pronouncing it "Ne-VAH-duh". Nevadans are fiercly defensive of the proper pronunciaton of their state's name.
edit: here's a link