Nevadans give a lot of grief to people who mispronounce the name of their state — but one assemblyman is trying promote some tolerance.

Ask natives of the state how it should be pronounced, and odds are good they’ll say Nev-a-da (the first “a” should sound like the “a” in “add”). Nevadans despise the “East Coast” pronunciation of the state, which sounds like “Ne-vah-da.”

Even though the mispronunciation is derisively blamed on those from the eastern U.S., it actually stems from the Spanish pronunciation of the word.

One Nevadan is trying to promote the alternative pronunciation: Democratic Assemblyman Harry Mortenson. He’s pushing for a resolution in the 2011 legislative session that will make the “Ne-vah-da” pronunciation equally acceptable to as the one with the short “a.”

Mortenson says he doesn’t want his state’s native to change how they say it — rather, he wants the Spanish pronunciation officially recognized by residents. As if state legislators don’t have enough problems to deal with, they’ll soon be in the midst of a linguistics battle.

Tags: Assemblyman, Bill, Legislation, Nevada