[HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: Thicknesse: Question on Pronunciation

[Random832]

marion11111 wrote:
> In Minnesota, "seer" is a two syllable word while sear is one.  Pit and Peat, bit and beat 
> have VERY different vowel sounds, but serious and Sirius are identical unless someone is 
> trying to sound affected (no offense, but it would sound affected here) and pronounce the 
> first syllable of Sirius as "Sir" as in To Sir with Love.

That's not only affected, it's incorrect. The symbol shown in the 
dictionary is a short 'i' (the same vowel as "sit"), not a "schwa" 
(upside-down 'e' symbol).

The main problem with "Sirius" is _not_ whether it's identical to 
"Serious" in any dialect, but the fact that it's an uncommon word, which 
means it's not in the usual vocabulary so people will make their own 
pronunciation for it (whether by analogy to "serious", or an affected 
one incorrectly deriving from "sir") that aren't necessarily related to 
anything in their dialect.