Maybe one of you have the definitive

[flying_ford_anglia]

Original Yahoo! HPFG Header:
No: HPFGUIDX C2114
From: flying_ford_anglia
Subject: Re: Maybe one of you have the definitive
Reply To: [Yahoo! #2111] Re: Maybe one of you have the definitive
Date: 6/17/00 3:49 am  (ET)

"Her-mi-ON-nee" or any four-syllable variation is
 definitely wrong.

I still think most people would pronounce it as four syllables, the
middle two flowing together with a slight inflection. Some, like Jim Dale,
would make the middle two syllables sound almost like one.

Can we agree on three and a half syllables? (or three and
three-quarters...<g>)

It's a bit like my name, Neil. It has one and half syllables and most
people pronounce it 'NEE-ul', but some would say 'NEEEL' because of their
accent (Irish people, for example) while others would say something a
bit like 'NIL' (Cockney Londoners, for example - Jim Dale is in that
vicinity, which may be why he says 'Her-MI-nee').

In some languages, the last syllable of Hermione would be pronounced short
('uh'), as Hermione Gingold apparently said it. Although she was English,
her father was Austrian, which might explain her Germanic pronunciation
of her name (useless fact #37 - her middle name was Ferdinanda).

NEE-ul