[HPforGrownups] Re: Etymology of 'Accio' and more

[Janette]

No: HPFGUIDX 160858

>
> bboy:
> > Sirius - the pronunciation guide in my dictionary doesn't
> > make a distinction between 'Sirius' and 'Serious', but I
> > think there is a very subtle difference. Sirius is
> > 'SEAR-ee-us' or 'SEAR-ee-ihs', where as Serious is
> > 'sear-ee-OUS'. Just a slightly different accent and
> > inflection at the end.
>
> Carol:
> As an American, I have Sirius problem with this one <wink>--not with
> the accented syllable, which I'm sure is the first, or with the final
> vowel, which I'm sure is a schwa (unaccented neutral vowel sounding
> like "uh"), but with the initial vowel, which Brits say is different
> from the long "es" sound in "serious." Can anyone give me a word with
> a short "i" sound *followed by r* rather than some other consonant
> that represents the "i" in "serious"?


montims:
irritable?  irritate?  The short i sound for a Brit is the same in the first
and second syllables.  As opposed to eery, which is the long sound.  Your
cirrus example below (which, by the way, I spell *Cirrhus) *is good too.

"Serious" to me sounds like (hi)s eery (b)us (except that yes it is a schwa,
not a proper "u" sound).

I think maybe the problem is
> with "serious" itself being pronounced rather differently by Brits and
> Americans. My gut feeling (probably wrong) is that Americans pronounce
> both "serious" and "Sirius" the way that Brits pronounce "Sirius," and
> the Brits pronounce "serious" with a stronger, longer "ee" sound. I'm
> thinking that the first syllable of "cirrus" (as in cirrus cloud)
> illustrates the sound I hear in both "serious" and "Sirius." Is that
> what anybody else hears?


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