Etymology of 'Accio' and SEE-re-OUS

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 160883

---  "Geoff Bannister" <gbannister10 at ...> wrote:
>
> ---  "Steve" <bboyminn@> wrote:
> 
> bboyminn: 
> > Upon looking in my dictionary, I find that nearly all 
> > words starting with 'ACC...' are neither 'Ah-See...' 
> > nor 'ACK-ee..'. ..., it is a combination of the two, 
> > as in 'ACK-see-oh'. ...
> 
> Geoff:
> But, as you say, "nearly all" which covers a multitude
> of sins. What about the "Ack" words such as:
> acclaim, acclimatise, accolade, accommodate, ...
> 
> Not to mention accio. :-)
> 

bboyminn:

Cut me some slack, it was 3:30 AM and my brain was 
running out of gas. Plus, I was fixated on the previous 
suggestion of 'accelerate'. Still, I get your point. But
none the less, the more I think about it, the more
'ack-see-oh' feels right to me, and that's what counts...
isn't it? ;)

Also, as you will notice, many of your words do not follow
'acc...' with a vowel, and those that do use 'o' or 'u'.
Try looking up words that use 'i' or 'e' after the 
'acc...'; Accident, accessions, access, accepts, accessory.
Though there are some exceptions such as 'acciaccatura' 
which uses the 'ch' sound. 

Again this bring up my point of whether spell language can
evolve with modern language. Several have already weighed 
in with the formal Latin application, but to what extent
does ancient Latin force itself on modern language? I
still feel that based on modern language, 'ack-see-oh' is
most correct, but again, does modern language dictate the
correct usage?

> > bboyminn:
> > 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.
> 
> Geoff:
> Most UK english speakers would say "SI-ri-us" for the
> name and "SEER-i-ous" for the adjective and they are 
> easy to distinguish. There is no difference in the 
> stress at the end, it is the length of the initial 
> vowel which is the main factor.
>

bboyminn:

This is actually the part I want to respond to. I suspect 
your analysis is very close, and though it may not be
apparent, it actually reflects what I was trying to say. 

First, I confused the issue by not making a distinction 
between what I was emphasizing in my writing and what I 
thought should be emphasized in 'vocal' speech. Second, I 
made the assumption that my reference to 'length of the 
initial vowel' would be tied back to 'stress at the end'. 
It seems I managed to create some confusion there too. I 
suppose a more accurate way of putting that sentence would
have been -

'There is no difference in the stress at the end, it is
the initial vowel /of the last syllable/ which is the main
factor.'

By that I meant the key to the slight variation in the two
comes at the end. The presents of the 'o', though nearly 
silent extents the last syllable slightly with a hint of 
the 'o' sound. It would be closer to 'sear-ee-us' (or 
'sear-ee-ihs' or 'sear-ee-iss') and 'sear-ee-ous'. I do 
take note of the differences you point out at the 
beginning.  Again, it is  subtle, but none the less there;
Sirius, which not hard, is shorter in the beginning, 
whereas, Serious does have a slightly more drawn 'e' sound.
Again, my dictionary shows identical pronunciation for 
both words, so the difference is more inflection and 
slight emphasis than a clear distinction.

This also bring up a final point, in everyday common 
speech we frequently don't make these small distinction.
'Tier' and 'Tear' (drop of salt water coming from the eye)
are all functionally said the same, but I suspect 
technically there is an ever so slight inflection 
difference. In common speech, we typically butcher many 
words. 

Just for fun, if you have access to someone from the 
southern USA, have them say 'sax' and 'sex', as well as 
'all' and 'oil'. To a northerner, those words sound the
same when spoken by a southerner, but to a southerner 
they are very distinctly different.


I'm amazed that people find this aspect of language so 
interesting, and thank the many 'experts' for their input.

Steve/bboyminn