Tony Lew wrote:

> Arri London > wrote in message >...
>
>>notbob wrote:
>>
>>>On 2004-08-24, Bob (this one) > wrote:
>>>
>>>>Peter Aitken wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>"CM Bellers" > wrote in message
gy.com...
>>>
>>>I'll just scooch in here for a sec:
>>>
>>>The only thing I'd like to know about aluminum is, how the heck do you Brits
>>>get [OWL-you-min-ee-um] out of a-l-u-m-i-n-u-m? That's a whole freakin'
>>>extra syllable, for chrissakes! You just grab that 'ee' thingie right out
>>>of thin air and stick it right in there without a by your leave. I mean, I
>>>can see spanner and bonnet and all those other creaky old terms, but this is
>>>just bizarre. Is it retribution for our taking the 'bore' out of
>>>[LAB-rih-tory]? If so, then I understand ...and now we're even.
>>>
>>>Carry on.
>>
>>ROTFL!
>>If one looks at the periodic chart of the elements:
>>http://www.webelements.com/, one instantly notices that the majority of
>>elements have names ending in '-ium'.
>>However, the American language has chosen to drop that in the case of
>>'aluminium' in favour of 'aluminum'. In British English the
>>pronunciation of aluminium follows the correct spelling of aluminium.
>
>
> Good.
> Now can you explain why "Hermione" is pronounced her-MAI-nee ?

It isn't by anyone who actually speaks English. It's her-my-oh-nee.

Pastorio