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
> > > >> m...
> > >
> > > 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. It's pronounced her-my-oh-nee. The phonetics you gave are also
Americanised; at least among the people I know.


>
> >
> > Carry on