cat scratcher question

[txcatmom]

I'm pretty sure it's SY-sull. Or SY-zull.

I was watching old Frasier re-runs and Niles pronounced it like one of these...maybe the second one?  Anyways it caught my attention because I've been pronouncing it wrong (and probably always will.)  I'm sure Niles is right...those Crane boys are so particular. 

 

[jcat]

I'm pretty sure it's SY-sull.

Webster's gives this pronunciation of sisal. If you click on the little loudspeaker, you'll get both the British and American pronunciations.

 

[mrblanche]

According the rules of English phonetics, it should be s long i (because it's an accented syllable, followed by a single consonant), z sound, schwa (the unaccented vowel sound found in almost every English word, l.

The problem with English, of course, is that it's a nymphomaniacal language, happily taking in and merging with every language it touches, so it's hard to know where a word originally came from, or how it should be pronounced.
 

 

[emilymaywilcha]

My point was that I've always heard the word pronounced with an ess sound, not a z in the middle. If I were working in a home supply store and someone asked me where to find some sizzle, I'd be more likely to direct them to the barbecue grills than to the rope.

Maybe it is a regional dialect. They are supposed to use the z sound in the middle.

 

[jennyr]

The 'I' is pronounced as a capital 'I'. After a long 'I' it is difficult to say a soft 's' so it tends to come out as 'z'. But no to 'sizzle'