Ar(c)ticulation

[undyingking]

Yow! I just came about an inch away from a deeply unpleasant experience, namely: walking my face right into a spider's web full of struggling winged ants.

To take me away from the thought of that, how do you pronounce the name of the area around the North Pole, and (perhaps as importantly) how do you think it should correctly be pronounced?

[Poll #1228169]

This was prompted by this interesting article in languagelog , but please fill out the poll before reading it...

Comments

[wimble.livejournal.com]

Arctic is correct, but I think my pronounciation varies.

Oxford-shire or Oxford-shur? (substitute for whichever county you prefer :)

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

-shur for me. But being from Essex, all vowels default to schwas where possible.

[secondhand-rick.livejournal.com]

What, like Cornwall?

[mr-malk.livejournal.com]

-shur, unless I'm putting on a posh accent.
I think the pronunciation of the vowel sound in that sort of case is largely dependent on the inflection, and I can't think of a shire county that puts stress on the last syllable, with the possible exception of Kirkcudbrightshire in Scotland, but I don't think that legally exists anymore.