Correct pronunciation of “-ology”, “-onomy”, “-ography”, etc

Question

My English teacher often corrects me on the correct pronunciation of these suffixes. She says these should be pronounced with the stress on the first O.

I have heard many educated folks pronounce it with no stress at all.

I have also heard that the O should be pronounced as "au" rather than "o".

What is the actual pronunciation of these suffixes, both in British and American English?

Answer 1

In both American and British English, there is an emphasis on the first O, but not too much. For example, "astronomy" is pronounced:

• "as" like "us" (or sometimes "ass" from "class")
• "tr" from "trim"
• "on" from "marathon"
• "om" like "um"
• "y" like "ee" from "tree", but shorter

However, in Indian English, I have heard many people pronouncing it astrOHnomy, basically giving the O in "astro" the same emphasis as the O in "micro" and tacking on the "nomy" (rhymes with "mommy"). This is completely different from the pronounciation above, and is wrong in American/British English.

Answer 2

I can't think of a single prefix that works for all three suffixes so I'll give two examples (in Standard American English).

• 'geology' and 'geography' both have the accent on the first 'o'. gee AH gruh fee, gee AH luh gee (in IPA, /dʒiy 'ɑ lə dʒiy/, /dʒiy 'ɑ grə fiy/

• 'astrology' and 'astronomy' also both have the accent on the first 'o'. uh STRAH luh gee, uh STRAH nuh mee. In IPA, /ə 'strɑ lə dʒiy/, /ə 'strɑ nə miy/

So your teacher is right, stress the first 'o'. I don't see any difference for educated speakers.

Answer 3

These suffixes all have three syllables; the vowels are what's important here. The stress in all cases is on the first vowel.

In US English, this is the vowel pattern:

• "o" pronounced "ah", stressed

• "o" or "a" pronounced more or less as "uh", unstressed

• "y" pronounced as "ee", unstressed

Another suffix following this pattern is "-opathy".

Answer 4

In British English, they would be pronounced:

-ology: ollow gee

-onomy: onnow mee

-ography: ogg rah fee