[fferen]

When I started grad school in semiconductor electronics, I noticed everyone pronounced it "si-li-cun", while normal people usually say "si-li-con". Maybe it's just a west coast thing.

[trav4225]

My impression was always that this was an east/west-coast thing. I could be wrong!

[kazinator]

Sir Francis Bay Con would like a word with you.

[Obscurity4340]

Like finance/finance

[kimjune01]

For those who are curious, "fine-ance" / "fin-ance"

[tuatoru]

To me, those are the verb and the noun respectively.

"He will finance the project." "The project got its finance."

With silicon, I think I stress the first syllable, if any.

[kazinator]

Whether it's c'n or cahn, the first syllable gets the stress; that is not the issue.

I would say that the project got its financing, or maybe that it became financed. Finance as a noun is the whole field of handling money (Bob works in finance). I pronounce it all starting with "fine".

[frogulis]

Huh interesting, I definitely make that distinction for "refuse" but not "finance". That's from an Australian English speaker though.

[matt_kantor]

It's the same for me (a US English speaker raised on the east coast who lived on the west coast for a decade).

I also wouldn't pronounce "financing" as "financeing", and I don't recall ever hearing a fellow American pronounce it that way, even if they might say "finance".