Semi = Large tractor-trailer rig

[Cynthia Bernstein]

I (originally from New York, but most of my adult life in Texas and Alabama)
favor [sEmi] before consonants [sEmiswit] and [sEmai] before vowels and as a
noun.

Cynthia Bernstein

<<< Rudolph C Troike <rtroike at U.ARIZONA.EDU>  1/11 11:58p >>>
Howdy,all--

        Here in the Southwest, where we are overrun with these things, I
hear them referred to only as /sImayz/ or /sEmayz/ (primary stress on
first syllable, secondary [word-level] or tertiary stress on the second).
Like Natalie, my Texan ears don't readily distinguish /Im/ from /Em/, so I
can't swear as to the quality of the first vowel. /sImiy/ is used only as
the first part of a compound, as in "semi-tractor trailer rig".

        Rudy Troike