diabetes

[Benjamin Fortson]

I was intrigued to discover this morning that the preferred pronunciation
of the last syllable of "diabetes" in Amer. Heritage and Random House is
-tis rather than -teez. In Webster's it's reversed; OED has only -teez.
I always thought -tis was a regionalism; I heard it growing up in the South
where it seemed to have the same status as "arthuritis" for arthritis. I am
told it's also found in the Midwest. The word is not in DARE. Does anyone
know if the -tis pronunciation is regionally restricted or not?

Ben Fortson