pronunciation of "Syracuse"

[Charles C Doyle]

On the TV broadcast of the oddly-named New Era Pinstripe Bowl football game (Syracuse vs. Kansas State) the announcer has been consistently pronouncing "Syracuse" as [sEr at kjuz].

Of course, a historical (and orthographic) /E/ preceding /r/ has frequently come to be manifested as [I]--for instance, in "here" or "era"--but is the opposite process common?

--Charlie

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