Pronunciation of "Merriam"

Does anyone know how to pronounce "Merriam", as in "Merriam-Webster"? Amazingly, I could not find an authoritative answer anywhere.

This is just the way I say it, but... /"mEr\i@m/

MARE-ree-um is how I would say it. But MEER-ree-um or even MUR-ree-um are probably used as well. It's someone's name, and unless they're around to defend the way they want it said, it's up for grabs.

So muh-RYE-uhm is out of the question?

I say "MARE-ee-um", mare like stare, and it all rhymes with lithium.

Hey Tom, do you ever check Youtube? It's a very important resource for me, I've looked up stuff there on several occasions.
Here's what I found, and they all seem to pronounce it like me (marry-um):

(0:43) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OtOF2CfN1M

(1:06) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrNtTnjPalo

(beginning) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsdbgf9udMw

(beginning) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJ2qdShIomI

(0:11) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIYQtdR3HLg

I guess that's enough examples. :)

Thanks, Johnny. Have you noticed that some of these speakers seem to pronounce it MEER-ee-uhm ("Miriam"?).

(0:43) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OtOF2CfN1M

Around 1:25 the speaker pronounces it MEER-ee-uhm twice. In other places I think he says MARE-ee-uhm, but I'm not sure, since he's a real motormouth.

(1:06) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrNtTnjPalo

MEER-ee-uhm

(beginning) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsdbgf9udMw

MARE-ee-uhm

(beginning) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJ2qdShIomI

MARE-ee-uhm

(0:11) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIYQtdR3HLg

MARE-ee-uhm

There may not even BE a "right" way to say it. Merriam is an unusual name, and it is only natural for it to get conflated with the similar and much more common name Miriam. I don't think most people are going to make much of a fuss over minor variations in pronunciation. It's not heard often enough to have a "set" pronunciation (although people with that name will have a preference, of course).

I think I hear "mary-um" in all of them (consider I pronounce marry-mary-merry the same).
To be "eer" like in "beer" the vowel would have to be higher for me, even though I think my "beer" and "bear" phonemes tend to be pretty close.
I'm not a native speaker though, but that's what I hear.

A telephone call to the company, in Springfield, Massachusetts, 413-734-3134, reveals MERR-i-am or MERR-i-um (no, I'm not going to attempt IPA) as their favoured pronunciation. This is the way that I, a native New-Englander, have always pronounced it. MEER-i-am is apparently incorrect.

Snezzy, great idea! I called the number and the pronunciation is MERRY-uhm (the same as MARY-uhm for most AmE speakers). I guess that settles it.

P.S. The way you transcribed it (MERR) is misleading, because "err" is often pronounced like "fur" (e.g. "Kerr").

You made a call to Massachusetts to settle your curiosity? You're hardcore, Tom!

I myself say [ˈmɛ̝ːʁjə̃(ː)m] or [ˈmɛ̝ːʁjm̩(ː)] for "Merriam" (whereas "Miriam" is [ˈmɪːʁjə̃(ː)m] or [ˈmɪːʁjm̩(ː)] for me).

I have SkypeOut, so it cost me almost nothing. I've definitely done more hard-core things :)