Finance

I believe this word is pronounced differently depending on where you live.

In the US, it's FIGH-nance (the first syllable rhymes with "high"), but it's fih-NAN-shul for financial, or figh-nan-shul with just about equal stress.

It seems I've heard at least some British pronunciation as "fih-NANCE."

HSSWould you place stress on the first or second syllable, when you pronounce it as f[ai]nance ?

I would place the stress on the first syllable. That's the commonest way of pronouncing it here in the U.S. I hear it that way on the television news all the time. I occasionally hear another pronunciation, though, with lax i as in the word fin, and

Americans pronounce it with the stress on the first syllable, making it sound like "FIGH - nance" (FIGH sounding like HIGH).

HOWEVER, if you work in the financial sector, whether on Wall Street or as an investment banker elsewhere, then it is best to say "Fi - NANCE." Otherwise, they'll know you're a newbie.