Ah, the wonders of Dictionary.com!

She: You’ve got to be realistic.
Me: Why do you keep pronouncing “realistic” that way? You know, ree-al-is-tik? Isn’t it ree-uh-lis-tik?

She shot me an email later with reference to Uncle D.

REALISTIC
re�al�is�tic [ree-uh-lis-tik]

REALITY
re�al�i�ty [ree-al-i-tee]

REAL
re�al, real [ree-uhl, reel]

REALLY
re�al�ly
[ree-uh-lee, ree-lee]

Even in English, we can’t decide which way to pronounce derivatives of the word REAL. Her “re-alistic” follows “re-ality” but my “real-istic” follows “real“. Of course, REAL can be either one or two syllables and also depends on what you want it to rhyme with.

I always pronounce REALLY as rail-ee but I guess that’s not valid although everybody sings it that way, REALLY.

Go check out The Beatles – You Really Got A Hold On Me; John Lennon varies the pronounciation (as do the background vocals.) If this song is obscure, it’s time to brag about your Anthology disc collection!