text: how do you pronounce "riviera"? i think there's a difference in french and english- there's an area close to where i live that's pronounced differently than what i believe the french pronounciation is. anyone know for sure, and not just a calculated guess? myself, i'd always heard it, and grown up with the pronunciation like "riv-ee-era" with the i being a short sound.  not sure about the difference in pronunciations, but that's not to say that perhaps there aren't...i mean, look at arkansas.  everyone in kansas says ar-kan-saw, while seemingly the rest of the nation says it ar-kansas...