I had never thought about it, but I would pronounce it "ON-ree" if it were a word I used. In fact if you had asked me to spell it, I probably would have come up with something like "onrey" to begin with, although it doesn't look right so I would have gone to the dictionary and had a lot of trouble finding it until I connected it with "onerous." This is a big confession from me, English major, writer and editor! A little quick research shows that the word (ornery) first appeared in 1816. Rather than being a Southern "pronunciation," I would be willing to bet a little more research would show it is a Southern "word." And no, I am not and never have been a teacher, just a lover of our language and its origins. Nancy