Why is the pronunciation of academy and academic so different?

Question

I know that the pronunciation of *academy* can be broken down into: a-cad-emy with the stress on **cad** While that of *academic* can be broken down into ac-a-dem-ic with the stress on the **dem** Sometime I wonder why academy is not broken down into ac-a-de-my and pronouncing it with the stress on **a** The first page of the google search results didn't yield anything useful, hence posting here to get some ideas :)

Answer 1

Because in English, when the same root word changes its grammatical form--such as academy (N) to academic (adj)--the pronunciation MUST change or we would sound like idiots. So, its Uhh-Ka-duhhmee (N) into Ahhcckk-uhh-demic.

But wait there's more... Sometimes the spelling of the word remains the same EVEN though its grammatical form has changed. There are many we use everyday--like project, refuse, and present. How did I Pruh-ject myself? / Your Prah-ject was terrible. I Rihhh-fyooz to accept your Refff-fyooz--it's garbage!!!

Answer 2

Or how about "academician"? English is constantly evolving, as anyone who has read Shakespeare and Chaucer can attest. If I can hazard a guess, it would be that the language changes based upon how people are using it. Once a lot of people start using language in an easily accepted way it becomes the norm. Look at how many words are a part of the dictionary that you won't find in a 1950 dictionary: google (the verb), islamophobe, etc.