The short version:
English, Western Canadian-Style
The longer version:
It never occurred to me that it could be ee-mer or em-eer, too close to emir and in this case the 'ee's sound sort of 'not pretty' to me heh. As to pronunciations of new/unfamiliar words : Part of it may be lazy vowels or liking the lazy vowel sound better, Not Jay-man, but Jay-min. I also tend to use German pronunciation as a basis for unfamiliar words. Aesthetics matter. The way a word looks or sounds/feels in your mind. Kuh-tah-vye-eer is more elegant sounding, the extra syllable. I really like that word, K'ta'Viir.
I've always found it interesting how people interpret pronunciations differently, even find it in close, small groups. As a side note, there's a lot of great names and words in Shadow World. Kadaena, Quaidu, Clycallah, Jerak Ahrenreth, and all the Dragonlords come immediately to mind. Delicious.