What is the correct pronunciation of "Caribbean"?
The two pronunciations of Caribbean I know of are mentioned in Wikipedia:
- /kærɨˈbiːən/ (ka-rih-BEE-uhn)
- /kəˈrɪbiən/ (kuh-RIB-ee-uhn)
Both are standard; however, there are a couple proper nouns containing the word Caribbean that have a fixed pronunciation:
- Pirates of the Caribbean - uses #1
- Royal Caribbean - uses #2
I personally make a sort of generalization from this and use #1 for the noun usage and #2 for the adjective usage, but there is no reason anyone else should use this rule unless they like it. Most people probably just stick to one preferred pronunciation.
Billy Ocean uses #1 in his song “Caribbean Queen”, as does Bob Dylan in his song “Caribbean Wind”.
In the UK, the stress is usually on the second to last syllable, cariBBEan. I have heard North Americans say "caRIBbean" and "cariBBEan". I think the first one is more common in the USA. Which one is correct? That is one of those "poteyto/potahto" questions.