# Pronunciation of 'caribbean' **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 20, 2003, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-caribbean/196531 "2003-08-20T21:38:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Demigorgon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bc79bd/32.png) [@Demigorgon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Demigorgon)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2003, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-caribbean/196531/1 "2003-08-20T21:38:26Z")
Is it: care-i-be-an or : carib-be-an others ? ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2003, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-caribbean/196531/2 "2003-08-20T21:48:44Z")
I once had a professor who said it was named after the tribe whose name is pronounced: car-RIB. Thus car-RIB-ee-an. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2003, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-caribbean/196531/3 "2003-08-20T22:31:58Z")
Webster’s says either. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2003, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-caribbean/196531/4 "2003-08-20T22:37:49Z")
**ratatoskK** : ‘Carib’ is pronounced KAR-ib, not kar-IB. It is defined as a member of a tribe, not a place, so your professor’s logic was faulty. You wouldn’t call an Eskimo an ‘Eskimoean’. ---
**Author:** ![Stainz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@Stainz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stainz)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2003, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-caribbean/196531/5 "2003-08-20T22:52:27Z")
I’ve been wondering the same thing. I’ve always pronounced it Car-RIB-ean … but when people talk about the movie, they almost always say Car-rib-EE-an. I’m Canadian, so I thought maybe there was a British/Canadian way of saying it, and an American way. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2003, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-caribbean/196531/6 "2003-08-20T22:57:31Z")
In English, it’s both. In Spanish, it’s Ca-REE-beh, so I lean towards car-RIB-ean. ---
**Author:** ![everton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2003, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-caribbean/196531/7 "2003-08-20T23:37:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Stainz \* > I’ve been wondering the same thing. I’ve always pronounced it Car-RIB-ean … but when people talk about the movie, they almost always say Car-rib-EE-an. > > I’m Canadian, so I thought maybe there was a British/Canadian way of saying it, and an American way. Car-rib-EE-an is certainly the British pronunciation. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2003, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-caribbean/196531/8 "2003-08-21T01:07:48Z")
Assuming you’re posting this on a message board and not trying to look it up in a dictionary because you don’t have one, allow me to introduce you to [Merriam-Webster online](http://m-w.com/). ---
**Author:** ![sanja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d2c977/32.png) [@sanja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sanja)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2003, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-caribbean/196531/9 "2003-08-21T04:18:25Z")
there’s a beer called carib, and the people in tobago pronounced to CAR-ib. ergo: CAR-ib-eeun ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2003, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-caribbean/196531/10 "2003-08-21T04:58:28Z")
I much prefer real chocolate. ---
**Author:** ![Sandlegs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@Sandlegs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sandlegs)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2003, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-caribbean/196531/11 "2003-08-21T05:20:30Z")
i noticed that in the trailer for the movie Pirates of the Carribean, the announcer somehow pronounced it both ways at once, it was kind of strange when i thought about it after listening. ---
**Author:** ![Avumede](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/avumede/32/7235_2.png) [@Avumede](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avumede)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2003, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-caribbean/196531/12 "2003-08-21T05:22:36Z")
In Trinidad, it usually pronounced “car-IB-ean” (according to my Trinidadian wife). But they do pronounce the bear “Carib” with the accent on the first syllable… But who said that people had to be consistent. ---
**Author:** ![Horseflesh](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horseflesh/32/7502_2.png) [@Horseflesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horseflesh)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2003, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-caribbean/196531/13 "2003-08-21T05:39:15Z")
Pirates pronounce it “AARHH!!”, with an emphasis on the R. Sorry, just can’t seem to get the “You’d best be believin’ in ghost stories, missy” line out of my head.