Caribbean pronunciation
Caribbean has 4 syllables. The stress is on the second syllable, "ih". Capital letters in the respelling show where the stress falls.
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Caribbean syllables
Caribbean has 4 syllables: kur-IH-bee-uhn.
- kurkɚ
- IHɪ
- beebi
- uhnən
Two stresses are both correct: kuh-RIB-ee-un and kar-uh-BEE-un. The first is more common in American English; the second in British. Neither is a mistake.
Sounds to watch
Weak syllables
The unstressed syllables use a short, relaxed uh (schwa). Rushing through them lightly is correct; giving them a full vowel sounds unnatural.
Short i versus ee
The short i (as in sit) is shorter and more relaxed than ee. Many learners stretch it into ee, which changes the word.
The er vowel
American er (as in her) is a single vowel with the tongue bunched back. Keep the r quality through the whole vowel.
Caribbean in a sentence
- The Caribbean islands were hit by two storms in one month.
- She grew up cooking Caribbean food in her grandmother’s kitchen.
Read either sentence into the recorder above. The check judges only the target word, so the rest of the sentence can be rough.
What Speakeroo listens for
These are the pronunciation patterns from Speakeroo’s speech feature catalog that this target tends to expose. The check above reports the ones it hears.
- Stress placed on the wrong syllableMake the correct syllable longer, clearer and more prominent.
- Final consonant omittedHold the final mouth position briefly without adding another vowel.
- Schwa not reducedRelax unstressed vowels toward a short neutral sound.
- /ɪ/ and /iː/ confusedMake /iː/ higher, tenser and usually longer than /ɪ/.
- Every syllable stressed equallyEmphasise one main syllable and reduce the others.
Questions
How do you pronounce caribbean?
Caribbean is pronounced /kɚ.ˈɪ.bi.ən/, or kur-IH-bee-uhn in plain letters. It has 4 syllables and the stress falls on the second syllable, "ih".
How many syllables are in caribbean?
4: kur-IH-bee-uhn. The capital letters mark the stressed syllable.
How do you use caribbean in a sentence?
The Caribbean islands were hit by two storms in one month. She grew up cooking Caribbean food in her grandmother’s kitchen.
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