How do you native speakers pronounce:

Caribbean?

Nativity?

I say:

CariBEEan

and

NahTIvity

CaRIBbean

I can't figure out another way to say naTIvity..

I say: CariBEEan and Nuhtivity. It may be a Kywy thing.

NatiVIty and CaribBEAN (for non native speakers and other Barbarians)-(hi,Anna

)

Originally Posted By: olly

I say: CariBEEan and Nuhtivity. It may be a Kywy thing.

If you're a Kiwi, were you affected by that quake?

Originally Posted By: tsuwm

CaRIBbean

I can't figure out another way to say naTIvity..

I've been hearing it increasingly as nayTIvity.

'same as you.
but - I co-led a carol sing-along last week with two other musicians, one sang:
"...Sav-ee-ore..."

In Leftpond, nuhTIVitee keriBEuhn

Originally Posted By: latishya

If you're a Kiwi, were you affected by that quake?

Yes, in an indirect way. It is all over the first 4 pages of this mornings paper. Gisborne is about Four Hundred Kilometres South of me. But by all accounts it was very frightening for the locals. However, in 1931 the 7.8 magnitude Napier earthquake in the same region was New Zealands largest natural disaster. Excluding NZ Idol! And our early exit from the Rugby World Cup. And.....

Well some of its natives will say "Mar Caribe". Just wishing some holiday cheer anyway since you posters will have a week-and-change rest from Kafkaesque campiness.

Originally Posted By: olly

I say: CariBEEan and Nuhtivity. It may be a Kywy thing.

Are you putting the emPHAsis on the first syLABuhl?

Originally Posted By: Faldage

Are you putting the emPHAsis on the first syLABuhl?

Ya could be onta somink dere. A plausibility.

I would say Caribean and Naytivity. Although every once in a while I'm startled when the former comes out as Caribeean.

I thought (incorrectly) that the noun was pronounced CaribBEan and the adjective, CaRIBbean.

But here's what the dictionary says.

Quote:

USAGE There are two possible pronunciations of the word Caribbean, and both are used widely and acceptably in the U.S. In the Caribbean itself, the preferred pronunciation puts the stress on the -rib-. In Britain, speakers more often put the stress on the -be-, although in recent years, the other pronunciation has gained ground in Britain as the more 'up-to-date' and, to some, the more 'correct' pronunciation.

I wonder why the quotation marks ( to some, the more 'correct' pronunciation.) Shouldn't the people who live there get to choose what they want as the correct pronunciation?

>I wonder why the quotation marks..

I think it's because (as we've seen) the entire concept of 'correct' pronunciation is on pretty shaky ground.

-joe (but I'm uncertain about this) friday

For Caribbean, I use both /,k�rə'bijən/ and /kə'rɪbijən/. For nativity, I say /nə'tɪvɪtiː/, but I commonly hear /nej'tɪvɪtiː/.

what he said!

Come to think of it, I've heard kuhRIBeeuhn a lot too

Anyone know why this morning I can't edit my post above

Dale,your above post is from 12/20. It now is 12/27.
You can only edit for 3600 minutes. We've had this point before.
I can't really well calculate, so some days.

Aha

You can only edit for 3600 minutes. I had forgotten that, though I have a vague memory of seeing it mentioned before. I never thought about it, because my screen shows that I can edit anybody's any time. So, if anyone wants me to edit an old post for them, holler.
(For the newer people: no, I do not just go and "fix" posts, censor them, etc. Though a few times it's been tempting.)

Hey, Jackie! How about editing all my posts from 2002, to make me sound smart?

Noah--u haz no trublz widat.