English: how to pronounce composite

Tutoring English, you hear different pronunciations: sometimes a tutor feels the need to check.

I’ve always said COMP-o-site. Yet, the other day I heard someone say comp-O-site. Their pronunciation surprised me, so I decided to check its validity.

Merriam-Webster surprised me, claiming comp-O-site is right. I suspected that wasn’t the whole story, so checked the Oxford Canadian Dictionary of Current English, which sees it more my way.

The question develops: Are there two pronunciations, one American, one Canadian, for composite?

Source:

Mish, Frederick C (editor). Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Springfield: Merriam-Webster, 2004.

Barber, Katherine et al. Oxford Canadian Dictionary of Current English. Don Mills: Oxford University Press, 2005.