This will always be debatable.
I recently met someone who pronounces Dubai as “Du-bay” and it sounds cute. This was the very first time I’ve heard of it.
I searched online and found this blog post titled, “How To Pronounce The Names of 24 Famous Places You‘ve Mispronounced Your Entire Life.” The emirate is one of them. The Daily Mail also has a similar article saying that “Du-bye” is wrong.
I tried to further research if the reason could be the lack of “bye/buy” sound in Arabic, but there seems to be no factual English reference online.
So, I checked Wikipedia, and it says:
(/duːˈbaɪ/ doo-by; Arabic: دبي Dubayy, Gulf pronunciation: [dʊˈbɑj])
It could probably be the correct native pronunciation. But most expats and the world though, know and embrace it as “Du-bye.”
Imagine these brands and events pronounced the “Du-bay” way:
Du-bay Eye, Du-bay 92, Du-bay World Cup, Du-bay Tennis Championships, Du-bay Shopping Festival, and so on.
Have you read any resource about it? Appreciate if you could also share relevant theories in the comments below. Thanks.
Photo by Demilked.