Learn English – The pronunciation of buoy

The two pronunciations in question are (in IPA):

1. /ˑkɑmp(ə)rəbəl/ (KOM-pruh-buhl)/(KOM-puh-ruh-buhl)
2. /kəmˑp(æ/ɛ)rəbəl/ (kuhm-PARE-uh-buhl) [approximately]

Pronunciations for this word are given in dictionaries in four ways, as far as I can tell:

• (a) both are given in the order #1, #2, with no comment
  Webster’s New World
• (b) both are given in the order #1, #2, but the second is noted as “less common” with a notation like “also”, or “or, sometimes”,
  Merriam-Webster, Random House,
• (c) both are given in the order #1, #2, but the second is noted as U.S.-only
  Cambridge Advanced Learner’s, Wiktionary
• (d) only #1 is given
  American Heritage, Collins, Macmillan, New Oxford American

No dictionary I looked in lists pronunciation #2 first. Nor does any support different meanings for different pronunciations. Generally speaking, #1 is the traditional and unimpeachably correct pronunciation. #2 is commonly used, but if you use it, you should not be surprised if you are criticized or corrected.

Addendum: the user-provided pronunciation site Forvo has seven pronunciations for comparable. The two pronunciations which are pronounced like #2 are rated –3. The rest, which are pronounced like #1, are rated 0, 1, or 2.

The /ˈɛryən/ pronunciation is just a result of English phonology processing a foreign borrowing that starts with the letters AR.

Aryan is a borrowed word in all languages outside the Indo-Iranian subfamily of Indo-European. The rest of the world pronounces it as some variant of [arjan], which comes, as noted, from Sanskrit ārya /a:ryə/ 'compatriot'. Therefore, /'aryən/ is a perfectly acceptable English pronunciation, and the only acceptable one when using the term in its modern Indian sense.

Any use of Aryan (outside scare quotes) that refers to Germany or white racism is a result of romantic interpretations of 19th century German linguistic scholarship (e.g, Grimm's Law), which unearthed the prehistory of the "Indo-Germanic" (as I-E was then called, from names of its Eastern- and Westernmost families) languages. It was all very exciting, apparently. See also Wagner, Mad King Ludwig, Neuschwanstein, German Empire.

The AHD of IER says that Skt ārya comes from the PIE root *aryo- 'Self-designation of the Indo-Iranians'; other descendants of the same root are Iran and, surprisingly, Eire -- Celtic languages sometimes retain PIE roots that are otherwise lost in the Centum group.

None of these are English words, and so English treats them the same way it treats all borrowed words -- it changes the pronunciation until it tastes right. That's all.

Edit:

I almost forgot, another reason to pronounce Aryan /'aryən/ is because Arian /'ɛriən/ usually refers to Arianism, a very important variety of Christianity that was the religion of the Ostrogoths in Italy, and the Visigoths in Spain. The only Gothic texts known to exist are translations of various parts of the (Arian Christian) New Testament.