STƏYWƏTE:N̓ pronunciation
My son started going to Point Grey stəywəte:n̓ Secondary School, but I didn't know how to pronounce it so I asked the school on Twitter but never got a response.
Then I decided to ask on Quora, which did help me find an approximate pronunciation of it as well as some information about which Canadian First Nation's word it is:
- How do you pronounce Point Grey stəywəte: n̓ Secondary School?
- ポイントグレイ高校「Point Grey stəywəte:n̓ Secondary School」の英語の発音はなんですか？特にその３つ目のstəywəte:n̓の単語が見つかりません。
It seems that the Musqueam language (hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓) uses NAPA, which is closely related with IPA.
Still, I feel like the placement of that word in the title without an explanation of it causes confusion. I think it was probably done in the spirit of respect, however by putting it there without providing more information, I think it creates more confusion and therefore doesn't bring about the desired outcome. I hope the school will reevaluate how it brands itself, and provides more details on what it is doing to be respectful to indigenous cultures than just creating confusion and mystique around them.
On a related note, I had difficulty hunting for my tweet with : https://twitter.com/search?q=stəywəte:n̓
I believe it is the colon in the tweets which throws the search index off. Perhaps they might use the IPA long vowel character ː to write stəywəteːn̓, so search indexes would realize it's human language and not punctuation.
I've recorded a video where I go into more details:
Since recording the above, I have consulted ChatGPT which said:
STƏYWƏTE:N̓ (also spelled STÎYWÎTEN) is a word in the hən̓q̓əmin̓əm language, which is spoken by the Musqueam First Nation in southwestern British Columbia, Canada.
To pronounce STƏYWƏTE:N̓, you can try saying "st-eye-wuh-tayn", with the emphasis on the second syllable. The hən̓q̓əmin̓əm language has a number of unique sounds and pronunciation can be challenging for speakers of English. It is important to respect the language and culture of the Musqueam people by making an effort to pronounce words in the hən̓q̓əmin̓əm language correctly.