A Guide to the Pronounciation of Musqueam and Squamish Place Names Around Vancouver

A sign on the Sea to Sky Highway northbound, written in English and Sḵwx̱wú7mesh sníchim | Photo Credit: Jimmy Emerson/Fairmont

As the local government takes more and more steps towards reconciliation, signs in local Indigenous languages have popped up around the city. The vast majority of these are written in one of two languages native to the Vancouver area: hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ (also written as Hul’q’umi’num), the Musqueam language, and Sḵwx̱wú7mesh sníchim, the Squamish language. To some Vancouverites, the dense consonant clusters and unusual letters of these languages make them seem nearly impossible to pronounce. However, with practice, anyone can learn to adequately sound out these words and discover the original names of well-known Vancouver landmarks.

To pronounce words correctly in any language, one must first know how to pronounce all of that language’s individual consonant and vowel sounds. These can then be strung together to form words. The human mouth is able to produce a vast number of different sounds, yet each language of the world uses its own unique phonological inventory that contains only a subset of those possible sounds. Many languages use sounds that do not exist in English. For example, learning French requires learning to pronounce its many nasal vowels, which are foreign to many English speakers. 

The next step is to learn how the characters of a language’s writing system correspond to its sounds. This can sometimes be quite complex, as many languages’ writing systems do not line up well with the way their words are pronounced. Think of the letters g and h in English, for example. They make their usual sounds in “goat” and “house”, yet in “thought”, they are silent, and in “rough”, they make an f sound. Thankfully, the writing systems for the two Indigenous languages discussed here were designed more recently, so the languages have not yet gone through the series of changes that made English spelling so inconsistent. From an objective standpoint, hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ and Sḵwx̱wú7mesh sníchim are much easier to spell than English, largely because in both their alphabets, most of the sounds correspond to just one letter. 

A sign near Brittannia Creek, written in English and Sḵwx̱wú7mesh sníchim | Photo Credit: Searocksandtrees/Reddit

There are a few dialects of hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓, which each have their own alphabets. Most common on Vancouver signage is that of the local Downriver dialect, which is the alphabet covered here. hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ has no uppercase letters.

Sḵwx̱wú7mesh sníchim is spoken by over 100 people in southwestern BC. The orthography covered here is the typewriter-based system created by linguist Randy Bouchard and Sḵwx̱wú7mesh speaker Louie Miranda.

Vowels

In both languages, there is some variation in vowel pronunciation after certain consonants, which has been left out of this guide for simplicity. 

hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ Sḵwx̱wú7mesh sníchim

a the a in father a the a in father

e the e in bet e the e in bet

i the i in pizza i the a in save

u the u in tube u the o in tone

ə the u in butter

If vowels in hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ have a colon after them (e.g. a:), then they are pronounced for longer than usual. If vowels in Sḵwx̱wú7mesh sníchim are doubled (e.g. aa), the same effect is applied.

Consonants

In hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓, the consonants h, k, l, m, n, p, s, t, w, and y make their usual English sounds. In Sḵwx̱wú7mesh sníchim, the consonants h, k, l, m, n, p, s, t, w, y, ts, sh, and ch make their usual English sounds. 

In both languages, y is always pronounced as it is in you, never as a vowel as it is in history. These other letters make different sounds than they do in English. Some of these sounds will be new to many English speakers.

hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ Sḵwx̱wú7mesh sníchim

c ts the ts in bats

č ch the ch in chips

ɬ lh Place your tongue where you would for an l

sound then expel air out so it moves around the

sides of your tongue, creating a wet hissing

sound. Like a mixture of an h and an l sound.

ƛ̓ tl’ The previous sound, combined with a t sound.

Just as a t and a sh sound can combine in English

to make a ch sound, this sound is a combination

of t and ɬ. It is also glottalized in both languages

(see below).

q ḵ Similar to a k sound, but articulated with your

tongue further back in your mouth.

š sh the sh in sheet

θ — the th in thin (not the th in the), based on the

Greek letter theta.

t̕ᶿ — Just as with tl’, two sounds are combined into one

affricate sound — t̕ᶿ is naturally a combination of t

and θ. A similar sound occurs in the centre of

some English phrases such as cut thick; however,

in hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓, the two sounds are combined into

one movement.

x x Place your tongue as if you are about to make a k

sound, but instead, make a hissing sound by

letting air escape between your tongue and the

top of your mouth.

χ x Similar to x, but far back in the throat, in the same

place as q/ḵ.

ʔ 7 Called a glottal stop, this sound (or lack thereof) is

the break between the two vowel sounds in

English uh-oh.

Some consonants in hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ and Sḵwx̱wú7mesh sníchim are glottalized. In hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓, this is usually notated with an apostrophe above the letter. In Sḵwx̱wú7mesh sníchim, this is notated with an apostrophe after the letter, except for with l̕, m̓, n̓, w̓, or y̓, which are in a special class of consonants called resonants. Most glottalized versions of consonants, such as q̓ and t̕, can be produced by first making the sound with an extra burst of air, then blocking the sound immediately after creating it with a glottal stop as in uh-oh. If timed correctly, this will create a sharp popping sort of noise. These consonants are sometimes called ejectives — they sound like they’re being made with a lot more force than regular consonants. For the resonants l̕, m̓, n̓, w̓, or y̓, instead of cutting off the sound, use the same section of your throat to restrict the sound, making it creaky.

Superscript w in hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓

If a hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ consonant has a small w after it (e.g. kʷ), round your lips as if making a w sound while pronouncing that consonant. Sḵwx̱wú7mesh sníchim has a similar feature, except the w is not in superscript, so know that kw in Sḵwx̱wú7mesh sníchim is one sound, not two separate ones.

Accent marks in Sḵwx̱wú7mesh sníchim

Accents in Sḵwx̱wú7mesh sníchim represent stressed syllables. Stress is the difference between the English words insight and incite.

Practice words

Sounding out these place names may take practice. Listening to recordings of native speakers is the best way to improve your pronunciation.

Sounding out these place names may take practice. Listening to recordings of native speakers is the best way to improve your pronunciation.

hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ Sḵwx̱wú7mesh sníchim 

xʷməθkʷəy̓əm Musqueam Snenáymexw Nanaimo

metuliyeʔ Victoria Áx̱achu7 Beaver Lake

st̕it̕əwəq̓ʷ Second Beach Sḵ’íw̓itsut Point Atkinson

sɬχil̕əx Siwash Rock Nex̱wlélex̱wem Bowen Island