Comment by ASalazarMX | Hacker News Reader

Comment by ASalazarMX | Hacker News Reader

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> šxʷƛ̓ənəq Xwtl’e7énk Square

Oh my, I don't even know the names of those letters.

Edit: Found more info about this:

> The area previously known as Queen Elizabeth Theatre Plaza has been renamed šxʷƛ̓exən Xwtl’a7shn, and the Vancouver Art Gallery's north plaza has been dubbed šxʷƛ̓ənəq Xwtl’e7énk Square.

According to the city, šxʷƛ̓exən Xwtl’a7shn means "a place one is invited to, and a place one is invited to celebrate" [..]. The other name, šxʷƛ̓ənəq Xwtl’e7énk Square, refers to a place where cultural gatherings such as weddings and funerals are held.

The names were chosen by a committee of city staff and representatives of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh nations.

Each uses words from both the hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ language used by the Musqueam and Tsleil-Waututh peoples, and the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh language of the Squamish Nation.

I am puzzled how the people of Vancouver (nevermind visitors) are meant to use "šxʷƛ̓exən Xwtl’a7shn" or "šxʷƛ̓ənəq Xwtl’e7énk". I mean, if you see things like "Musqueam", "Squamish" and "Tsleil-Waututh", you can muddle through as you learn the sounds. But if you see (the equivalent) "xʷməθkʷəy̓əm", "Sḵwx̱wú7mesh" or "sə̓lílwətaʔɬ", where do you even begin? Yet the official link above, while it helpfully gives both representations of the names of the peoples, makes no effort to do so for the new place names. That strongly suggests any signage will only use the unapproachable version.

Everyone just copy-pastes the name and calls it the art gallery plaza. A mild prank could be played by copy-pasting a completely different place name, and seeing if people pay any attention - or if they just assume "š**** ****" to mean "that place right downtown"

I see that most online references use some variation of "šxʷƛ̓exən Xwtl'a7shn (formerly QET Plaza)". They seem to be very diligent about never providing any transliteration, even in their pronunciation guide. Which means that in effect, rather than giving it an indigenous name, they have instead effectively made it unnamed. What a completely wasted effort.

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