It's international Women's Day today. One of the greatest roles that women play in society is being mothers.
My name Nayena is actually three little words that together mean "mothers are precious", "A good mother is hard to find", or simply, “sweet mother”. NA-YƐ-NA. The name is of Fante origin, which is a dialect in the Ghanaian Akan language. NA-YƐ-NA. Literally, Na means “mothers”, yƐ means “are” and na means “rare”. A good mother is hard to find.
Contrary to popular belief (especially in America), the name does not rhyme with hyena. But, after we moved to America when I was 6, that’s how children and my teachers pronounced it and that is how I introduced myself. Nayena, not NayƐna. Children thought they were so funny when they would call me “Nayena the laughing hyena”. The joke was on them, because I knew they were mispronouncing my name. They thought they were laughing at me, but I was laughing at them.
If you want to learn, the Ɛ sounds like the e in yet. If you can say yet, you can say YƐ. Just leave off the t. It’s not nigh-yeh-nah, na-yeeeeee-na, or nigh-yeee-na, and it is NOT Naima. Where’s the m? Hear how to pronounce it.
Growing up in the States, I would occasionally try to teach people how to really pronounce my name. It never sounded right to my ears, so I would say just call me “Nayena” (nigh-yeee-na). It wasn’t until I took intro psych in college and learned about language development that I realized that some people will never be able to pronounce it right (to a native Fante speaker’s ears) because they did not have exposure to the specific speech sounds in their early childhood years. So in graduate school, I started to accept pronunciations of my name that were slightly off to my ears, but were an earnest attempt to pronounce it correctly. For the first time in my life, I started introducing myself as NA-YƐ-NA rather than Nayena. For anyone who I met me in graduate school or after who calls me NA-YƐ-NA and not Nayena, thank you.
My name is not only important to me because of what it means, but because of where it comes from. I was named after my paternal grandmother, Jane Arthur (Maame Aba NayƐna). It is not a common Ghanaian name. To the best of my knowledge, it is only a family name. My grandmother was a good mother indeed. She (together with my grandfather) raised 11 children (8 boys). Her decedents are lawyers, entrepreneurs, nurses, professors, teachers, CEOs, and everything in between. From Ghana to South Africa, London and the US, her legacy lives on. So on this International Women’s Day, I celebrate her and the many other “sweet mothers” who make this world go ‘round. Because of her, I am.
My name Nayena is actually three little words that together mean "mothers are precious", "A good mother is hard to find", or simply, “sweet mother”. NA-YƐ-NA. The name is of Fante origin, which is a dialect in the Ghanaian Akan language. NA-YƐ-NA. Literally, Na means “mothers”, yƐ means “are” and na means “rare”. A good mother is hard to find.
Contrary to popular belief (especially in America), the name does not rhyme with hyena. But, after we moved to America when I was 6, that’s how children and my teachers pronounced it and that is how I introduced myself. Nayena, not NayƐna. Children thought they were so funny when they would call me “Nayena the laughing hyena”. The joke was on them, because I knew they were mispronouncing my name. They thought they were laughing at me, but I was laughing at them.
If you want to learn, the Ɛ sounds like the e in yet. If you can say yet, you can say YƐ. Just leave off the t. It’s not nigh-yeh-nah, na-yeeeeee-na, or nigh-yeee-na, and it is NOT Naima. Where’s the m? Hear how to pronounce it.
Growing up in the States, I would occasionally try to teach people how to really pronounce my name. It never sounded right to my ears, so I would say just call me “Nayena” (nigh-yeee-na). It wasn’t until I took intro psych in college and learned about language development that I realized that some people will never be able to pronounce it right (to a native Fante speaker’s ears) because they did not have exposure to the specific speech sounds in their early childhood years. So in graduate school, I started to accept pronunciations of my name that were slightly off to my ears, but were an earnest attempt to pronounce it correctly. For the first time in my life, I started introducing myself as NA-YƐ-NA rather than Nayena. For anyone who I met me in graduate school or after who calls me NA-YƐ-NA and not Nayena, thank you.
My name is not only important to me because of what it means, but because of where it comes from. I was named after my paternal grandmother, Jane Arthur (Maame Aba NayƐna). It is not a common Ghanaian name. To the best of my knowledge, it is only a family name. My grandmother was a good mother indeed. She (together with my grandfather) raised 11 children (8 boys). Her decedents are lawyers, entrepreneurs, nurses, professors, teachers, CEOs, and everything in between. From Ghana to South Africa, London and the US, her legacy lives on. So on this International Women’s Day, I celebrate her and the many other “sweet mothers” who make this world go ‘round. Because of her, I am.