Sundquist is a surname that is often pronounced with stress on the first syllable, as /ˈsʌndkwɪst/. The phonetic transcription of the name reveals that the spelling reflects the English language's complex system of sounds and their representations. The /s/ sound at the beginning of the name is followed by an /ʌ/ sound, which is a short vowel similar to the sound in "cup", followed by a nasal /n/ sound. The second syllable consists of a consonant cluster /dkw/ and a short vowel /ɪ/, followed by the voiced alveolar fricative /z/ and /t/.