and Hawaii ... Culture, Traditions, and Language Information

- Hawaii Info - Culture - Hawaii Language

and Hawaii ... Hawaiian Language Introduction

The Hawaiian language is a very old and beautiful language. It is spoken only in Hawaii and is one of the officially recognized languages here. (The other is english). Although Hawaiian is an official language you will not hear it spoken ordinarily. More likely would be to hear it sung, or chanted (as in hula dances). Also, many hawaiian words are mixed in with the everyday language, for example, it would not be uncommon for your waitress to ask you "Are you pau?", meaning, "Are you finished?". Also, most of the street names and a lot of the cities on all the islands are in hawaiian.

I do not claim to be an expert in the Hawaiian language, I only appreciate it's beauty and would like to pass a little of it on to others. Most of the information compiled in this page comes from friends and dictionaries.


The Rules           The Words

The Rules

The Hawaiian language has 12 letters in it; h,k,l,m,n,p,w,a,e,i,o,u.

Pronunciation Consonants
h, k, l, m, n, p- pronounced about as in english
w- after i and e usually like v, after u and o usually like w

***' - is a glottal stop, like the sound in the middle of uh-oh
***
Vowels

Hawaiian vowels sometimes have macrons over them to indicate holding the sound longer than others and stressing the syllable. A macron is a straight line over the vowel but since I cannot reproduce this I will use a carrot like this; ^ I am sorry for this discrepancy. If anyone knows HTML for a macron please e-mail me. Thank you!

 Unstressed                             Stressed 

a like a in attend          a,â like a in star
e like e in set             ę like ay in day
i like i in police          i,î like e in me
o like o in crow            o,ô like oa in moan
u like oo in moon           u,ű like oo in soon

Dipthongs
ae, ai, ao, au, ei, eu, oi, ou normally, you will not blend the vowels together as you would in english but rather speak each vowel on it's own with a slur between them. Also, these syllables should be stressed.

The Words all words with *** next to them are commonly mixed in the english language with their Hawaiian meaning.

First, a few words you must know when you come to Hawaii -
aloha (ah lo hah)- Hello, goodbye, love, spirit of Hawaii, friendly***
mahalo (ma hah low)- Thank you***
pau (pow)- done, finished***
wiki (wee kee) - quick***WikiWiki marts are our Quickmarts
imu (eemoo) - the underground oven used to make kalua pig
wahine (wah hee nay)- woman***
pali (pahlee)- cliff***
lű'au (loo-ow)- hawaiian feast***
hula (hoolah)- hawaiian dance***
hale (hahlay)- house .. lots of your hotels will be Hale Something***
ohana (o hah nah) - family*** - very commonly used
mauka (m ow kah) - toward the mountain*** - used in weather reports, directions
makai (mahk eye) - toward the ocean*** - used in weather reports, directions
mu'u mu'u (moo moo) - hawaiian-style dress*** -

the less common words

'ahi (ahee)- tuna fish ***
'âina (eyena)- land, earth ***
'aipuni (eyepoonee) - to encircle, go around
'âiwa(eyevah) - 9 times
’a’a (ah-ah) - burning, raging, broken lava, stony ***
’a’aki (ah-ahkey) - to bite or nibble
’aha’aina (aha-eyenah) - great feast
ahi (ahee) - fire
’aina (eyenah) - land
akamai (ahkahmy) - skillfull, knowledgable
’akala (ahkahlah) - pink
akua (akooah) - God or gods
alai (ahleye) - obstruction
alapi’i (ahlahpee-ee) - ladder, stairs
’alana (ahlahnah) - church
’alani (ahlahnee) - orange
âlana (ahlahnah) - offering
alanui (ah lah new ee) - street, road
alawiki (ah lah wee kee) - quikly
alina (ahleenah) - scar
ali'i (ahlee-ee) - royalty
hô'âlohaloha (ho-ah lo hah lo hah) - to make love or give thanks
aloha'ole (ah lo hah-ohlay) - without love
'ala (ah lah) - good smelling
ala (ahlah) - path, or to awaken

’eha (ayha) - sore, pain
’elemakule (aylaymahkoolay) - old man
emikua (aymekooah) - to back up
’emo’ole (aymoh-ohlay) - sudden, prompt, now
elelo (aylaylow) - tongue
'ena (ayna) - red hot, glowing, angry
'elima (ay lee mah) - five
'elua (ay lew ah) - two
'ena (ayna) - red hot, glowing, angry

haloko (hahlowko) - pool
hanau (hahnow) - birth
he’i’ (hey-ee) - papaya
’a’a (ah-ah) - burning, raging
hoku’(hokoo) - star
ha'anui(hah-ahnewee) - to boast, brag, gloat
hahai (ha high) - to follow, pursue, to hunt
haili (highlee) - sudden remembrance
hali’i (halee-ee) - to spread out
hili (heelee)- to braid or plait
hoa hele (ho-ah heylay)- travelling companion
hoaloha (ho aloha)- friend
honua (ho new ah)- land, earth

ia (eeah) - he, she, it
i'a maka (eeah makah) - raw fish
'i'i (ee-ee) - tiny
iki (eekee) - a little bit
'imi (eemee) - to hun or look for
'imi 'iki (eemee eekee) - to seek knowledge
inu (eenew) -to drink
iwi (eevee) - bone, shell or gourd

ka'a lawe ma'i (ka-a lahvay ma-ee) - ambulance
ka'a wai (ka-a vie) - fire engine
kahuna (kahoonah) - priest
kalua (kahlooah) - to bake in the ground*** (Kalua pig is popular here)

lâpana (lahpahnah) - japan
lânai (lahneye) -porch***
lâna'i (lahneye-ee) - one of the islands***
laulau (rhymes with cow-cow) - a meal of pork, fish or another meat wrapped in ti leaves or banana leaves***
lawai'a (lah wah ee-ah) - fisherman
lani (lah knee) - heavenly or high chief
lânui (lah new ee) - holiday
lâpaki (lahpahkee) - rabbit
leo (lay oh) - voice, sound
li'i (lee-ee) - small

mâhű (mahoo) - homosexual
maika'i (my-kah-ee) - good, great, wonderfull
mele (maylay) -song or chant***
mihi (meehee) - repentance
mikini (me kee knee) - machine
moku (mokoo) - to be cut or separated

nalu (nahloo) - wave, to surf
nananana (nahnahnahnah) - spider
nanea (nah nay ah) - fascinating, relaxing
nani (nah nee) - pretty, beatifull
na'o (nah- oh) - phlegm, slimy
naoano (nah oh ah no) - ants

oha (oh hah) - to greet, affection
ohelo (oh hay low) - a small native shrub*** ohelo berries are eaten and used to make jam
ola (oh lah) - life, health
'oia'i'o (oh ee ah-ee-oh) - truth
ohana (oh hana) - family
ono (oh no) - good, tasty, delicious***
ôpű (oh poo) - belly, stomach***

pakalaki (pah kah lah kee) - bad luck, unlucky
paio (pie oh) - to quarrel or fight
pali (pah lee) - cliff
pau (pow) - done, finished***
pilialoha (pee lee ah low ha) - close friendship

***Many thanks to "New pocket Hawaiian dictionary" by Mary Kawena Pukui and Samuel H Elbert and "Handy Hawaiian Dictionary" by Henry P. Judd, Mary Kawena Pukui and John F.G. Stokes and "A Dictionary of the Hawaiian Language" by Lorrin Andrews. These books are instrumental in the continuing construction of this page. Buy New Pocket Hawaiian Dictionary from Amazon.com.

***A page entirely in Hawaiian***

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