Hawaiian Language

Hawaiians speak 2 languages: English and Hawaiian. Pure Hawaiian is spoken by minute minority and is still prevalent in music and taught in school as a special language.

There are 12 letters in Hawaiian alphabet: the five vowels A, E, I, O, U pronounced as "ah, ay, ee, oh, oo"; and consonants H, K, L, M, N, P, W having the same sounds as in English, with one exception.

When W is next to the final letter in a word, it is pronounced as a "V." For example, Hurricane Iwa is pronounced "eevah," but Waikiki is pronounced "why-kee-kee" because the W is at the beginning of the word.

The following are the commonly used Hawaiian words and their English equivalents:

Hawaiian Word Meaning
aloha greeting, love
hale house
kamaaina long-time resident
kane man
wahine woman
kapu forbidden, taboo
keiki child
kokua help, assistance
luau feast, celebration
mahalo thank you
makai toward the ocean
malihini newcomer, visitor
mauka toward the mountain
moana ocean, sea
muumuu loose fitting dress
ohana family
ono delicious
pau finished, over
puka hole
pupus appetizers