Hawaiian Language

The Hawaiian Language:

Although Hawaiian words may look challenging to pronounced they're typically easy to say if you sound out the word by each syllable. Sample word: Honolulu. Sound out: ho-no-lu-lu. There are 10 Hawaiian Vowels: 5 vowels: a e i o u [pronounced: ah eh ee oh oo] + 5 vowels with kahakô: â ê î ô û [pronounced with elongated sounds: AH EH EE OH OO] and 8 Hawaiian Consonants: h, k, l, m, n, p, w,[pronounced: heh, peh, keh, lah, moo, noo, peh, veh, `oh kee nah]. Please note that sometimes the "W" is pronounced the same as "V" as in Hawai'i.

Stressed vowels
a - ah, as in car: aloha
e - a, as in may: nene
i - ee, as in bee: honi
o - oh, as in so: mahalo
u - oo, as in spoon: kapu

Unstressed vowels
a - a, as in about: ali`i
e - eh, as in met: kane

In the Hawaiian language a symbol directly over a vowel called a kahakô indicates that the vowel sound is to be elongated. A apostrophe like symbol called an `okina indicates a quick pause in the word, as in "ah-ah" for the word a`a. Note: These Hawaiian vocabulary words have not been written with the use of the correct kahakô markings due to the absence of a Hawaiian Font.