The Language of the Ancient Hawaiians
The Hawaiian language is a dying language. Not very many people know everything about it, but people are trying their best to keep it alive. As children, most people who grow up in Hawai'i have to take some kind of Hawaiian culture and language class which includes learning Hawaiian history, dancing hula, chanting traditional stories, singing cute little Hawaiian songs, doing traditional crafts, looking at petroglyphs, and visiting ancient Hawaiian heiau, or temples. I have compiled a list of the most useful and common Hawaiian words and phrases.
The Hawaiian language has only 13 letters, one of which is the 'okina. The 'okina is the seemingly misplaced apostrophe in the middle or beginning of a word. It indicates a glottal stop which is basically a sharp pause in the word. It makes a huge difference. For example, the word pau (pow) means "done or finished." However, when an 'okina is added in between the a and the u, it becomes pa'u (pah-oo) which means "hula skirt." Who knew something so small could make such a huge difference. In Hawaiian, every letter is pronounced, and the "w's" in words make the same sound as a "v" in English. The word Hawai'i, therefore, should be pronounced "ha-vai-i." I hope these examples gave you somewhat of an idea of how the language works and sounds, but I will include pronunciations to help you along. Aloha!
The Hawaiian language has only 13 letters, one of which is the 'okina. The 'okina is the seemingly misplaced apostrophe in the middle or beginning of a word. It indicates a glottal stop which is basically a sharp pause in the word. It makes a huge difference. For example, the word pau (pow) means "done or finished." However, when an 'okina is added in between the a and the u, it becomes pa'u (pah-oo) which means "hula skirt." Who knew something so small could make such a huge difference. In Hawaiian, every letter is pronounced, and the "w's" in words make the same sound as a "v" in English. The word Hawai'i, therefore, should be pronounced "ha-vai-i." I hope these examples gave you somewhat of an idea of how the language works and sounds, but I will include pronunciations to help you along. Aloha!
Useful Hawaiian Words and Phrases
Aloha
“Hello,” “Goodbye,” and “I love you.” The meaning of the word is determined by the context it is in. Mahalo Thank you (Mahalo nui loa: Thank you very much) Pau (pow) Done, or finished ‘ohana Family Hula (Hoo-la) Traditional Hawaiian dance Kumu (koo-moo) Teacher Pua (poo-ah) Flower Ono Delicious Pono Righteous 'Aina The land Honu (ho-noo) Hawaiian Green Sea Turtle Kane (kah-nay) Man Wahine (wah-hee-nay) Woman Keiki (kay-kee) Child Kapu (kah-poo) Forbidden |
Kokua (ko-koo-ah)
Help hana hou Again, encore Akamai Smart Hale (ha-lay) House Hanai Adopted Kapakahi Lopsided kau kau (cow-cow) Food Makai (mah-kai) Towards the ocean, used as a sense of direction Mauka (mao-kah) Towards the mountain, used as a direction Niele (nee-eh-lay) Nosy no ka ‘oi the best opu (o-poo) Tummy Piko (pee-koh) Belly button Tutu (too-too) Grandma Mele Kalikimaka Merry Christmas |