Learn The Hawaiian Language
English and Hawaiian are Hawaii's two official
languages.
Until the arrival of American missionaries in the early 1800s, the Hawaiian
language was an oral tradition. These missionaries helped create a written form of the language. It consists of five vowels
and seven consonants:
a, e, i, o. u, h, k, l, m. n, p and w
Pronunciation Key
Stressed vowels
a
ah. as in far: hale
e - a as in way: nene
i - ee, as in see: pali
o - oh, as in no: taro
u - oo, as in moon: kapu
Unstressed vowels
a - a, as in again: kapu
e - eh. as in get: hale
Consonants sound the same as English.
Note: Sometimes the "W" is pronounced
the same as "V"
Commonly used Hawaiian words and definitions:
ae yes
ahupuaa division of land stretching from mountains to sea
aina
land, earth
alii Hawaiian royalty
aloha a fond greeting or farewell , the spirit of Kauai
a hui hou until we meet
again
aole no
ewa westward
halau house for hula training; hula troupe
hale house or building
hana work;
bay
haole foreigner, Caucasian
hapa half, person of mixed ancestry
heiau ancient Hawaiian religious temple
huhu
angry, agitated
hui group organization
hula uniquely Hawaiian form of dance, communication, often through stories
imu underground pit oven used in luau
kahiko traditional. old
Kohala humpback whale
kahuna priest, expert
in a field
kai ocean, ocean water
kalo, taro a broad-leafed plant that produces starchy roots
kamaaina local or
long-time resident
kane man
kapu tax, forbidden
keiki child; offspring
kipuka oasis of undisturbed land within
a lava field
koa largest of native trees
kokua help, cooperation
kona leeward, leeward wind
koolau windward
side of island
kupuna grandparent
lanai porch veranda
lae cape, point
lei garland of flowers, leaves or shells
lolo feeble minded
luakini temple for human sacrifice
luau feast
mahalo thank you
mahimahi dolfin,fish
makaainana commoner
makahiki celebration held annually with sports and religious festivities
makai towards the
ocean
malihini newcomer visitor
mana spiritual power
mauka inland, towards the mountains
mauna mountain
menehune
legendary -little people who inhabited islands before Polynesians
moku island
moana ocean, sea
moo lizard, reptile,
dragon, water spirit
muumuu long and loose fitting dress
nani beautiful
nene rare native goose
ohana family
ono delicious
pahoehoe smooth lava
pali cliff. precipice
paniolo cowboy
pohaku stone, rock
poi pounded
taro root
puka hole, shell
pupu appetizer, snack
puu hill, cinder cone
pupu snack, appetizer
puuhonua
place of refuge
ukulele stringed instrument, small guitar
wahine woman
wikiwiki quickly
Kä Nai'a Palapala
A'o 'Ölelo Hawai'i -- Ha'awina 'ekahi
Nai'a's Learn Hawaiian Writings -- Lesson One: The Basics
This is a lot of information to cover at once, so take your time! It's crucial
to have a strong foundation for any further study of the language.
Ka Pï'äpä -- The Alphabet
The Hawaiian alphabet is the shortest in the world,
with only 13 letters. They are, in order:
a, e, i, o, u, h, k, l, m, n, p, w, '
The names of the letters are pronounced: 'ä, 'ë, 'ï, 'ö, 'ü, hë, kë, lä,
mü, nü, pï, wë, 'okina.
Vowels sometimes have macrons (kahakö) to show that they are long (see below.)
For more on Ka Pï'äpä Hawai'i (the Hawaiian alphabet), see:
Leilani's Page,
ka pï'äpä", Hawaiian Alphabet Song,
A note on special characters: There are special fonts that one can use which
have characters with kahakö (macrons). Generally in plain ASCII text, e-mail &c, they are left out (though I've see a_,
aa, a* and A, a~ and â used to represent my version, ä, at various times). In these lessons, I'm using ä, ë, ï, ö, ü, as they
are easy to read both in the Hawaiian fonts, where they are the actual macron characters, and in Times New Roman and some
other common fonts, where they look like umlauts.
Both ' and ` are used for the 'okina, depending on preference. The "real"
'okina looks like a backwards apostrophe, that is, pointing in the same direction as ` and curved. The Hawaiian fonts have
a special character for the 'okina as well. Personally, I think it's unnecessary, as ' gets the point across perfectly well,
is much more convenient and looks fine.
In older written texts sometimes the kahako and 'okina are left out.
Get Hawaiian
Fonts for both Macintosh and Windows. (Kualono page)
Here's what Leilani has to say about the diacritical marks.
Pronunciation
a is pronounced as in "father"
e is pronounced somewhere between in "met"
and ey in "they"
i is pronounced as ee in "meet"
o is pronounced as in "sole".
u is pronounced as oo in "moon".
Long vowels (ä, ë, ï, ö, ü) are pronounced the same as their short counterparts
only, quite sensibly, longer. For two beats instead of one, if you will. It is important to pronounce long vowels long, as
this can make a difference between the meanings of two otherwise similar words.
h, l, m and n are pronounced as in English.
k, and p are pronounced as in English, but with less aspiration. Hold your hand
in front of your mouth while pronouncing words like "poke" or "cap"--you should feel a little puff of air. Now try to pronounce
the same words without the little puff of air (as the "p" in "spin" is usually pronounced). This will approximate the Hawaiian
pronunciation.
w is pronounced somewhere in between our "v" and "w". (something like a voiced
w) Don't worry about it overly, either sound is acceptable.
', the 'okina, represents a glottal stop. This sound often occurs in the middle
of oh-oh (as in "oh-oh, I'm in trouble now!") in english. It can be difficult to hear in at the beginning of a word if said
alone, though it is still important to remember when it occurs at the beginning of a word, as it can be clearly heard in the
middle of a sentence.
Note: Sometimes "t" and "r" sounds are made in place of "k" and "l" sounds,
respectively.. This is a common variation, and does not change the meaning of the words. "k" and "l" are almost always written,
regardless of which pronunciation is used. The "k" and "l" sounds always go together and the "t" and "r" sounds always go
together.
This is just a general guide; for more, see:
Leilani's Pronunciation page
Kualono's
Pronunciation Page, with .au files
A page with .wav files of Hawaiian words
Another page with .wav files of Hawaiian
words
Tidbits: Why "Pï'äpä"?
You might be wondering, hey, how the heck did they get "pï'äpä" out of "alphabet"?
The clearest explanation I've heard is from Albert Schutz, in The Voices of Eden:
"In the edition [of Webster's (english)
speller, excedingly popular at the time Hawaiians were being taught to read & write] just quoted, Lesson 1 begins with
a table of syllables..to be spelled aloud and then pronounced as units: ba be bi bo bu by. Thus, students began to learn to
read by reciting the names of the letters and the pronouncing the syllable the letters spelled: bï, ä: bä....This practice
of spelling aloud, especially using the "syllabarium," gave the Hawaiian alphabet its name. Just as American schoolchildren
taught with Webster's speller began their recitation by naming the letters that formed the first syllable, and then pronouncing
the result: "B, A--BA," so did Hawaiian learners. However, they pronounced these sounds "pï, ä--pä," which is now the word
for "alphabet".
Vocabulary/Common Social Phrases...
'Ae - Yes
'A'ole - No
Au - I
'oe - You {singular}
Aloha kakahiaka
- Good morning
Aloha 'awakea - Good afternoon
Aloha auinala - Good afternoon (late)
Aloha ahiahi - Good evening
Pehea
'oe? - How are you? (when talking to one person)
Maika'i au. - I'm good.
Maika'i nö au. - I'm very good.
Maluhiluhi
au. - I'm tired.
Mahalo. - Thanks, thank you.
A 'o 'oe? - And you?
A hui hou. - Goodbye, until we meet again
A
hui hou aku nö. - {in reply to the above}
E mälama pono 'oe (i kou kino.) - Take care (of your body.) {A common parting
phrase}
E ku'u hoaaloha...
"E" is a little grammatical word that is placed in
front when addressing someone directly, as used in the example dialogue below.
Example Dialogue:
Keola: Aloha kakahika, e Pua.
Pua: Aloha, e Keola. Pehea
'oe?
Keola: Maika'i au, mahalo. 'A 'o 'oe?
Pua: Mäluhiluhi au. Mahalo. A hui hou, e Keola.
Keola: 'Ae, e mälama pono
'oe.
Okay, now we know letters, pronunciations, social phrases... we can get to the interesting part. Words, and words
strung together into...sentences!
Vocabulary...
Nä 'A'ano:
akamai - smart
kolohe - rascal
maika'i
- good
nani - pretty, beautiful
nui - big
'ono - delicious
Nä Kikino
'ïlio -- dog
inoa -- name
hale -- house, Building
ka'a
-- car
kai -- sea
kane -- man
keiki -- child
kumu -- teacher
lä -- day, sun
lani -- sky
mea -- thing
mele
-- song, poem
pilikia -- trouble
pöpoki -- cat
pua -- flower
wahine -- woman
he -- a, an
ke, ka -- the
këia -- this
kënä -- that (near)
këlä
-- that (far)
Articles, k-words
"He" is somewhat equivalent to the english "a" or "an"
(indefinite articles). You'll see it used in the examples below. This is one of a few patterns where it is used, more often
"ke" and "ka" are used instead, even where in english we would say "a/an" or have nothing at all.
Ke and ka are both similar
to the english "the" (they are definite articles). The difference between them is 'cosmetic', similar to the difference between
a and an in english. Ke is used before words beginning with the letters a, e, o and k. (An easy way to remember those letters
is the name "Kekoa" (which means "the warrior")) Ka is used everywhere else. Remember that the 'okina is considered a letter,
so ka should be used before words beginning with the 'okina.
Hawaiian nouns almost never go about without "ke", "ka" or
other "k-words" in front of them. Keia, kena and kela are also k-words, and may replace "ke/ka" in front of nouns.
Kënä & Këlä
Kënä and këlä both translate as "that" in english. The difference
between them is, kënä is used when discussing something near the person being spoken to, and këlä is used when discussing
something that's not near either the listener or the speaker. (Japanese and some other languages draw the same distinction)
Nani këia pua: Nä 'a'ano (the stative verbs)
Hawaiian has nothing like the
english verb "to be". Different patterns and word orderings are used instead. One of the most basic of these is for describing
things. In english, you say that something is pretty or blue or silly or delicious or inspiring. Here's how to do it in Hawaiian:
Nani këia pua. - This flower is pretty. (lit.Pretty this flower.)
Nui kënä
pöpoki! - That (near listener) cat is big!
Kolohe ka 'ïlio. - The dog is mischevious.
Akamai loa au. - I am very smart.
As you've certainly noticed, the describing word goes first, and then whatever
it's describing. In english, most of these describing words are "adjectives", but because of how they function, in Hawaiian,
they're called "stative verbs".
If you just want to tack a descriptive word onto a noun, it goes after it (kind
of like in Spanish).. for example:
këia pua nani - This pretty flower
kënä nui pöpoki - This big cat
ka 'ïlio
kolohe - The rascal dog
Stative verbs are all well and good--we can say how blue or sexy or amazing or ugly something is--but
what about verbs as English speakers usually think of verbs? In other words, let's get some action going!
Vocabulary...
Nä Hamani (transitive verbs)
Ha'awi -- to give
Hele aku
-- to go
Hele mai -- to come
Nänä -- to look
Ki'i -- to get
'Ai -- to eat
Aloha -- to love
Hana -- to work
Nä Kikino
Mea 'ai -- food (lit. thing (to) eat)
Puke -- book
Verb Sentences
In Hawai'i, the verb usually goes right near the beginning of the sentence.
Next is the subject, that is, what/whoever is performing the action, and after that is the direct object, or what/whoever
the action is being performed on (in "Lehua eats the chocolate", Lehua is the subject, eats is the verb, and chocolate is
the direct object). We could say that Hawaiian is a VSO language, that is, verb-subject-object. As in any language, this is
not a rigid order, but it's right for simple sentences.
Examples:
Nänä ke keiki -- The child looks.
Nänä ke keiki i ke kai. --
The child looks at the sea.
'Ai ke kane. -- The man eats.
'Ai ke kane i ka mea 'ai. -- The man eats the food.
Ha'awi
au i ka pua i ke keiki. -- I give the flower to the child.
Alia!, you're saying, wait a minute! What are those little "i" things there
for? Ah, I say, those are little grammatical particles. You put them in front of the objects. Thusly, in this case, they are
"object markers" (amazing, huh?). They go in front of direct objects and indirect objects. (in "I give the flower to the child",
the flower is the direct object, the thing I'm giving. The child is the indirect object, the one getting the flower). "i"
also functions as a place/time marker, it is placed in front of a place or time, for example:
Hele au i Hawai'i. -- I go to Hawai'i.
Nänä ke keiki i ka puke i ka hale.
-- The child looks at the book in the house.
'Ai au i ka mea 'ai i ka 'awakea. -- I eat food in the afternoon.
I ke
kakahiaka, ha'awi au i ka mea 'ai i ka pöpoki i ka hale. -- In the morning, I give food to the cat in the house.
Imperatives
If you're directing someone to do something, "e" is place in front of the verb.
Examples:
E Lilinoe, e ki'i 'oe i ka pöpoki! -- Lilinoe, get the cat!
E
'ai iho 'oe i ka mea 'ai! -- Eat the food!
E hele mai 'oe i Hawai'i! -- Come to Hawai'i!
E hele aku 'oe! -- Go! Go away!
E
ha'awi 'oe i këlä pua nani i ka wahine. -- Give that pretty flower to the lady.
The subject (in this case "'oe") is often left out if it is obvious. In
informal situations, the "e" at the beginning is sometimes dropped as well.
There is a list of common, simple imperative commands here (Leilani's page)
Negative Imperatives
For telling someone not to do something. These are just as straightforward as
the positive ones, you simply use "mai" instead of "e".
Examples:
Mai hele aku! -- Don't go!
Mai 'ai 'oe i kënä! -- Don't eat
that!
Mai nänä i ka lä. -- Don't look at the sun.
kika olelo
Nia kika olelo`a is a project/science fiction conlang begun by me (Eclipse)
on the 4th of July, 1997. At the moment, the language is much more developed than the culture it belongs to, but that will
change. The language also will be changing a bit as I create it, so don't count on even basic stuff to necessarily remain
the same until it's a bit farther along.
Let's practice with your name and years