|
|
|
"Meke aloha pau ole." *
The Hawaiian Language (`OLELO HAWAI'I) By Louella Kapeka Cazimero-Bactad
There are only 12 letters in the pi'a pa (Hawaiian alphabet) -- five vowels (a, e, i, o, u) and seven consonants (h, k, l, m, n, p and w). The glottal stop (`) is called the `okina and recognized as a consonant in the pi`a pa. The vowels are pronounced as follows: a line a in above; e like e in bet; i like y in city; o like o in sole; and u like oo in moon. The consonants are pronounced as follows: p, k as in English but with less aspiration; h, l, m, n as in English; and w after i and e usually a lax v; after u and o usually like w; after a or initially, like w or v; and "`" a glottal stop similar to the sound between the oh's in English oh-oh. Just about everyone has heard of the word "aloha." Aloha means love, affection, greeting, regards. Hello! Goodbye! Farewell! Common greetings that you can use are: Aloha `oe (may you be loved or greeted), Aloha kaua (may there be friendship or love between us), Aloha ahiahi (good evening), and Aloha kakahiaka (good morning). Another common phrase you can use in exchanging pleasantries is "Pehea `oe?" (How are you?), to which one can reply with "Maika`i no, a o `oe?" ("Fine, and you?"). In Hawai'i, directions are generally given using mauka (toward the mountains) or makai (toward the sea). Landmarks and place names are also commonly used. For example, if you are seeking directions to Barber's Point Naval Air Station, you may be told to go towards "Ewa" or "Wai`anae." Many Hawaiian words popular in island vocabularies are easy to pronounce. For example: haole - white person, formerly any foreigner kapu - keep out or sacred kane - man wahine - woman lani - sky, heaven, spiritual lu'au - Hawaiian feast lua - hole that has a bottom; toilet nani - beauty, glory, splendor poi - Hawaiian staff of life, made from cooked taro corns, pounded and thinned with water puka - hole Have fun practicing Hawaiian words so you can add them to your vocabulary. Malama ku'u kino (Take care of yourself), and Aloha a hui ho aku! (Good-bye, until we meet again!) * Depending on your translation of "aloha", "Meke aloha pau ole" loosely means: "May our friendship never die." It also means, in certain contexts, "Our Never Ending Love." |
The Hawaiian language has been experiencing a resurgence in Hawaiian communities
all over the world. Both Hawaiians and non-Hawaiians have taken a special
interest in learning how to speak the Hawaiian language because of their
interest in the Hawaiian culture and the fear that the Hawaiian language was
becoming extinct. For this reason, it is important for the Hawaiian language to
be learned and spoken correctly.