The Hawaiian Language Alphabet and Pronunciation
Thirteen letters, two marks and a few rules: enough to say almost any Hawaiian word correctly.
Get Free Hawaii Trip QuotesThe Hawaiian Language Alphabet: Thirteen Letters
The Hawaiian language alphabet is one of the shortest in the world. Hawaiian was an oral language until American missionaries and Hawaiian scholars worked out a written form in the 1820s, choosing one letter for each sound. The result is a spelling system that is very regular: once you know the letters, you can read almost any Hawaiian word aloud.
| Letters | How to say them |
|---|---|
| a | ah, as in father |
| e | eh, as in bet |
| i | ee, as in see |
| o | oh, as in sole |
| u | oo, as in moon |
| h, k, l, m, n, p | Much as in English |
| w | Like w or a soft v; after i and e it often sounds closer to v, which is why some people say “Ha-vai-ee” |
| ʻ (ʻokina) | A glottal stop, the catch in the middle of “uh-oh” |
The ʻOkina and the Kahakō
Two marks do a lot of work in written Hawaiian. The ʻokina looks like a reversed apostrophe and counts as a consonant. It tells you to briefly stop the sound, as in Hawaiʻi (ha-wai-ee with a tiny break), Oʻahu (oh-AH-hoo) and Kauaʻi (kow-AH-ee). The kahakō is the line over a vowel. It makes the vowel longer and usually draws the stress, as in Waikīkī or Lānaʻi.
These marks are not decoration. Leaving them out can turn one word into another: pau means finished, paʻu means soot and pāʻū is a skirt, the kind worn by women riders in parades. Newer maps, road signs and state publications increasingly include both marks, so learning them also helps you read the islands.
Simple Rules for Saying Hawaiian Words
- Every syllable ends in a vowel. Hono-lulu, Wai-kī-kī, Ka-mehameha.
- Never put two consonants together. If you find yourself saying “Hon-lulu,” slow down.
- Say every vowel. In Kailua you hear a, i, u and a: kai-LOO-ah.
- Stress usually falls on the next-to-last syllable, unless a kahakō pulls it elsewhere.
- Vowel pairs such as ai, ae, ao, au, ei, eu, oi, ou and iu glide together into one sound, a little like the English words eye, ow and ay.
Practicing on road signs is the easiest way to learn. Our place-names page gives the meanings of the names you will drive past, and the word list covers everyday vocabulary.
The Hawaiian Language Today
After the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom, an 1896 law made English the language of instruction in schools, and over the next decades the number of native speakers fell sharply. The revival that began with the cultural renaissance of the 1970s changed that. Hawaiian became an official state language in 1978, immersion preschools and public-school programs grew from the 1980s, and the University of Hawaiʻi teaches the language through to advanced degrees. Today Hawaiian is heard on radio and television, in schools, at ceremonies and in new music, and it is no longer a language visitors only meet on maps.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many letters are in the Hawaiian alphabet?
Thirteen: the vowels a, e, i, o and u; the consonants h, k, l, m, n, p and w; and the ʻokina, which is a consonant (a glottal stop). Long vowels are marked with a kahakō, but they are not counted as separate letters.
Is it Hawaii or Hawaiʻi?
In Hawaiian the name is Hawaiʻi, with an ʻokina before the last i. Both spellings are used in English; many state agencies, newspapers and residents use the ʻokina, and it is always correct.
How do you say humuhumunukunukuāpuaʻa?
Break it into pairs: humu-humu-nuku-nuku-ā-pua-ʻa. Every syllable ends in a vowel, so once you split it the word of the state fish is easy.
Hear Hawaiian Spoken Where It Lives
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