Many people mistakenly believe the Hawaiian language is a primitive communication that can express only a few ideas.  However, comprehensive Hawaiian dictionaries contain well over 26,000 entries to describe the beauty, culture, history and geography of Hawaii.  The "Instant Hawaiian" pocket guide by Scott Burlington indicates there are 33 ways to indicate a cloud, depending the type of cloud you're referencing.  

Would you like to know a little more about the Hawaiian Language?  Perhaps recognize or even speak a few Hawaiian words while you're on vacation?  Here are some basics:

There are only 12 letters in the Hawaiian Alphabet.

A, E, H, I, K, L, M, N, O, P, U & W

Think that makes it easy? Think again. Well, it’s not THAT bad. You’ll have it mastered in no time.

The consonants (H, K, L, M, N, P & W) sound pretty much the same as in English. However, the vowels are different.

a sounds like [ah] as in above [ah buv ].

e sounds like [eh] as in bet [beht ].

i sounds like [ee] as in be [bee].

o sounds like [oh] as in obey [oh bei ]

u sounds like [oo] as in rule [rool].

There are also elongated vowels (a vowel with a line over it, like: é) When you see an elongated vowel, you put more emphasis on the sound. I, O & U sound much the same, with more emphasis. A & E have a somewhat different sound:

à Instead of ah, as in above, it sounds like [AH] or [AW] "Ahh! This is heaven."

è Instead of eh, as in bet, it sounds like [EY] or [AY] as in "Hooray!"

Hawaiian words often have two vowels together in a word. This is called a Dipthong.

Diphthong: [pronounced dip' thong] is a vowel sound made up of two vowel sounds pronounced together, such as ou in house, oi in noise.

As a general rule, vowels are pronounced separately EXCEPT when they appear as diphthongs. The first vowel is always emphasized, but the two vowels are joined as closely as in English. They still each have a distinct sound, but they are run together and spoken in a single syllable.

"ai" sounds like the "i" in ice, but you can slightly hear the “ah” before the i

"ae" sounds like I or eye. You can barely hear the “eh” at the end

"ao" sounds like "ow" in how, but without a nasal twang. (a-ow, run together)

"au" sounds like the "ou" in house or out, but without a nasal twang. (ah-ou, run together)

"ei" sounds like "ei" in chow mein or in eight. (eh-ee, run together)

"eu" has no equivalent in English; "eu" sounds like "eh-oo", run together, as a single syllable.

"iu" sounds like the "ew" in few. (ee-oo, run together)

"oi" sounds like the "oi" in voice or boy (oh-ee)

"ou" sounds like the "ow" in bowl. (oh-oo, run together)

"ui" is an unusual sound for English-speakers, sort of like the "ooey" in gooey, but pronounced as a single syllable.

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 Hawaiian Words

E ho`oma`ama`a,
[eh hoh oh mah' ah mah' ah]
e ho`oma`ama`a,
e ho`oma`ama`a!

(Practice, practice, practice!)

If you would like to learn more about the Hawaiian language, you can affordably buy a Hawaiian language guide book as the New Pocket Hawaiian Dictionary or the little Instant Hawaiian guide, which will give you the meanings and pronunciation for many Hawaiian words.