Hawaiian alphabet and pronunciation

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Alphabet and Pronunciation

• There are thirteen letters in the Hawaiian alphabet:

Aa - Pronounced as the a in sofa when it is not stressed. When the letter “a” is stressed, it is pronounced as the a in bar.

Ee - Pronounced as the e in bell when it is not stressed. When the letter “e” is stressed, it is pronounced as the ay in stay.

Ii - Pronounced as the ee in flee.

Oo - Pronounced as the o in tow.

Uu - Pronounced as the oo in coo.

Hh - Pronounced the same as in English.

Kk - Pronounced the same as in English although with less aspiration.

Note: The letter “k” can be pronounced as either a “k” or a “t,” depending on dialect, and the pronunciation of the “t” is most notable in the dialect of Ni‘ihau and Kaua‘i. In this dialect, the use of the “t” over the “k” can depend on the particular word and the number of k's in the word. In words with one “k,” the letter is generally pronounced as a “t” (ex. te, ta, tāua, tu'u, matau). In words with two “k's,” the first “k” is pronounced as a “k” and the second one is pronounced as a “t” (ex. ketahi, kātou, kahatai). However, these are not infallible rules for when it is appropriate to use the “t.” Rather, they are observations of commonalities (Refer to section 2.8.1 of Hawaiian Grammar for more information about the Ni‘ihau dialect).

Ll - Pronounced the same as in English. Note: Among Ni‘ihau speakers, the “l” is sometimes, very rarely, pronounced as an “r.”

Mm - Pronounced the same as in English.

Nn - Pronounced the same as in English though the Hawaiian n is dental-alveolar.

Pp - Pronounced the same as in English although with less aspiration.

Ww - Pronounced as either a “w” or a soft “v,” depending on two things:

1) The vowel preceding the letter “w,” and the placement of the letter “w” in the sentence. Generally, the letter “w” is pronounced as a “v” when preceded by “I” or “e.” When preceded by “o” or “u,” it is generally pronounced as a “w.” When it is the first letter in the sentence or when it is preceded by “a,” it is acceptable for it to be pronounced as either a “w” or a “v.”

2)) The dialect of the speaker. On Hawai‘i island, it is more common for the letter “w” to be pronounced like a “v.” On the northern end of the chain of islands, such as Kaua‘i and Ni‘ihau, the letter is commonly pronounced as a “w.” When the letter “w” is in the initial position, many older native speakers pronounce it as a soft “v,” intermediate between a “w” and “v” sound (Refer to pg. xvii of E Kama‘ilio Hawai‘i Kakou ).

‘ - The glottal stop, also known as the ‘okina, is pronounced like the break in uh-uh; a further example of this sound for English speakers can be found in Cockney and Estuary English where the “t” sound in words like “little” or “bottle” is replaced with the glottal stop. In Hawaiian, the glottal stop is a full-fledged consonant. The addition or omission of the glottal stop in Hawaiian changes the meaning of the word.

Examples: a‘a (root), ‘a‘a (to dare, to brave); kou (your), ko‘u (my); kai (sea), ka‘i (to lead); mai (from), ma‘i (ill; genitals); ‘ai (to eat), ai (to copulate); hai (to offer), ha‘i (to break).

Notes

1. In Hawaiian there are no consonant clusters, and no word can end in a consonant.

2. Hawaiian vowels have an elongated form in addition to the regular, indicated by the macron, which is called a kahakō in the Hawaiian language. Elongated vowels appear as follows: Āā, Ēē, Īī, Ōō, Ūū. Vowels with the macron are pronounced twice as long as normal vowels, and they are stressed. The elongated vowels are significant sounds, so replacing them with the short forms or vice versa changes the meaning of the word.

Examples: kāua (you and I), kaua (war), kauā (outcast, untouchable; servant); makau (hook), mākau (understanding); koa (brave), kōā (intervening space or time); paka (raindrops), pākā (to cut in slices); paha (to improvise a chant), pāhā (by fours, four at a time); māhu (steam, vapor), mahū (weak, flat, as of weak kava or stale beer), māhū (homosexual); wahine (woman), wāhine (women).

3. In the Hawaiian Dictionary by Elbert and Pukui, to aid pronunciation, words are broken into stress groups separated by periods. Within each stress group, the stress falls on the penultimate. All elongated vowels are stressed as well.

• For more information on pronunciation, refer to chapter 2 of Hawaiian Grammar.

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