Hawaiian Lexicon
While visiting Hawai‘i you will likely come across several seemingly unpronounceable street names. The key to getting it right is to first, take your time to sound out each syllable separately; second, remember the vowel sounds a, e, i, o, u are pronounced “ah” as in auto, “eh” as in get, “ee” as in meet, “oh” as in phone and “ooh” as in room; and finally, there are diacritical marks that will modify the sounds of the vowels when they occur. The kahakō, or macron, is a line over a vowel that elongates that vowel sound. The ‘okina, or glotteral stop that looks like a backwards apostrophe, separates the vowel sounds.
Speaking with the locals you will probably also hear several Hawaiian words that are used in every day language. Here are a few to keep you in the loop:
- Akamai: Smart
- Aloha: Love, and is also used as greeting and farewell. It is appropriate to respond with “aloha!” when greeting or departing a friend, family member, or business associate.
- Kōkua: Help or cooperation
- Makai: Toward the sea
- Mauka: Toward the mountains. In island communities, there really is no sense in using north, east, south and west when giving directions, almost everything can be found by either going toward the mountains or toward the ocean! In Honolulu we further refine direction giving by indicating whether you should be traveling toward the east side of the island (Diamond Head) or toward the west side (‘ewa) but this only applies to Honolulu.
- Mahalo: Thank you. Say Mahalo nui loa to say “thank you very much.”
- Ono: Delicious
- Pau: Finished
To learn more Hawaiian words visit Ulukau, the Hawaiian Electronic Library.
You will also likely come across several local idioms while speaking with the locals. Hawai‘i has its own form of creole English which we refer to as “pidgin.” Here are a few terms that you should know:
- Brah: Brother. Typically used when addressing friends. Ex: Eh, howzit brah?
- Chicken skin: Goose bumps
- Da Kine: The thing. The Hawaiian version whatchmacallit, or thingamabob. Can be used to reference people, places, things, pretty much anything.
- Howzit: How are you?
- Lua: Restroom. While the word lua literally means “hole” it has become slang for restroom.
- Plany: Plenty, lots of.
- Stink eye: Dirty look
- Shoots: Alright
- Talk story: Casual conversation
Click here to learn more pidgin English.