Learning the Lingo

I'm always tempted to buy Rosetta Stone - but the stupid program is $200 - and some change. Can't afford that. Luckily that route is not even an option with the Hawaiian language. Though learning a new language can be intimidating, native Hawaiian lingo is a fun change of pace. At first, it can be confusing and frustrating (especially getting around with the street names). But once you get used to it, it kinda flows smoothly off the tongue. Just the sounds of the words remind me of trees gently swaying in the breeze and the sound of the crashing waves. I found out that today, Hawaiian is spoken as an every day language only on the privately owned island of Ni'ihau, 17 miles off the coast of Kaua'i (which I have no clue as to where that is). Otherwise, English is mixed into daily conversation with Hawaiian scattered in use. But I have figured out that pronunciation is not as tough as it seems.

When missionaries discovered that the Hawaiians had no written language, they sat down and created an alphabet. This Hawaiian alphabet has only 12 letters - less than half than English. Five vowels: A, E, I, O and U, as well as seven consonants, H, K, L, M, N, P and W. The consonants are pronounced just as they are in English, with the exception of W. It is often pronounced as a V when in the middle of a word and comes after an E or I. Vowels are pronounced as follows:

A - pronounced as in Ah if stressed, or above if not stressed.

E - pronounced as in say if stressed, or dent if not stressed.

I - pronounced as in bee.

O - pronounced as in no.

U - pronounced as in boo.

Then, I learned something rather different to me. The upside down apostrophe, known as a glottal stop, is meant to provide a hard stop in the pronunciation. It usually falls between a double letter. Just think about it...you and I have probably been pronouncing "Honolulu" wrong all our lives!

Give this one a go... it's the name of the Hawaiian state fish: Humuhumunukunukapua'a. It is often said that the fish's name is longer than the fish. Nonetheless, it sure is a beautiful creature, yeah?