A Hawaiian Language Pronunciation Guide - http://hawaiianlanguage.com

A Hawaiian Language Pronunciation Guide
Paying meticulous attention to the presence (or absence) of kahakô and `okina will vastly improve your Hawaiian language mastery, as they have profound influences on word meanings and allow you to sound more like a native speaker and less like a foreigner.

Index
Vowels	Accent / Stress
Vowels with Kahakô	Pronunciation Resources
Consonants	Kahakô & `Okina
Diphthongs	Common Mispronunciations
W- and Y- Glides	More Practice

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Vowels
Nâ Hua Palapala Leo Kahi

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].

Hawaiian vowels are pronounced without "off-glides", which are transitional sounds added by the non-native speaker and away from the proper pronunciation, as with a Southern drawl or to "prettify" the language to sound more like English.

Example: haole (white person, non-endemic, Caucasian) is
pronounced [hao' leh],

hao as in the English word "how", a diphthong sound without a nasal twang and
leh with a short "e" sound, as in the English word, "bet".

Haole is NOT pronounced [how' lay].
Haole is NOT pronounced [how' lee].

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Elongated Vowels Nâ Hua Palapala Leo Kahi me nâ Kahakô
When a vowel has a kahakô (usually a straight line over the vowel, still unavailable on the Internet; for our purposes, a "^" is used as a substitute), it is sounded by emphatically elongating the vowel sound.
Vowels	Sounds	As in:	Examples:
â	[AH]	"Ahh! This is heaven."	`âpala (apple) [AH' pah lah]
ê	[EH]	"Hooray!"	`Ê! (Hey!) [EH!]
î	[EE]	"See!"	`îlio (dog) [EE' lee (y)oh]
ô	[OH]	"OH NO!"	`ôpû (belly) [OH' POO']
û	[OO]	"Oops!"	Hûi! (Halloo!) [HOO' (w)ee]

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Consonants Nâ Leokanipû
p, k	About as in English but with less aspiration.
h, l, m, n	About as in English.
w	When it starts a word or after "a", "w"- sound or "v"-sound is acceptable.	Hawai`i [Hah wai' ee] or [Ha vai' ee] Welina! (affectionate greeting) [Veh lee' nah!] or [Weh lee' nah!]
w	After "i" and "e", usually "v"- sound.	iwi (bone) [ee' vee], Ewa (city on O`ahu) [eh' vah]
w	After "u" and "o", usually "w"-sound.	kûwili (to spin in a dance) [KOO' wee lee] wôwô (to roar, bellow) [WOH' WOH']
` (`okina)	The `okina is a consonant, which sounds like the break in "Oh-oh, I broke it." It signifies a breath break.

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Diphthongs
Na Leo Hui O Nâ Palapala `Elua

Diphthong: [pronounced dip' thong] 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 stressed, but the two vowels are not as closely joined as in English.

"ai" sounds like the "i" in ice.

"ae" sounds like I or eye.

"ao" sounds like "ow" in how, but without a nasal twang.

"au" sounds like the "ou" in house or out, but without a nasal twang.

"ei" sounds like "ei" in chow mein or in eight.

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

"iu" sounds like the "ew" in few.

"oi" sounds like the "oi" in voice

"ou" sounds like the "ow" in bowl.

"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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W and Y Glides
Nâ Kîkaha W a me Y

These glide sounds are automatically produced with certain vowel combinations. The w- or y-sound can vary, sometimes barely audible and subtle to distinctly pronounced, depending on the word and the speaker:

W - glide examples:

Maui [ Mau' (w)ee] (an island in the Hawaiian chain)

`oe [oh (w)eh' ] (you)

Auê [ au (W)EH'! ] (Oh no! Darn! Shucks!)

lauoho [lau' (w)oh hoh] (hair)

Y- glide examples:

ia [ee' (y)ah] (he, she, it)

`iâia [ee (Y)AH' (y)ah] (him, her; to him, to her)

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Accent or Stress: Rules of Thumb
Kaulele: Nâ Lula Kumu

I. For all words: Accent syllables with kahakô.

Example 1: kahakô [kah hah KOH'] a diacritical mark which indicates the speaker should lengthen the sound of the vowel

Example 2: kûpuna [KOO' poo nah] elders, ancestors

II. For words without kahakô: Accent syllables with diphthongs.

Example 1: hau`oli [hau' oh lee] (happy)

Example 2: umauma [oo mau' mah] (chest)

III. For words without kahakô or diphthongs: Accent the "next-to-last" syllable.

Example 1: hale [hah' leh] (house)

Example 2: aloha [ah loh' hah] (greetings, love, affection)

IV. For compound words (words made up of two or more words), break up the word into its separate parts and use the "next-to-last" rule-of-thumb:

Example 1: ku`uipo [koo' oo (y)ee' poh] = ku`u (my) + ipo (sweetheart)

Example 2: holoholo [hoh' loh hoh' loh] (going out, carousing) = holo + holo

Exceptions exist: words containing five syllables without kahakô are stressed on the first and fourth syllables: example: `elemakule (old man) [eh' leh mah koo' leh]. The final stress in a word is usually louder than preceding stress or stresses.

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Pronunciation Resources and Practice

101 Things to Do: Audio Hawaiian Language

Hawaiian Words with Soundbites

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Aloha a hui hou, Aunty D

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