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– Next, the macron over ā tells us this is an elongated a. It tells us this is two sounds stuck together. Let’s break it down, because if you can do this one, you’re well on your way to doing the rest: Here are some loose guidelines:įake it ’till you make it: When in doubt, you can split it down the middle and use a softer “w” sound somewhere between the two.Īn often mispronounced town name that is a great example because it shows all the above rules (except W) is Pā’ia. This is the only tricky rule that requires experience to get it right. If that’s too easy, here’s a nuance: p and k typically have a softer sound with less aspiration. All consonents, (with some W exceptions below) are as in English. (The macron is also very frequently omitted.)
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Note: A macron ( ¯ ) over a vowel extends the sound. U makes an “oo” sound like the oo in “moo” O makes a short “oh” sound like the o in “pole” I makes an “e” sound like the e in “easy” Vowels are pronounced the same way every time.Ī makes a short “ah” sound like the a in “above”Į makes an “eh” sound like the e in “let” Make a note when you see a word that contains one, it will help you later when you see it again without. Note: the ‘okina can be, and often is, omitted.
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Because this symbol is often missing from non-Hawaiian keyboards, an apostrophe is often used in its place. Okina (): This symbol, unique to Hawaiian and its cousin languages, represents a glottal stop, like before each syllable of uh-oh in English. Example: A’a, a type of lava, is said “Ah-Ah.” The stop also breaks the words up for you. The Hawaiian W is pronounced as a cross between an English W & V. The glottol stop ( ‘ ) is your friend.Ĭalled the ‘okina in Hawaiian, this is simply the symbol of a short sound break in the word.
Hawaiian okina i how to#
Break them up, and you’ll find that most of these intimidating looking words are really a string of much simpler repeated sounds you already know how to say.Ī great resource is the University Of Hawaii’s online dictionary. Hawaiian makes wide use of compound words, so some of these words can get long in a hurry. Just like teaching a youngster to read, breaking larger words into smaller component pieces will speed up pronouncing a word. In fact, Hawaiian uses only 12 letters, and they’re from the same alphabet you already know. Pronunciation rules have few exceptions, and the alphabet was developed to have only one symbol for each sound. Contents 1 Names 2 Appearance 3 Orthography and official status 3. The Hawaiian language in written form was created just two centuries ago with the aim of making it easy for Westerners to learn. The okina ( Hawaiian pronunciation: okin ), also called by several other names, is a unicameral consonant letter used within the Latin script to mark the phonemic glottal stop, in many Polynesian languages. If you can invest fifteen minutes to understand these basic rules, you’ll be confidently rattling off words like humuhumunukunukuāpua’a without a second thought. To visitors, the unfamiliar letter combinations can be daunting, and the longer words can appear downright incomprehensible! But I have a secret for you – that is just the surface.