Oʻahu & Maui Maps and Hawaiian Language Summary
Carol began life on the island of Maui
Don't forget to enjoy the cool breezes of the upcountry community of ʻUlupalakua if you are visiting the island of Maui.
Carol's lived her adult life on the island of Oʻahu
A custom cottage in the friendly town of Kāne’ohe on the windward side of the island of Oʻahu was the home of Carol's family.
Summary of the Hawaiian language
As the Hawaiian language appears throughout the this oral history series, I offer the following summary to help you understand aspects of the Hawaiian language as you read these mysteries. When I first moved to Tucson, Arizona, I was often questioned about the pronunciation of Hawaiian words I sometimes used. I soon realized that for speakers of Spanish, pronouncing Hawaiian was easier than they realized. In short, the pronunciation of Hawaiian is very similar to Spanish...with one major difference, unlike Spanish the "H" is sounded in Hawaiian!
The Hawaiian language was unwritten until 1826, when Protestant Christian missionaries transcribed the sounds of the language into a thirteen-letter alphabet. Hawaiian consonants are pronounced as in standard American English. They include H, K, L, M, N, P, W, and the ʻ'okina ( ʻ ). Often, the “W” is pronounced like an English “V.” All words in the Hawaiian language end in a vowel. All vowels are sounded. They are similar in pronunciation to those in Spanish, and other Latin-based European languages:
A = Ah, as in above
E = Eh, as in let
I = Ee, as in eel
O = Oh, as in open
U = Oo, as in soon
~ Diphthongs are expressed as common English sounds. The “au” transliteration is pronounced as “ow” in “How.”
~ Diacritical marks indicate emphasis and syllable separation. A kahakō ( - ) placed over vowels indicates a need to hold the vowel sound slightly longer, as seen in the “a” in the word “card.” The ʻokina ( ʻ ) is both a consonant and a diacritical mark (glottal stop), employed to produce a break as in “oh-oh.”
~ The Hawaiian language does not have verb conjugation.
~ There is no “S” in the Hawaiian language; plurals are determined by the preceding article.
~ In accordance with standard practices, foreign words included in this work are subject to the grammatical rules of English, including pluralization and possessives. I should note that the interviewee often used an “S” for possessives and to pluralize Hawaiian vocabulary.
