Map of Oʻahu & Summary of the Hawaiian Language

As the Hawaiian language appears throughout the award-winning Natalie Seachrist mysteries, 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 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 ʻokina ( ʻ ). Often, the “W” is pronounced like an English “V.” As there is no “S” in the Hawaiian language, plurals are determined by the preceding article. Each vowel is sounded in Hawaiian; 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);  it is employed to produce a break as in “oh-oh.”   

Please note, that in accordance with standard practices, foreign words included in this work are subject to the grammatical rules of English.