Words
Basic Outrigger Canoe Vocabulary
‘e’e: get in the canoes
aloha: hello, goodbye
anuenue: rainbow
awa: harbor, port, cove
hanohano: glorious, dignified, worthy of praises
Hawai’i nei: alternate reference to Hawai’i; Lit. “this Hawai’i”
heihei wa’a: canoe race
ho’oama’a: train,work hard; practice
ho’okele: attention
ho’omakaukau: get ready
hoe wa’a: canoe paddler, or to paddle canoe
huki: pull, get into it
huli: to turn or flip over
ihope: backward
imua: forward
kahea: caller
kahuna kalaiwa’a: canoe builder/carver
kane: man
kau: place, plant the blade
le’ale’a: fun
mahalo: thank you
mo’olelo: history
‘ohana: family
‘okole maluna: bottoms up!
paliuli: divine place
pilialoha: friendship
wahi paua: spiritual place
wahine: woman
Hawaiian Words & Phrases
Aloha Kakahiaka – Good Morning
Aloha Auina La – Good Afternoon
Aloha Ahiahi – Good Evening
Kala mai ia’u – Excuse me
Mahalo – Thank you
‘A’ole pilikia – You’re welcome / No problem
A hui hou – Till we meet again
Pehea ‘oe? – How are you?
Maika’i no au – I am fine
‘O ia mau no – Same as usual
‘A’ole – No
‘Ae – Yes
‘O wai kou inoa? – What is your name?
‘O _____ ko’u inoa – My name is _____
Pronunciations
Know your p’s & k’s of hawaiian pronounciation
If you speak a Romance language — French, Spanish, or Italian — your’re one up on learning Hawaiian. You know how to pronounce the vowels.
Like speakers of those languages, the Hawaiiians pronounced the vowels ah, eh, ee, oh, oo.
Hawaiian words can be intimidating because they sometimes appear fantasticaly long and composed entirely of k’s and vowels.
But rather than cross your eyes wenn you see “Kalaniana’ole,” break it into parts and sound it out: Ka-la-nee-ah-na-oh-lay.
Hawaiian has only 13 letters: the five vowels and eight consonants (h, k, l, m, n, p, w and the ‘okina, or glottal stop).
Some other rules:
* When you see the same two vowels together, you ought to see an apostrophe, the ‘okina, between them. That tells you to break the breath, as in “oh-oh.” So Ka’a'awa is pronounced ka-ah-ahva.
* You will never see two consonants together in the Hawaiian language.
* Besides the glotal stop, modern Hawaiian uses the macron or kahako, a line over certain vowels that lenghtens the sound. So a kahako over the “a” makes the sound in “fall.”
* The “w” is sometimes heard as a “v” after “i,” “e” and “a”. Just go with the flow on that one.
Other Resources
http://hawaiiandictionary.hisurf.com/
http://www.angelfire.com/hi/hawaiijen/
