Did you know that Hawaii is the only state that was formerly a monarchy, complete with kings and queens? The most famous of whom was King Kamehameha I, aka King Kamehameha the Great. He was the first to unite all the islands under a single ruler. You will come across references to him everywhere you travel within Hawaii.
Click on this pic if you'd like to learn more about Kamehameha the Great.
Here are some simple rules for pronouncing all those strangely spelled Hawaiian words. It's really not that difficult once you get the hang of it. After all, the Hawaiian alphabet only utilizes 12 letters; the five vowels (a, e, i, o, u) and the letters "h", "k", "l", "m", "p", "w".
"A" is always pronounced "ah", as in avocado;
"E" sounds like a long "a", as in day;
"I" sounds like a long "e", as in key;
"O"'s are always pronounced as a long "o" sound, as in go;
and "U" is pronounced like the "u" in you.
"W"'s sound like "v", when used in the middle of a word, like Hawaii (properly pronounced, hah-vai 'e) or Ewa (pronounced, eh-va).
The next rule for pronouncing Hawaiian words is that each and every vowel is pronounced, regardless of how many there may be! Practice a little and you may even be able to pronounce the former state fish's name: Humuhumunukunukuapua'a. Phonetically pronounced as it appears, Hu-mu-hu-mu-nu-ku-nu-ku-a-pu-a-a. It's a mouthful and an especially long name for such a small fish. Even the locals use the shortened version and simply call it a Humuhumu.
When finding your way around the islands, you will at some point be given directions from a local and there are some terms used that may confuse you. The first is "mauka", meaning toward the mountains and the second is "makai", meaning toward the ocean. So, when they tell you to look on the mauka side of the street, you'll know to look in-land...towards the mountains. Which means, the makai side of the street would be on the ocean-side.
And, depending on what island you happen to be, they will use reference points to indicate which way you should be traveling. For example, on Oahu, they would say to either go toward Diamond Head or toward Ewa.
Diamond Head is a very distinctive landmark that naturally serves as a good reference point, Ewa on the other hand, is a small beach community that is distinguished mainly by the fact that it is located at the other end of the island Note that I said "other end of the island", not the other side of the island...that would be Kailua or Kaneohe. North, south, east and west are rarely used, except on some of the highway signs.
If you were on one of the other islands, they have their reference points, as well.
Two more Hawaiian words you might want to familiarize yourself with before arriving are. "kane" means man, and "wahine" mean woman. Fortunately, they are usually accompanied by the international symbols for Men and Women, so odds are you won't embarrass yourself by walking into the wrong rest room.
Some other words and phrases that you will most likely hear on your visit would include:
Aloha nui loa - with much love
E komo mai - Please come in, Welcome
Hana - work (A frequently used phrase is "Pau Hana", end of the work day. See "Pau")
Haole - originally meaning was "foreigner", but has come to mean, "Caucasian"
Kahuna - priest
Kamaina - local, someone from Hawaii, native of Hawaii
Kapu - forbidden (When you see this word posted, it means to Keep Out!)
KauKau - food
Keiki - child
Kokua - cooperation (as in, Please Kokua...Mahalo!)
lanai - (not the island) patio, deck, porch
Mahalo - thank you
Mahalo nui loa - thank you very much
Malihini - newcomer
Moana - ocean
Ono - delicious, tasty (Note: There is also a fish called "Ono", which just happens to also be very delicious and tasty, but that's not the same and you'll just have to take the right "Ono" by context.)
Ohana - family
Pali - cliff
Pau - finish, done
Pau Hana - finish work, end of work day
Puka - hole
Pupu - appetizer, finger foods
Tutu - grandmother
