Hawaiian Cheatsheet
Basic Concepts
- Hawaiian is an indigenous language spoken in the Hawaiian Islands.
- Hawaiian is a member of the Austronesian language family, which includes languages spoken in Southeast Asia, the Pacific, and Madagascar.
- Hawaiian has a unique writing system that uses only 13 letters.
Pronunciation
- Hawaiian has five vowel sounds: a, e, i, o, u.
- Hawaiian has eight consonant sounds: h, k, l, m, n, p, w, and ʻokina (glottal stop).
- Hawaiian has a stress accent, where stress is placed on the second-to-last syllable of a word.
Grammar
- Hawaiian grammar is based on a subject-verb-object (SVO) word order.
- Hawaiian uses particles to indicate the grammatical function of words in a sentence.
- Hawaiian verbs are conjugated to indicate tense, aspect, and mood.
Vocabulary
- Hawaiian vocabulary includes words for natural phenomena, such as the ocean and the mountains, as well as words borrowed from other languages, such as English and Japanese.
- Hawaiian has many words that have multiple meanings, depending on the context in which they are used.
- Hawaiian has a rich tradition of storytelling and poetry, which has influenced the development of the language.
Writing
- The Hawaiian alphabet has 13 letters: A, E, H, I, K, L, M, N, O, P, U, W, and ʻokina (glottal stop).
- The ʻokina is a symbol that represents a glottal stop, which is a brief pause in speech.
- Hawaiian text can be written horizontally from left to right, or vertically from top to bottom.
Culture
- Hawaiian culture includes traditions such as hula dancing, lei making, and surfing.
- Hawaiian music is characterized by the use of instruments such as the ukulele and the slack-key guitar.
- Hawaiian cuisine includes dishes such as poke, kalua pig, and poi.
Common Phrases
- Aloha - Hello, goodbye, love, affection, compassion
- Mahalo - Thank you
- E komo mai - Welcome
- A hui hou - Until we meet again
- Ohana - Family
- Keiki - Child
- Kuleana - Responsibility
- Pau hana - Work is done, time to relax
- Makai - Toward the ocean
- Mauka - Toward the mountains
Resources