Here are the Top 20 Hawaiian words in alphabetical order:
aloha – hello; goodbye; welcome; farewell; love
hale – house
haole – a foreigner, often referring to a Caucasian
heiau – Hawaiian temple; place of worship; sacred ground
hula – native dance of Hawai’i
kama`aina – native born or local resident of Hawai’i
kane – man
keiki – child(ren)
lanai – a porch, balcony or veranda
lua – bathroom
lu`au – a Hawaiian feast
mahalo – thank you
makai – a direction: “towards the sea”
mauka – a direction: “towards the mountains”
ohana – family
ono – delicious
pali – cliff(s)
pau – finished; done (pau hana = done with work)
poi – crushed taro root, made into a sticky paste
wahine – woman
Pronunciation Tips:
1. The Hawaiian alphabet has only 13 letters – the five regular vowels (a, e, i, o, and u) and eight consonants (h, k, l, m, n, p, w, and the okina: ‘ ).
2. The vowels are pronounced ah, ey, ee, oh and oo, not ay, ee, eye, oh and you, as in English.
3. Usually each vowel in a word is pronounced separately.
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