List of English words of Hawaiian origin
Encyclopedia
The Hawaiian language
has offered many words to the English language
, and many Hawaiian words are known to non-Hawaiian speakers, and many have also been assimilated into the English language (i.e. "aloha", meaning "hello", "love", or "goodbye", or "mahalo", meaning "thank you"). English also borrows some Hawaiian words (i.e. "ukulele
", "mahimahi
" and "muʻumuʻu"). Hawaiian vocabulary often overlaps with other Polynesian languages such as Tahitian, so it is not alway clear which of those languages a term is borrowed from.
The Hawaiian orthography
is notably different from the English orthography
because there is a special letter in the Hawaiian alphabet, the [[ʻokina]]. The ʻokina represents a glottal stop
, which indicates a short pause to separate syllables. The kahakō represents longer vowel sounds. Both the okina and kahakō are often omitted in English orthography.
Because the Hawaiian orthography is different from English orthography, the pronunciation of the words differ. For example, the "muʻumuʻu", traditionally a Hawaiian dress, is pronounced ˈmuːmuː by many mainland residents. However, many Hawaii residents have learned and realize that the ʻokina in Hawaiian signifies a glottal stop. Thus, in the Hawaiian language, "muʻumuʻu" is pronounced ˈmuʔuˈmuʔu. The pronunciations listed here are how it would sound in Hawaiian orthography.
Hawaiian language
The Hawaiian language is a Polynesian language that takes its name from Hawaii, the largest island in the tropical North Pacific archipelago where it developed. Hawaiian, along with English, is an official language of the state of Hawaii...
has offered many words to the English language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, and many Hawaiian words are known to non-Hawaiian speakers, and many have also been assimilated into the English language (i.e. "aloha", meaning "hello", "love", or "goodbye", or "mahalo", meaning "thank you"). English also borrows some Hawaiian words (i.e. "ukulele
Ukulele
The ukulele, ; from ; it is a subset of the guitar family of instruments, generally with four nylon or gut strings or four courses of strings....
", "mahimahi
Mahi-mahi
The mahi-mahi or common dolphinfish is a surface-dwelling ray-finned fish found in off-shore temperate, tropical and subtropical waters worldwide. It is one of only two members of the Coryphaenidae family, the other being the pompano dolphinfish...
" and "muʻumuʻu"). Hawaiian vocabulary often overlaps with other Polynesian languages such as Tahitian, so it is not alway clear which of those languages a term is borrowed from.
The Hawaiian orthography
Orthography
The orthography of a language specifies a standardized way of using a specific writing system to write the language. Where more than one writing system is used for a language, for example Kurdish, Uyghur, Serbian or Inuktitut, there can be more than one orthography...
is notably different from the English orthography
English orthography
English orthography is the alphabetic spelling system used by the English language. English orthography, like other alphabetic orthographies, uses a set of habits to represent speech sounds in writing. In most other languages, these habits are regular enough so that they may be called rules...
because there is a special letter in the Hawaiian alphabet, the [[ʻokina]]. The ʻokina represents a glottal stop
Glottal stop
The glottal stop, or more fully, the voiceless glottal plosive, is a type of consonantal sound used in many spoken languages. In English, the feature is represented, for example, by the hyphen in uh-oh! and by the apostrophe or [[ʻokina]] in Hawaii among those using a preservative pronunciation of...
, which indicates a short pause to separate syllables. The kahakō represents longer vowel sounds. Both the okina and kahakō are often omitted in English orthography.
Because the Hawaiian orthography is different from English orthography, the pronunciation of the words differ. For example, the "muʻumuʻu", traditionally a Hawaiian dress, is pronounced ˈmuːmuː by many mainland residents. However, many Hawaii residents have learned and realize that the ʻokina in Hawaiian signifies a glottal stop. Thus, in the Hawaiian language, "muʻumuʻu" is pronounced ˈmuʔuˈmuʔu. The pronunciations listed here are how it would sound in Hawaiian orthography.
| Vowel | Pronunciation |
|---|---|
| a | aː, ɐ or ə |
| e | eː, ɛ, or e |
| i | iː or i |
| o | oː or o |
| u | uː or u |
| Hawaiian word | Meaning | Pronunciation (IPA International Phonetic Alphabet The International Phonetic Alphabet "The acronym 'IPA' strictly refers [...] to the 'International Phonetic Association'. But it is now such a common practice to use the acronym also to refer to the alphabet itself that resistance seems pedantic... ) |
Definition link |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aa | A kind of rough-surface volcanic rock (in Hawaiian: 'a'ā). Note that there are two glottal stop Glottal stop The glottal stop, or more fully, the voiceless glottal plosive, is a type of consonantal sound used in many spoken languages. In English, the feature is represented, for example, by the hyphen in uh-oh! and by the apostrophe or [[ʻokina]] in Hawaii among those using a preservative pronunciation of... s before and after the first "a". Thus, it is not spoken as "ahh", but as "ah-ah". |
[ʔəˈʔaː] | Link |
| Akamai Akamai Akamai may refer to:* Akamai Technologies, a company that develops software for web content and application delivery** Akamai Foundation, a sponsor of the American Mathematics Competitions, founded by Akamai Technologies... |
A Hawaiian word meaning "intelligent", "clever", or "smart". | [ʔɐkəˈmɛi] | Link |
| Aloha Aloha Aloha in the Hawaiian language means affection, peace, compassion and mercy. Since the middle of the 19th century, it also has come to be used as an English greeting to say goodbye and hello... |
Hawaiian word for "hello", "goodbye", and "love"; outside of Hawaii, only the first two meanings are used. | [ʔəˈlohə] | Link |
| Awa Kava Kava or kava-kava is a crop of the western Pacific.... |
a Polynesian shrub, Piper methysticum, of the pepper family, the aromatic roots of which are used to make an intoxicating beverage | [ˈʔɐwə] | Link |
| Haole Haole Haole , in the Hawaiian language, is generally used to refer to an individual that fits one of the following: "White person, American, Englishman, Caucasian; American, English; formerly, any foreigner; foreign, introduced, of foreign origin, as plants, pigs, chickens"... |
Hawaiian for "foreigner" or "outsider". Usually directed towards Caucasians or people from the mainland. May be said offensively, but is commonly said familiarly (not to be confused with haole, meaning "without breath"; the two have completely different meanings). | [ˈhɑole] | Link |
| Honu Green Sea Turtle The Green sea turtle or green turtle is a large sea turtle of the family Cheloniidae. It is the only species in the genus Chelonia. Its range extends throughout tropical and subtropical seas around the world, with two distinct populations in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans... |
Hawaiian name for the green sea turtle | [ˈhonu] | Link |
| Hula Hula Hula is a dance form accompanied by chant or song . It was developed in the Hawaiian Islands by the Polynesians who originally settled there. The hula dramatizes or portrays the words of the oli or mele in a visual dance form.... |
Ancient Hawaiian form of dance. In the older days, men used to do hula as a sign of masculinity and as a war dance. Also see haka Haka Haka is a traditional ancestral war cry, dance or challenge from the Māori people of New Zealand. It is a posture dance performed by a group, with vigorous movements and stamping of the feet with rhythmically shouted accompaniment... . Many people get confused between the Hawaiian hula (more graceful and slower) and the Tahitian hula (quicker and more hip movements) |
[ˈhulə] | Link |
| Humuhumunukunukuāpuaa Reef triggerfish The reef, rectangular, or wedge-tail triggerfish, also known by its Hawaiian name, humuhumunukunukuāpuaa , also spelled Humuhumunukunukuapua'a or just humuhumu for short; meaning "triggerfish with a snout like a pig"), is one of several species of triggerfish... |
The reef triggerfish. The humuhumunukunukuapua'a is notorious for its long name, which many struggle to pronounce correctly (Humu (hoo-moo) + humu (hoo-moo) + nuku (noo-koo) + nuku (noo-koo) + wa (wah) + pua'a (poo--uh)) | [ˌhumuˌhumuˌnukuˌnukuˌwaːpuˈwɐʔə] | Link |
| Kahuna Kahuna Kahuna is a Hawaiian word, defined in the as a "Priest, sorcerer, magician, wizard, minister, expert in any profession." Forty different types of kahuna are listed in the book, Tales from the Night Rainbow... |
Hawaiian priest, wizard, or shaman; used in the slang phrase "big kahuna" | [kəˈhunə] | Link |
| Kamaaina | A local; someone who has lived in Hawaii for a long time | [kɐməˈʔɛinə] | Link |
| Keiki Keiki Keiki is the Hawaiian word for "baby" or "child", literally meaning "the little one". In horticulture, it refers to a plant produced asexually by an orchid plant, usually used when referring to Dendrobium, Epidendrum , and Phalaenopsis orchids... |
Hawaiian word for "child" | [ˈkeiti] | Link |
| Kukui | The candlenut tree, state tree of Hawaii, so named because the nuts were used as candles. Kukui nut leis were worn by celebrities such as Jessica Simpson and Tyra Banks in 2005-07 and became popular must-have accessories. | [kuˈkuwi] | Link |
| Lanai Verandah A veranda or verandah is a roofed opened gallery or porch. It is also described as an open pillared gallery, generally roofed, built around a central structure... |
A veranda or patio Patio A patio is an outdoor space generally used for dining or recreation that adjoins a residence and is typically paved. It may refer to a roofless inner courtyard of the sort found in Spanish-style dwellings or a paved area between a residence and a garden.... , from the word lānai (not to be confused with the island, Lānai Lanai Lānai or Lanai is the sixth-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is also known as the Pineapple Island because of its past as an island-wide pineapple plantation. The only town is Lānai City, a small settlement.... ) |
[laːˈnɛi] | Link |
| Lei Lei (Hawaii) Lei is a Hawaiian word for a garland or wreath. More loosely defined, a lei is any series of objects strung together with the intent to be worn. The most popular concept of a lei in Hawaiian culture is a wreath of flowers draped around the neck presented upon arriving or leaving as a symbol of... |
A garland of flowers and/or leaves to be worn | [ˈlei] | Link |
| Luau Luau A luau is a Hawaiian feast. It may feature food, such as poi, kalua pig, poke, lomi salmon, opihi, haupia, and beer; and entertainment, such as Hawaiian music and hula... |
A Hawaiian feast (Hawaiian: lūau) | [luːˈʔɔu] | Link |
| Mahalo | Hawaiian for "thank you"; used by Adam Corolla nationally as well as others | [məˈhɐlo] | Link |
| Mahi-mahi Mahi-mahi The mahi-mahi or common dolphinfish is a surface-dwelling ray-finned fish found in off-shore temperate, tropical and subtropical waters worldwide. It is one of only two members of the Coryphaenidae family, the other being the pompano dolphinfish... |
Hawaiian word for the dolphin fish, the name means "very strong." | [ˈmɐhiˈmɐhi] | Link |
| Mana Mana Mana is an indigenous Pacific islander concept of an impersonal force or quality that resides in people, animals, and inanimate objects. The word is a cognate in many Oceanic languages, including Melanesian, Polynesian, and Micronesian.... |
Magical or religious power | [ˈmɐnə] | |
| Mano Shark Sharks are a type of fish with a full cartilaginous skeleton and a highly streamlined body. The earliest known sharks date from more than 420 million years ago.... |
Hawaiian word for "shark" (Hawaiian: manō) (not to be confused with the Spanish "mano", meaning "hand") | [ˈmɐno] | |
| Muʻumuʻu (Mumu) | A loose gown or dress incorrectly pronounced moo-moo in English, but properly pronounced "muumuu" in Hawaiian. | [ˈmuʔuˈmuʔu] | Link |
| Ohana Ohana Part of Hawaiian culture, ohana means family in an extended sense of the term, including blood-related, adoptive or intentional. It emphasizes that family are bound together and members must cooperate and remember one another... |
Hawaiian word meaning "family" | [ʔoˈhɐnə] | Link |
| Ono Wahoo The wahoo is a scombrid fish found worldwide in tropical and subtropical seas. It is best known to sports fishermen, as its speed and high-quality flesh make it a prize game fish... |
Hawaiian word meaning "good to eat." Refers to the Scombrid Fish Scombridae Scombridae is the family of the mackerels, tunas, and bonitos, and thus includes many of the most important and familiar food fishes. The family consists of about 55 species in 15 genera and two subfamilies... also known as the Wahoo. |
[ˈono] | Link |
| Pahoehoe | A kind of smooth-surface volcanic rock | [paːˈhoweˈhowe] | Link |
| Pele's hair Pele's hair Pele's hair is a geological term for volcanic glass threads or fibers formed when small particles of molten material are thrown into the air and spun out by the wind into long hair-like strands. The diameter of the strands is less than 0.5 mm, and they can be as long as 2 meters. Pele’s... |
A type of volcanic glass fibers named after Pele Pele (mythology) In the Hawaiian religion, Pele is the goddess of fire, lightning, wind, and volcanoes. She is a popular figure in many stories of ancient Hawaii known as Hawaiian mythology.-Legends:... , the Hawaiian fire goddess of volcanoes (see also limu o Pele Limu o Pele Limu o Pele or Pele's seaweed is a geological term for thin sheets and subsequently shattered flakes of brownish-green to near-colourless volcanic glass lava spatter that commonly resemble seaweed in appearance, that have been erupted from a volcano... ) |
[ˈpɛlɛ] | |
| Pele's tears Pele's tears Pele’s tears is a geological term for small pieces of solidified lava drops formed when airborne particles of molten material fuse into tearlike drops of volcanic glass. Pele’s tears are jet black in color and are often found on one end of a strand of Pele's hair... |
Solidified pieces of lava named after Pele | — | |
| Poi Poi (food) Poi is a Hawaiian word for the primary Polynesian staple food made from the corm of the taro plant . Poi is produced by mashing the cooked corm until it is a highly viscous fluid... |
A type of Hawaiian food made from mashing corm Corm A corm is a short, vertical, swollen underground plant stem that serves as a storage organ used by some plants to survive winter or other adverse conditions such as summer drought and heat .... s of the taro Taro Taro is a common name for the corms and tubers of several plants in the family Araceae . Of these, Colocasia esculenta is the most widely cultivated, and is the subject of this article. More specifically, this article describes the 'dasheen' form of taro; another variety is called eddoe.Taro is... plant |
[ˈpoi] | Link |
| Puka Puka Puka may refer to:*Puka , a tree native to New Zealand*Puka, Estonia, a settlement in Estonia**Puka Parish, the surrounding rural municipality in southern Estonia*Puka shell, a popular Hawaiian jewelry*Pukë or Puka, a city in northern Albania... |
A hole or perforation. Puka shell Puka shell Puka shells originally were naturally occurring bead-like objects which could be found on some beaches in Hawaii. These were beachworn pieces of cone snail shells, a kind of seashell. Puka is the Hawaiian word for "hole" and refers to the naturally occurring hole in the middle of these rounded... s are round shells with center holes, strung together to make popular necklaces. |
[ˈpukə] | Link |
| Shaka Shaka sign The shaka sign is a common greeting gesture. It is often associated with Hawaii. It consists of extending the thumb and smallest finger while keeping the three middle fingers curled, and raising the hand as in salutation with the back of the hand facing the person that is being greeted; sometimes... |
A hand gesture common in Hawaii by raising the thumb Thumb The thumb is the first digit of the hand. When a person is standing in the medical anatomical position , the thumb is the lateral-most digit... and pinky Little finger The little finger, often called the pinky in American English, pinkie in Scottish English , or small finger in medicine, is the most ulnar and usually smallest finger of the human hand, opposite the thumb, next to the ring finger.-Muscles:There are four muscles that... fingers to make a sign similar to the American Sign Language American Sign Language American Sign Language, or ASL, for a time also called Ameslan, is the dominant sign language of Deaf Americans, including deaf communities in the United States, in the English-speaking parts of Canada, and in some regions of Mexico... symbol for "Y Y Y is the twenty-fifth letter in the basic modern Latin alphabet and represents either a vowel or a consonant in English.-Name:In Latin, Y was named Y Graeca "Greek Y". This was pronounced as I Graeca "Greek I", since Latin speakers had trouble pronouncing , which was not a native sound... ". |
— | |
| Taboo Taboo A taboo is a strong social prohibition relating to any area of human activity or social custom that is sacred and or forbidden based on moral judgment, religious beliefs and or scientific consensus. Breaking the taboo is usually considered objectionable or abhorrent by society... |
From Hawaiian "tapu", now Romanized "kapu". Also Tonga Tonga Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga , is a state and an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, comprising 176 islands scattered over of ocean in the South Pacific... n, Samoan Samoan language Samoan Samoan Samoan (Gagana Sāmoa, is the language of the Samoan Islands, comprising the independent country of Samoa and the United States territory of American Samoa. It is an official language—alongside English—in both jurisdictions. Samoan, a Polynesian language, is the first language for most... , Tahitian Tahitian language Tahitian is an indigenous language spoken mainly in the Society Islands in French Polynesia. It is an Eastern Polynesian language closely related to the other indigenous languages spoken in French Polynesia: Marquesan, Tuamotuan, Mangarevan, and Austral Islands languages... "tapu" or Fiji Fiji Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island... an "tabu". |
[ˈkɐpu] | Link |
| Ukulele Ukulele The ukulele, ; from ; it is a subset of the guitar family of instruments, generally with four nylon or gut strings or four courses of strings.... |
A small guitar-like musical instrument that resembles the Portuguese Portugal Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the... cavaquinho Cavaquinho The cavaquinho is a small string instrument of the European guitar family with four wire or gut strings. It is also called machimbo, machim, machete , manchete or marchete, braguinha or braguinho, or cavaco.The most common tuning is D-G-B-D ; other tunings include D-A-B-E... (lit. "jumping flea") |
[ʔukuˈlɛlɛ] | Link |
| Wiki Wiki A wiki is a website that allows the creation and editing of any number of interlinked web pages via a web browser using a simplified markup language or a WYSIWYG text editor. Wikis are typically powered by wiki software and are often used collaboratively by multiple users. Examples include... |
Hawaiian word for "fast"; used in the "Wiki Wiki Shuttle Wiki Wiki Shuttle The Wiki Wiki Shuttle is a zero-fare shuttle bus system at the Honolulu International Airport. Shuttles run between 6:00 AM and 10:00 PM, carrying people and baggage between the various terminals.... " and "Wikipedia Wikipedia Wikipedia is a free, web-based, collaborative, multilingual encyclopedia project supported by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation. Its 20 million articles have been written collaboratively by volunteers around the world. Almost all of its articles can be edited by anyone with access to the site,... " |
[ˈviti], [ˈwiki] | Link |