Another prefix you'll see often is "wai" which means fresh water. So you'll see place names such as Waiehu (redish water), Waikapu (forbidden water), and Waihe'e (sliding water).

To pronounce a word, sound it out using similar vowel sounds to Spanish. So A is "ah", E is "ay", I is "ee" O is "oh" U is like "oo" in "boo". In reality, the vowels are a little different (shorter) but this is close enough to get you started. Pronounce every vowel. The ' (okina) is a glottal stop like in "uh oh".

The last thing that makes Hawaiian challenging to learn is that the Hawaiian people were great punsters and used their language in a both poetic and humorous way. One example is the word "ha'ole". This word literally means without ('ole) breath (ha). The white Europeans were called this because they didn't aloha (greet each other in the Hawaiian way of breathing each other's breath). But since this was also symbolic, to be without the breath of aloha also meant not to be part of the Hawiaan culture (the poetic aspect) and to be without breath means to be dead or pale and white (the pun).

Which brings us to the word "aloha". In the old times, although adventurous sea farers, most Hawaiians lived their lives on a small island. Some historians put the total population of Hawaii prior to the introduction of European diseases at one million -- about the same population as now. Being interdependent and not being able to get away, Hawaiian's developed a harmonious way of getting along with each other. Like the circle of a flower lei that never ends, Aloha is something that you give away and which returns to you in the chain of interconnected giving. When anyone had a surplus, they gave it away. Then when they were lacking and someone else had a surplus, they received.

The Culture

When this culture of unconditional giving met the Caucasion culture of accumulation and acquisition there was a predictable draining of possessions going out from the Hawaiians but never coming back. Interacting with such a different culture broke the lei (link) of aloha. Fortunately, the Hawaiian culture is still being nurtured and you will meet many people with a genuine spirit of aloha. Many visitors find this awakens an answering aloha in their own being and become part of this giving chain. If you are lucky enough to be included in the lei of aloha, do what you can to keep it flowing.