How to Pronounce Hawaiʻi
One of the first obstacles someone new to the Hawaiian Language experiences is attempting to pronounce "Hawaiʻi" itself. It can be intimidating as you could hear several different pronunciations in the course of a day here in the islands.
There are formal styles - (huh-vye • ee)
Slang versions with little to no accentuations on the ʻOkina - (ha-whyee)
Blocky chunks of syllables stacked onto each other - (Haah-wah • uh-ee)
Breathy plumeria exhales of vowels - (huh-wuh-eeeeee)
...you name it.
The thing is, they all work.
If the idea of Hawaiʻi is understood when you say ʻHawaiʻiʻ then it works. You have successfully used the word "Hawaiʻi" and the idea of Hawaiʻi was transferred to the listener. Done Deal. As intermediate practitioners of the Hawaiian Language and lifetime residents of Hawaiʻi, we here at Makaʻiwa Keiki accept all versions of ʻHawaiʻiʻ as legitimate ʻHawaiʻiʻs...
Ok now that we understand that itʻs easier to get ʻHawaiʻiʻ right than get ʻHawaiʻiʻ wrong, we can move on to our formal pronunciation of ʻHawaiʻiʻ.
Our formal pronunciation goes as follows - (hah-vye • ee). The bullet point in our pronunciation represents the ʻokina or Glottal Stop, where the sounding out of the previous syllable is stopped.
We incorporate the "V" sound of our W as most of our lessons on Makaʻiwa Keiki Youtube Channel incorporate the "V" sound.
Other formal pronunciations keep the "W" sound - (hah-wye • ee), which as we covered is also correct and acceptable.
Pronouncing Hawaiʻi isnʻt and shouldnʻt be a stressful situation. Itʻs a try-your-best kind of thing.
At its core, Hawaiʻi as a place is welcoming and accepting of those who put in the effort to learn its ways - so too is the Hawaiian language.
Mahalo for Reading! Thanks for all the Support!
@cmawty
The Makaʻiwa Keiki ʻOhana
@makaiwakeiki
