GLOSSAEY 



The study of Hawaiian pronunciation is mainly a study of vowel 

 sounds and of accent. Each written vowel represents at least two 

 related sounds. 



A {ah) has the Italian sound found in father, as in ha-le or in 

 La-ka; also a short sound like that of a in lirtble, as in ke-«-ke-«, 

 to contradict, or in a-ha, an assembly. 



E (a) has the sound of long a in f«te, or of e in pr^y, without the 

 i-glide that follows, as in the first syllable of Pe-le, or of mt'-a, a 

 thing; also the short sound of e in net, as in e-\\?i, hurt, or in pea. a 

 sail. ' 



I {ee) has the long sound of i in p^'que, or in poKce, as in /-li, skin, 

 or in hf-la-hZ-la, shame ; also the short sound of i in hill, as in K-hi, 

 border, and in /-ki, small. 



O {oh) has the long sound of o in note, or in old, without the u- 

 glide, as in IJ-a, long, or as in the first syllable of Lo-no; also a 

 short sound, which approximates to that sometimes erroneously given 

 to the vowel in coat, as in p<?-po, rotten, or as in IJ-ko, a lake. 



U {oo) has the long sound of u in r^de, as in hi^-la, to dance; and 

 a short sound approximating to that of u in f«dl, as in mw-ku, 

 cut off. 



Every Hawaiian syllable ends in a vowel. No attempt has been 

 made to indicate these differences of vowel sound. The only diacrit- 

 ical marks here employed are the acute accent for stressed syllables 

 and the apostrophe between two vowels to indicate the glottic closure 

 or interruption of sound (improperly sometimes called a guttural) 

 that prevents the two from coalescing. 



In the seven diphthongs ae^ ai, ao, au, ei, ia, and ua a delicate ear 

 Avill not fail to detect a coalescence of at least two sounds, thus prov- 

 ing them not to be mere digraphs. 



In animated description or pathetic narrative, or in the effort to 

 convey the idea of length, or height, or depth, or immensity, the Ha- 

 waiian had a way of prolonging the vowel sounds of a word, as if 

 by so doing he could intimate the amplitude of his thought. 



The letter w {way) represents two sounds, corresponding to our 

 w and our v. At the beginning of a word it has the sound of w {way) , 

 retaining this even when the word has become compounded. This 

 is illustrated in "IT^ii-a-lu-a (geographical name), and i6'a-ha 

 mouth. In the middle of a word, or after the first syllable, it 



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