HAWAIIAN LANGUAGE* 51 
This disagreement in different writers arises, in 
the first place, from the deficiency in the vowel 
characters, as used in the English language, for 
expressing the native vowel sounds. The English 
language has but one sign, or letter, for the vowel 
sound in the first syllable of father and fable, 
or the words tart and tale; but in Hawaiian, the 
sense of these sounds, which frequently occur 
unconnected with any other, is so different, that 
a distinct character is essential. The first sound 
is often a distinct word, and frequently marks the 
past tense of the verb, while the second sound dis¬ 
tinguishes the future, and is also a distinct word. 
These two sounds often occur together, forming 
two distinct syllables, as in the interrogation e-a ? 
what ? and the word he-a , to call. In the Eng¬ 
lish language, two letters, called double vowels, 
are used to lengthen the same sound, as ee in 
thee, or to express one totally different, as oo in 
pool; but in Hawaiian there is often a repetition 
of the vowel sound, without any intervening con¬ 
sonant, or other vowel sound, as in a-a, a bag or 
pocket, e-e, to embark, i-i, a name of a bird, o-o, 
an agricultural instrument; which must be sound¬ 
ed as two distinct syllables. Hence, when the ee 
is employed to express a lengthened sound of e 9 
as in Owhyhee, and oo to signify the sound of u 
in rule, as in Karakakooa, which is generally done 
by European visitors, it is not possible to express 
by any signs those native words in which the 
double vowels occur, which are invariably two 
distinct syllables. 
Another cause of the incorrectness of the or¬ 
thography of early voyagers to these islands, has 
been a want of better acquaintance with the struc¬ 
ture of the language, which would have prevented 
!: e 2 
