APPENDIX. 
465 
swers tolerably well to express all the native sounds. The 
Hawaiian alphabet consists of seventeen letters : five 
vowels, a, e, i , o, u, and twelve consonants, b, d, h , k , l, m, 
n, p, r, t , v, w, to which/, g*, 5, and z, have been added, for 
the purpose of preserving the identity of foreign words. 
The consonants are sounded as in English, though we have 
been obliged to give them different names, for the natives 
could not say el or em, but invariably pronounced ela and 
ema; it being therefore necessary to retain the final vowel, 
that was thought sufficient, and the other was rejected. 
The vowels are sounded more after the manner of the 
continental languages than the English; A, as in ah, and 
sometimes as a in far, but never as a in fate; E, as a in 
gale, ape, and mate; I, as ee in green ; e in me, or i in 
machine. The short sound of i in bit, seldom occurs, and 
the long sound of i in wine, is expressed by the diphthong 
ai; O, as o in no and mote ; U, as u, in rude, or oo in moon. 
Several of the consonants are interchangeable, particularly 
the l and r, the b and p, t and k . There are no silent 
letters. I have known a native, acquainted with the power 
of the letters, spell a word, when it has beeii correctly 
pronounced, though he had never seen it written; for, in 
pronouncing a word, it is necessary to pronounce every 
letter of which it is composed. 
Articles. —They have two articles, definite (he) and in¬ 
definite (ke or ka ,) answering to the English the and a Qi¬ 
an. The articles precede the nouns to which they belong. 
Nouns.— The nouns undergo no inflection, or change of 
termination, the number, case, and gender, being denoted 
by distinct words or particles prefixed or added. Hence 
o, which is only the sign of the nominative, has been usually 
placed before Tahiti and Hawaii, making Otaheiti and 
Owyhee ; though the o is no part of the word, any more 
than no the sign of the possessive, as no Hawaii , of Hawaii, 
and i the sign of the objective, as i Hawaii , to Hawaii. 
Pronouns. —The scheme of pronouns is copious and pre¬ 
cise, having not only a singular, dual, and plural number, 
but a double dual and plural; the first including the 
speaker and spoken to, as thou and I, and ye and I ; the 
second, the speaker and party spoken of, as he and /, and 
they and I. Each of these combinations is clearly ex¬ 
pressed by a distinct pronoun. The following specimen 
will convey some idea of their extent and peculiarity 
iv. 2 h 
