Pronounced a-lo-ha, it actually means ‘love.’ By saying aloha, you’re giving your best wishes for a positive and respectful life. The most common and recognized word of Hawaiian is Aloha. Let’s start learning some best Hawaii words and phrases! The most common and important phrases in Hawaiian Photo by Wildroze/Getty Images Long words can look intimidating, but by breaking them down, you’ll come to find just how easy it is to start picking up on different words. It’s also important to recognize that every vowel is pronounced in Hawaiian words. If you’re pronouncing Hawaii, with the ‘w’ in the middle of the word, it’ll sound like ‘hah-Vai-ee.’ However, if the ‘w’ appears at the beginning of a word, it’s often pronounced the same as an English ‘w.’ The letters are pronounced exactly as they are in English, except for the ‘w.’ This is a tricky one, as the sound depends on where in the word the ‘w’ is.

The vowels are similar to Spanish and will be pronounced the same way (nearly) every time. In total, there are 13 letters in the Hawaiian alphabet: A, E, I, O, U, H, K, L, M, N, P, W As the missionaries created a language that was relatively straightforward and easy to learn, the written language spread quickly throughout the islands.

It wasn’t until the missionaries arrived, intending to teach the messages of the bible to the Hawaiian people, that it was transformed into a written language. Until 1826, Hawaiian was predominantly only a spoken language. The basics of pronouncing Hawaiian words Photo by Jeremy Cullen/Getty Images

Hawaiian pidgin conversation