Napali Coast- pronounced nah PEE lee
Hawaii is my happy place. We would live there if we could but since that isn’t possible right now, Mr and Mrs. My Vacation Lady will have to make due with visiting as frequently as possible. Even though we’ve been to Hawaii many times, we still have some issues with pronouncing some of the Hawaiian places and sites.
Please realize that while English is the primary language spoken, there are many words and phrases that will be mixed in with English.
The Hawaiian language has the same 5 vowels as the English language but only 7 consonants— h, k, l, m, n, p and w. Since every consonant is followed by a vowel, every word ends in a vowel.
Just to help with the pronunciation of the vowels:
a “ah” as in father
e “eh” as in neighbor
i “ee” as in free
o “oh” as in low
u “oo” as in coon
Some words that you should know if you are traveling to Hawaii:
Aloha pronounced AH LOW HA which means hello, goodbye, and is a word of affection
Mahalo pronounced MAH HA LOW which means thank you
These 2 words might help you with some directions:
Mauka pronounced MOW KAH which means on the mountain side of the road
Makai pronounced MAH KIGH which means on the ocean side of the road
Click here for some common words and their pronunciations
Just because you can’t pronounce Haleakala (HA-leh-A ka LAAH) or Ka’anapali (kah-ah-nah-PAH lee), My Vacation Lady can still help you plan a fabulous vacation or honeymoon to these places. We are Hawaii destination specialists and each time we go, we come home with new tips and ideas to help make our client’s vacations or honeymoons even better. If you want your Hawaii vacation or honeymoon to be the best vacation ever, let the professionals at My Vacation Lady help.
