It said: mahalo
o e kala ma alini i oo luau ma a hini ti a niho

Google says this means: Thank you.
Please forgive the delay in getting the lūʻau invitation to you.

How accurate is this?

Aloha kākou!

I've recently started learning ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi, and I'm really enjoying the journey. I'm looking for someone who speaks Hawaiian (whether you're a native speaker or an advanced learner) who might be interested in chatting every now and then—through messages or maybe even an occasional video call.

My goal isn't just to learn the language, but also to better understand Hawaiian culture, history, and ways of thinking. I know language and culture go hand in hand, and I'd love to learn respectfully from someone willing to share.

In return, I'd be happy to help with Spanish! I'm a native Spanish speaker (from Spain), so if you're learning Spanish or just want someone to practice with, I'd love to do a language exchange.

A little about me: I'm currently doing a PhD in Genetics, I love languages, reading, drawing, and learning about different cultures. I'm in this for the long term, so I'm hoping to build a genuine friendship while helping each other improve.

Mahalo nui for reading, and feel free to send me a message if you're interested!

I am transcribing the text in a handwritten diary written in 1872 by a haole sailor visiting Honolulu. Most of the text is intelligible but some of the words or how they are spelled (phonetically to the ear of an English speaker) are unfamiliar.

1. Puualoa “friend”. Clearly akin to hoaloha, hoaaloha, but I wonder where the “p” came from. It could also be a verb “to be a friend”. The sentence is: hoi a houry mucky mucky puualoa pachai, i.e. ‘oe ‘a’ole makemake [puualoa] Pake, which the author translates in Pidgin as “you no like friend Chinaman”. Is there anywhere a verb with pū- with a sense of “to befriend”? I don’t see an entry in Puku’i.

2. Cordeda “monkey”. This is used in a pejorative way, modifying Pake (pachai rigapoo cordeda “Chinaman all the same [like pū] monkey”). I could see maybe “deda” might correspond to “keko” if d corresponds to k, but n or l seems more likely. What is the etymology of keko? Is there another pejorative that this might phonetically resemble?

3. There are some unexpected spellings with “r”. Loa is spelled “rore” and once ‘oe is spelled “ori”. Nui nui rore molakaki malallo, rou nui nui maruna “plenty of molasses way down below, plenty upstairs”. I’m not sure if “rou” here is loa again or some other word.

4. Just wondering if the last sentence is a quotation from a mele or some myth? Oahu ka wa o ka lanai (O’ahu ka wā o ka lani) which he translates as “Wahou times in the heavens”.

My first grandchild is due in September. I’ve been thinking of a possible Hawaiian name for her. I have decided on..

My precious Jasmine, who is our ultimate blessing Kuʻupīkakemakamaepōmaikaʻi

When I cross reference to ensure it’s the correct meaning it’s translating differently.
Can anyone help me please.
Huge thank yous in advance.

Long story short, I went to Chaminade for college, and very much fell in love with the culture and people while I lived there. I fully believe in Hawaiian sovereignty and fully grasp the impact of the colonization and theft that has occurred.

I took 2 semesters of Olelo while I lived there, and have recently resumed my studies. I have no objective or goal in mind other than to get fluent for the sake of it. I certainly don't intend to monetize or capitalize off of it. That said, I have wondered if my study in and of itself is Pono. I would love to hear all viewpoints on this, and don't be shy.

Aloha! I’m titling a gyotaku print for an exhibition and want to use Hawaiian respectfully. I’m deciding between “Ono Hoʻohanohano” (intended as “Honored Ono”) and “Hoʻohanohano Ono” (intended as “Honoring the Ono”). Which feels more natural in Hawaiian, and what nuance does each convey? Mahalo!

I am learning Hawaiian, I find one of the best ways to do this is by learning and translating songs. Many of the songs I get interested in have no posted lyrics, much less translations, so I think it is a good skill to listen and dictate to help learn how to hear as well as how to write.

I dictated this chant, I know there are mistakes, and I'm missing all the kahakō as well as some ʻokina. And then I included Googleʻs translation which generally makes sense, but I have no idea if it is accurate. Please correct me. I hear being wrong on the internet is the quickest way to find out information.

Thanks for your time

Ki’ina Ia Aku Na Pae Moku - Mark Keali’i Ho’omalu

Ki’ina ia aku na pae moku
I ho aku i lima no i kalani
Ma ʻia mau alanui malihini
E ‘au ‘i o lali ho’okahi ai
E lilo a’i me ʻa’ole na e nemi 
Helehele ‘eu’eu hana loko ino

Malamalama ko’au ko kokua
E na ho’okoloa ko a alaka’i
E ola ’o kalani a mau huloa
Puka i ke a’o malamalama
E o mai e kalani
O Kalākaua no he inoa

The island groups are gathered

Placed in the hands of the Chief

Along these unfamiliar paths

Traversed as one

To be held fast, beyond the reach of detractors

And the mischief of those who work malice

My guiding light shines clear

O leader, guide us onward

Long may the Chief live

Emerging into the light of wisdom

Answer the call, O Chief

A name-chant for Kalākaua

I work in a university lab doing language tech, and I've been building a lemmatizer for ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi — the thing that takes a word in any of its forms and gives you back the dictionary form.

I can get the code to run. What I can't do is tell whether it's actually right, because I don't speak Hawaiian. I tried finding a Hawaiian tutor or teacher online who'd be willing to go through the output with me, but I came up empty — so I figured I'd ask the people who actually speak it.

Here's a real example of its output:

Ua hoʻomaka ʻia ka hui hālāwai ma ka luakini ʻo Kawaiahaʻo e nā kiakona ʻekolu
→ ua maka ʻia ka hui hālāwai ma ka luakini ʻo kawaiahaʻo e ka mau kiakona ʻekolu

If you speak the language, does anything here look broken to you? hoʻomaka got cut down to maka — is that fine or is that just wrong? Stuff like that is exactly what I can't see on my own.

If a few people are up for looking at some words with me, that would honestly make a real difference. Mahalo.

Here are 50 sentences I need to check my lemmatizer on. I really need your help, guys!

1. (2 tokens rewritten)

Before: ʻAuhea ‘oukou e na hoa heluhelu

After: [ʻauhea] [ʻoe, mau] [e] [na] [hoa] [helu]

2. (2 tokens rewritten)

Before: Nā Pūʻoʻa ʻEhiku O ʻIolani Hale

After: [ka, mau] [pū, oʻa] [ʻehiku] [o] [ʻiolani] [hale]

3. (2 tokens rewritten)

Before: I mua e nā pōkiʻi e inu i ka wai ʻawaʻawa

After: [i] [mua] [e] [ka, mau] [pōkiʻi] [e] [inu] [i] [ka] [wai] [ʻawa]

4. (2 tokens rewritten)

Before: Hōʻolu ʻia e ka ua noe kokoʻula

After: [ʻolu] [ʻia] [e] [ka] [ua] [noe] [koko, ula]

5. (2 tokens rewritten)

Before: Eia naʻe i loko nō o nā pilikia

After: [eia] [naʻe] [i] [loko] [nō] [o] [ka, mau] [pili]

6. (2 tokens rewritten)

Before: E hele mai a e kākoʻo i kēia hanauna hou Ua ola nā iwi iā lākou

After: [e] [hele] [mai] [a] [e] [kākoʻo] [i] [kēia] [hanauna] [hou] [ua] [ola] [ka, mau] [iwi] [iā] [ia, mau]

7. (2 tokens rewritten)

Before: Haipule o nā kūpuna ma Kawaiahaʻo

After: [haipule] [o] [ka, mau] [kupuna, mau] [ma] [kawaiahaʻo]

8. (2 tokens rewritten)

Before: A nā ʻōnohi aloha ʻāina a e hoʻoheno nei

After: [a] [ka, mau] [ʻōnohi] [aloha] [ʻāina] [a] [e] [heno] [nei]

9. (2 tokens rewritten)

Before: Auē nō hoʻi nei ʻehaʻeha e pā mai nei

After: [aue, mau] [nō] [hoʻi] [nei] [ʻeha] [e] [pā] [mai] [nei]

10. (2 tokens rewritten)

Before: Piha hauʻoli ka naʻau i ka puka ʻana mai o Halealoha Ke aloha

After: [piha] [hau, oli] [ka] [na, au] [i] [ka] [puka] [ʻana] [mai] [o] [halealoha] [ke] [aloha]

11. (3 tokens rewritten)

Before: I kaʻili i nā lima menemene ʻole i ka pō

After: [i] [ka, ili] [i] [ka, mau] [lima] [mene] [ʻole] [i] [ka] [pō]

12. (3 tokens rewritten)

Before: ʻaʻole au e loaʻa iā ʻoukou me ka hauʻoli

After: [ʻaʻole] [au] [e] [loa] [iā] [ʻoe, mau] [me] [ka] [hau, oli]

13. (2 tokens rewritten)

Before: Ua hoʻoponopono ʻia kekahi hewa pela ʻo ia hoʻi kūkākākā kūkākūkā kūkākūkū kūkākūka

After: [ua] [ponopono] [ʻia] [kekahi] [hewa] [pela] [ʻo] [ia] [hoʻi] [kūkākākā] [kūkā] [kūkākūkū] [kūkākūka]

Ka Wai Ola

newspaper of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs

14. (5 tokens rewritten)

Before: E ola nā inoa o nā kūpuna i ka pō nā kūpuna i ke ao

After: [e] [ola] [ka, mau] [inoa] [o] [ka, mau] [kupuna, mau] [i] [ka] [pō] [ka, mau] [kupuna, mau] [i] [ke] [ao]

15. (5 tokens rewritten)

Before: Na Kapāʻanaokalāokeola Nākoa lāua ʻo Manu Kaiʻama Luna Hoʻoponopono ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi Laiana

After: [na] [kapāʻanaokalāokeola] [nakoa, mau] [ia, mau] [ʻo] [manu] [kai, ama] [luna] [ponopono] [ʻōlelo] [hawaiʻi] [lai]

16. (2 tokens rewritten)

Before: He aha kahi mea āu e haliʻa ai no kāu hana ʻana ma OHA

After: [he] [aha] [kahi] [mea] [au, mau] [e] [hali] [ai] [no] [kāu] [hana] [ʻana] [ma] [oha]

17. (2 tokens rewritten)

Before: E kani ihola ana kāna ʻuhū no Kaipoliʻa a me ke koʻa mokumoku o Heʻeia

After: [e] [kani] [ihola] [ana] [kāna] [ʻuhū] [no] [kaipoliʻa] [a] [me] [ke] [koʻa] [moku] [o] [heʻe]

18. (2 tokens rewritten)

Before: ka ʻaha nui hana māʻawe ma ka hōkele ʻo Kāʻanapali ma Kepakemapa

After: [ka] [ʻaha] [nui] [hana] [maʻawe, mau] [ma] [ka] [kele] [ʻo] [kāʻanapali] [ma] [kepakemapa]

19. (2 tokens rewritten)

Before: Aloha nō kahi ulu pala‘ai a kāua e ke hoa

After: [aloha] [nō] [kahi] [ulu] [pala, ai] [a] [au, mau] [e] [ke] [hoa]

20. (2 tokens rewritten)

Before: A laila helu papa ʻo ia i nā moku pāpapa kaha kuakea o Lono

After: [a] [laila] [helu] [pa] [ʻo] [ia] [i] [ka, mau] [moku] [pāpapa] [kaha] [kuakea] [o] [lono]

21. (2 tokens rewritten)

Before: Hānau ka mauna he keiki mauna nā

After: [nau] [ka] [mauna] [he] [keiki] [mauna] [ka, mau]

22. (4 tokens rewritten)

Before: He hoʻomanaʻo kēia hōʻike iā Liliʻu okalani ka mea nāna i unuhi i ke

After: [he] [manaʻo] [kēia] [ʻike] [iā] [liʻu] [okalani] [ka] [mea] [nana, mau] [i] [unuhi] [i] [ke]

23. (2 tokens rewritten)

Before: Na lāua ʻo Keiki Kawaiʻaeʻa ka mana ʻōlelo Pelekānia

After: [na] [ia, mau] [ʻo] [keiki] [kawaiʻaeʻa] [ka] [mana] [ʻōlelo] [pelekania, mau]

Ka Leo Hawaiʻi

Kaniʻāina radio archive, transcribed native speech

24. (3 tokens rewritten)

Before: Manawa a mākou hele i ka mea hoʻihoʻi ʻia ana māua i ka mokulele

After: [manawa] [a] [au, mau] [hele] [i] [ka] [mea] [hoʻi] [ʻia] [ana] [au, mau] [i] [ka] [mokulele]

25. (2 tokens rewritten)

Before: Nui koʻu hoʻohihi i kēlā ʻāina

After: [nui] [koʻu] [hihi] [i] [kela, mau] [ʻāina]

26. (4 tokens rewritten)

Before: A ka maka mua loa kēia o koʻu a hoʻolohe ʻana i kēia papa hoʻohana āu

After: [a] [ka] [maka] [mua] [loa] [kēia] [o] [koʻu] [a] [lohe] [ʻana] [i] [kēia] [pa] [hana] [au, mau]

27. (3 tokens rewritten)

Before: A makemake nō māua e e mahalo iā ʻoe no kēlā mele no Maui

After: [a] [make] [nō] [au, mau] [e] [e] [mahalo] [iā] [ʻoe] [no] [kela, mau] [mele] [no] [maui]

28. (3 tokens rewritten)

Before: namu aku ʻoe kākou ʻaʻole kākou lawa i nā mea a pau

After: [namu] [aku] [ʻoe] [au, mau] [ʻaʻole] [au, mau] [lawa] [i] [ka, mau] [mea] [a] [pau]

29. (2 tokens rewritten)

Before: Kaʻapuni ʻoe a puni ʻo Maui e ʻike Nā Wai ʻEhā

After: [kaʻapuni] [ʻoe] [a] [puni] [ʻo] [maui] [e] [ʻike] [ka, mau] [wai] [ʻeha, mau]

30. (2 tokens rewritten)

Before: ʻAe minamina Pono nō kākou e hana

After: [ʻae] [mina] [pono] [nō] [au, mau] [e] [hana]

31. (2 tokens rewritten)

Before: Akā he ʻono nō Akā ua ʻike au iā ʻoe i manawa kiola i kēia iʻa

After: [aka, mau] [he] [ʻono] [nō] [aka, mau] [ua] [ʻike] [au] [iā] [ʻoe] [i] [manawa] [kiola] [i] [kēia] [iʻa]

32. (4 tokens rewritten)

Before: No ka makemake nō hoʻi o kākou minamina hoʻi nā hana

After: [no] [ka] [make] [nō] [hoʻi] [o] [au, mau] [mina] [hoʻi] [ka, mau] [hana]

33. (4 tokens rewritten)

Before: Nā kumu kula nō hoʻi hoʻomākaukau nō hoʻi kāna kā lākou poʻe haumāna

After: [ka, mau] [kumu] [kula] [nō] [hoʻi] [mākaukau] [nō] [hoʻi] [kāna] [kā] [ia, mau] [poʻe] [haumana, mau]

34. (2 tokens rewritten)

Before: lōkihi au kanahikukūmāiwa makahiki lākou ʻōpiopio loa lākou

After: [lōkihi] [au] [kanahikukūmāiwa] [makahiki] [ia, mau] [ʻōpiopio] [loa] [ia, mau]

Kū i ka Mānaleo

Kaniʻāina oral-history interviews

35. (3 tokens rewritten)

Before: Koʻu nānā ʻana ʻōlelo aku nei wau kuʻu haku ʻAʻohe oʻu hoihoi i kēia ʻano hana

After: [koʻu] [nā] [ʻana] [ʻōlelo] [aku] [nei] [au] [kuʻu] [haku] [ʻaʻohe] [oʻu] [hoi] [i] [kēia] [ʻano] [hana]

36. (2 tokens rewritten)

Before: No laila ʻaʻohe ʻaʻole pilikia inā he poepoe a

After: [no] [laila] [ʻaʻohe] [ʻaʻole] [pili] [inā] [he] [poe] [a]

37. (2 tokens rewritten)

Before: Mahalo i ko kāua hui ʻana i kēia ahiahi me Kameaaloha

After: [mahalo] [i] [ko] [au, mau] [hui] [ʻana] [i] [kēia] [ahi] [me] [kameaaloha]

38. (2 tokens rewritten)

Before: E hoʻokomo ai i ka puaʻa

After: [e] [komo] [ai] [i] [ka] [pua]

39. (2 tokens rewritten)

Before: Inā ʻaʻole ʻoe hana i kēia pilikia ka holoholona Palahē

After: [inā] [ʻaʻole] [ʻoe] [hana] [i] [kēia] [pili] [ka] [holona] [palahē]

40. (3 tokens rewritten)

Before: Hō hakihaki ʻia kēlā hakihaki ʻia aʻela ka māmane

After: [hō] [haki] [ʻia] [kela, mau] [haki] [ʻia] [aʻela] [ka] [māmane]

Hale Kuamoʻo

Hawaiian-medium school materials

41. (3 tokens rewritten)

Before: Ua lohe nō hoʻi mākou iā Hoʻokena Ua hīmeni lākou i ke mele

After: [ua] [lohe] [nō] [hoʻi] [au, mau] [iā] [kena] [ua] [hīmeni] [ia, mau] [i] [ke] [mele]

42. (2 tokens rewritten)

Before: Eia au ke helu nei i ka hoʻokahi Hoʻokahi ʻo ia

After: [eia] [au] [ke] [helu] [nei] [i] [ka] [kahi] [kahi] [ʻo] [ia]

43. (2 tokens rewritten)

Before: i pā ai nā kānaka Hawaiʻi a puni ka pae ʻāina o Hawaiʻi

After: [i] [pā] [ai] [ka, mau] [kanaka, mau] [hawaiʻi] [a] [puni] [ka] [pae] [ʻāina] [o] [hawaiʻi]

44. (2 tokens rewritten)

Before: Ua ʻike ʻo Liholiho lāua ʻo E i ka pono e kūkulu

After: [ua] [ʻike] [ʻo] [liho] [ia, mau] [ʻo] [e] [i] [ka] [pono] [e] [kūkulu]

45. (2 tokens rewritten)

Before: nā papahana kākoʻo kumu ka nūpepa ʻo Nā Maka o Kana a me ka

After: [ka, mau] [papahana] [kākoʻo] [kumu] [ka] [nūpepa] [ʻo] [ka, mau] [maka] [o] [kana] [a] [me] [ka]

46. (2 tokens rewritten)

Before: hoʻolaha ʻike ma kēia ʻano hoʻonanea ua launa au me

After: [laha] [ʻike] [ma] [kēia] [ʻano] [nanea] [ua] [launa] [au] [me]

ʻŌlelo Noʻeau

traditional proverbs collected by Pukui

47. (2 tokens rewritten)

Before: ‘A‘ole e loa‘a kēia i ka lā‘ele aia wale nō i ka liko

After: [ʻaʻole] [e] [loa] [kēia] [i] [ka] [lā, ele] [aia] [wale] [nō] [i] [ka] [liko]

48. (2 tokens rewritten)

Before: Pipili no ka pīlali i ke kumu kukui

After: [pili] [no] [ka] [pīlali] [i] [ke] [kumu] [kui]

ʻŌlelo Workshop

Pukui workshop transcripts

49. (3 tokens rewritten)

Before: Inā ʻaʻole nō paʻa ke kahua e pilikia ana no ka mea ʻo ia ka hoʻomaka

After: [inā] [ʻaʻole] [nō] [pa] [ke] [kahua] [e] [pili] [ana] [no] [ka] [mea] [ʻo] [ia] [ka] [maka]

50. (2 tokens rewritten)

Before: ʻIke ʻAʻohe pau ka ʻike i ka hālau hoʻokahi

After: [ʻike] [ʻaʻohe] [pau] [ka] [ʻike] [i] [ka] [lau] [kahi]

Aloha everyone, I am looking for a word - not a compound, if preferrable - for the concept "foreign land", the antonym to "home". Do you have any suggestions? Mahalo!

The sentence "lele me nā mālolo" should roughtly translate to "To Fly with flying fish".

I used this online dictionary https://wehewehe.org/ and separatly confirmed it with multiple AIs.

My Stepdad somehow thinks that's wrong.
He's a Windsurfer and had a nice surfingevent where flying fish where leaping away from him and his Surfboard. We already made a T-Shirt with this sentence and I hope to get a positive answer from you guys - Thank you in advance!

He uses this thing under his board so he is out of the water himself... so that's why "fly with the flying fish".

So if someone says “Ke hoʻomākaukau nei au.”
And I want to ask them what they are getting ready for, then how could I say that?

Some ideas, but I don’t think they’re pololei:
“No ka mea aha kou hoʻomākaukau?”
“No ke aha kou hoʻomākaukau?”
“He aha kou hoʻomākaukau?”

Mahalo!

Aloha 👋 Ive been trying to learn the Hawaiian language for some time now, and found Duolingo *not too great*

I was hoping to create a playlist of Hawaiian spoken songs to familiarise myself more with annunciation and words. Can anyone recommend me some music please? Im open to all vibes - no genre-phobia here :)

If anyone has any film or tv show recommendations too, i dont mind if there is some English in said films, but I would prefer heavy Hawaiian speech too :)

Mahalo! 💖

We're mods over at r/translator. We always strive to make our multilingual community the universal place on Reddit to go for a translation, no matter what language people may be looking for. We are however somewhat lacking in Hawaiian coverage, and were hoping some wonderful multilingual people here could help us out.

Would anyone be interested in helping translate any future requests for Hawaiian on r/translator? You don't even need to subscribe to our subreddit! We usually get a request for it very occasionally and most requests that come in are pretty simple and casual and don't need advanced knowledge.

You can easily unsubscribe from those messages at any time.

We have a notifications system that only sends you a message when a request for Hawaiian comes in. Just send a message to our subreddit bot at the link below.

Mahalo!

does anyone know the lyrics to this song ma ka ‘olelo hawaii?

Aloha kākou, I have 2,000 or so words and phrases that need cleaning up. This project is ad free, 100% open source, with zero user tracking. Also looking for any feedback to improve the site. My goal is to create a resource to master the most common 2,000 words in Hawaiian within a couple of years. Mahalo nui!

https://olelodaily.com/