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1By 'sounds' in this sentence I am referring strictly
to phonemes; several studies have noted that allophonic variation is quite
common in Hawaiian, particularly when stress is involved. In her work,
A phonemic analysis of Hawaiian, Helen Luise Newbrand identified
[ʌ, ə] as allophones of /a/, with [ə] usually occurring in
unstressed positions, and [ε] as an allophone of /e/, usually occurring
in stressed positions. Certain phonological environments are also known to
trigger e → ε, such as when /e/ follows a syllable containing [e],
or when /e/ is adjacent to /n/ or /l/
(Elbert 1979, 14).
Other allophones were reported as well including some for consonants. See
Newbrand.
2The technical terms for 'hiss-like' sounds are
'sibilant fricatives' and 'affricates'.
3The spelled pronunciations I used for vowels and diphthongs are as
followed: [a] <ah>, [aː] <ahh>, [æ] <ae>, [ə]
<uh>, [e] <eh>, [eː] <ehh>, [i] <ee>, [ɪ]
<ih>, [iː] <eee>, [o] <oh>, [oː] <ohh>, [u]
<oo>, [uː] <ooo>, [aɪ] <ai, ye>, [eɪ]
<ay>, [oʊ] <ohw>. For [ʔ] I used <->.
4Since one must speak English in order to read this
document, explaining Hawaiian pronunciation in terms of how it relates to
English pronunciation is an effective teaching strategy. While not every one
speaks English natively, nor the same dialect of English, General English was
selected because it is the standard dialect of the country in which Hawaiian is
spoken, and even if a student does not speak that variety, at least it can be
heard on major television and radio programs. Besides, it would be infeasible to
cater to each variety of spoken English.
5By 'W sound' I am referring to [ʊ].
6Albert J. Schütz hypothesized that /w/ could have originally
been /ʋ/ (Schütz 1994, 121).
7Originally, b, d, r, t, and v
were used to write Hawaiian and f, g, s, and y were
used to record foreign terms.
8None of these words are cognates and they share the
same meaning due to either coincidence or borrowing. Mole refers to
mole the animal, not the blemish. The word for aloe is spelled
with an initial ‘okina in Hawaiian: ‘aloe, but this
fact was ignored since in English a glottal stop precedes the A in 'aloe' as
well. Like means like in the sense of as or similar
to, not in the sense of 'to like something'.
9There is much debate over what Hawaiian's diphthongs
are, (though everyone agrees on ae, ai, ao, au,
ei, eu, oi and ou). It has been observed that
Hawaiian diphthongs are not adjoined as closely as English diphthongs, but it is
accepted that these combinations are longer than say, their opposites:
ea, ia, oa, ua, ie, ue, io and
uo.
Some authors add āi, āe, āo, āu,
ēi, ōu, but not everyone agrees that this analysis is
correct. Some add iu and/or ui.
| iu |
similar to the word 'you' |
/iu/ |
| ui |
similar to the exclamation 'wee'! |
/ui/ |
Since Hawaiian diphthongs and stress have not been adequately studied, however,
I have kept to the most conservative span of: ae, ai, ao,
au, ei, eu, oi and ou, for which there is
consensus.
10The Hawaiian Stress Rule is
by no means specific to the Hawaiian language; it is merely an amiable way of
saying 'penultimate stress'.
11Elizabeth Tatar has also recorded several other dramatic changes
that occur when Hawaiian is sung or chanted, identifying [æ] as an
allophone of /a/, [ɪ] as an allophone of /i/, and [ʌ] as an allophone
of /o/, and so forth, not to mention a plethora of consonant allophones
(Tatar 1982, 80). In
addition to these, Helen Roberts reported that a sound between TH and Z was used
interchangeably with t and k in chanting
(Roberts 1967, 72).
12‘Īlio →
‘īliu and pua‘a → pu‘a are
specifically documented taken from Ruby Kawena Kinny's work A non-purist view of
Morphomorphemic Variations in Hawaiian Speech,
(Kinny 1956, 284).
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