Alakaʻi means to lead, guide, direct, a leader, a guide, or a conductor. We usually hear it in relationship to hula, as those dancers who assist a kumu hula in leading and teaching hula dancers.

Haʻahaʻa means “lowly, humble, unpretentious, modest, and unassuming.” Remember it as a good way to sign off a letter – me haʻahaʻa – with humility.

Aupuni means “government,” and can be modified to tell what kind of government we are talking about. For example, aupuni peke lala is the federal government, and aupuni koloniala is the colonial government.

Since we don’t often use north, south, east, and west in giving directions in Hawaiʻi, hikina might be a new word to you. It means “east.”

Our Hawaiian word for today is another borrowed word, kepakemapa. And yes, it’s the Hawaiian word for “September.” Like other names of the months, it was borrowed from English.

Kahaluʻu, the proper name for a beautiful Windward Oʻahu location. It means diving place. Kaha is “place” and luʻu is “diving.” Be sure to sound the glottal stop, or ʻokina.

Mākaukau means able, competent, capable, skilled, expert, prepared. We often hear a kumu hula call out that one-word question to her students — “Mākaukau?” — and the answer is always ʻae – yes.

Pau is one of the most commonly used, and misused, of Hawaiian words. Pau kahana – the work is finished. Yes, pau means finished, ended, all done, final, even consumed and destroyed. Work is finished, so you can say “pau kahana.” But don?t say “I'm pau,” that would mean you are dead or finished. And don't ask, “Are you pau?”

Especially during pageants and parades, we see flowers that have been designated as the island flower for each major island. The kaunaʻoa of Lanaʻi is such a flower. It is the native dodder, a parasitic vine belonging to the morning glory family.

Our Hawaiian Word for today is kau wela. Kau means “season,” and wela is “hot.” Yes, summer is the hot season, even in our beautiful Hawaiʻi nei.