© 2026 Hawaiʻi Public Radio
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Search results for

  • 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.
  • Our Hawaiian Word for today is a beautiful Oʻahu place name, Kawaiahaʻo. And it means the water used by Haʻo. Some say Haʻo was a chief. As most of you know, it is a name for the most famous church on the island, often called the Westminster of the Pacific.
  • Hoʻola Na Pua, an organization committed to preventing sex trafficking, appoints a new CEO; University of Murcia archaeologist Miguel Valério studies different lunar calendars from across the Pacific Islands.
  • 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.
  • 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?”
  • 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.
  • HPR’s Bill Dorman reports with the latest developments on Tropical Storm Lala; Mililani Trask, sister of Haunani Kay-Trask, responds to a possibly AI-generated use of her late sister's likeness.
  • Pekelala is another Hawaiian word borrowed from English, and it means federal. If you listen to the news of the day discussed in Hawaiian, you often hear pekelala, because so much of what is in the news relates to the U.S. federal government.
  • Today's Hawaiian Word of the Day is another beautiful place name: Kōkeʻe. It means "to bend" or "to wind." We all know it as the name of the beautiful state park and area on Kauaʻi.
  • Inoa means name. Koʻu inoa means “my name,” kou inoa means “your name.” So the next time you hear someone ask, “ ‘O wai kou inoa?” Just tell them what your name is.
968 of 32,153