Hawaiian Word of the Day
Weekdays at 7:29am & 5:29pm on HPR-1, and 3:06pm on HPR-2
This daily feature encourages awareness of the use of Hawaiian language, or ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi, in everyday conversation. In each 30-second vignette, host Leilani Poliʻahu introduces a new word, explains what it means, spells it, and models the correct pronunciation.
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Luahine means old woman. Luahine is most often used by non-Hawaiian speakers as a proper name, as in the great hula dancer ʻIolani Luahine. -
Kaʻahumanu, a beautiful Hawaiian name, and it means the bird cloak or the favorite cloak. It is the name of the favorite wife of King Kamehameha the Great. -
While you most often hear Palani as the Hawaiian transliteration of the name Frank or Frances. It also means France or French. We don't have a lot of Palani in Hawaiʻi, but there are many in Tahiti. -
Heluhelu means “to read.” Helu, by itself, is to count, but re-duplicating it gives us a new word: to read. All of us can heluhelu and we do it everyday reading books, newspapers, magazines, signs, and more. -
Puʻunēnē is a place on the island of Maui, and a beautiful name that is all too often mispronounced. It is named for a hill – a puʻu – where you might find the nēnē goose, our state bird: goose hill. -
Millions of people see it every year, but few know that the bay that extends from Honolulu Harbor to Pearl Harbor is called Māmala. -
Maʻa mau is two words that mean common, usual, customary. Chinese food is the meaʻai maʻa mau for a lot of people in Hawaiʻi. He mea maʻa mau—a common thing.
