The Hawaiian Language

A visit to Hawaii is to travel into a land replete with beauty where even your ears will rejoice. The Hawaiian language, ‘Ōlelo Hawaii, came to its shores along with the first people to arrive from the ancestral homelands of Polynesia. The language evolved alongside the culture into the nuanced, multi-layered ‘Ōlelo Hawaii we know today.
Hawaii is the only state in the United States with two official languages. In preparation for your trip to Hawaii, you can learn some basic phrases to enrich your experience:

He aha ka mea hou?

What’s new?

He aha keia?

What is this?

He mae iki.

A small thing (not a problem, response to mahalo)

ʻA ʻoia!

That’s it!

ʻAʻole maopopo iaʻu.

I don’t know.

ʻO ________ koʻu inoa.

My name is

ʻAʻole maopopo iaʻu

I don’t understand

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