Hawaiian Vocabulary

We've had to learn some new words since we arrived here in Hawaii. These are some of the most common Hawaiian words and phrases we've come across:

Kama'aina: locals
Ohana: family
Keiki: kids
Mahalo: thank you
Pupus: appetizers
Aloha: hi, bye, farewell, also used to describe the atmopshere of the islands as in "aloha spirit"
Tutu: grandmother
Slippers: flip-flops
Mele Kalikimaka: Merry Christmas
Hau'oli Makahiki Hou: Happy New Year

I've noticed that many of the Hawaiian-sounding cities and street names start with W, K, P or A, which can make things very confusing... for instance, Waipio, Waipahu, Waimea, Wahiawa, Waialua and Waimanalo are a few of the many towns that start with the letter W. But that makes sense to me now; I recently read that the Hawaiian alphabet only has 12 letters: all the typical vowels, plus H, K, L, M, N, P, W.