It's been estimated that at the time of Captain Cook, there were more than 200,000 pure Hawaiians in the islands. Now, because disease took its toll on so many early Hawaiians and because of inter-marriage with other racial groups, there are fewer than 15,000.

With this relatively small number of Hawaiians left to carry on native traditions and speak the language, the cultural heritage of the indigenous people of Hawai'i was in danger of being lost. However, in the past 25 years or so, there's been a great revival in learning about Hawaiian culture and the language.

In fact, a law was passed in 1987 making Hawaiian an official state language. The mandate also sought to promote the study of Hawaiian culture, language and history, and the Department of Education established the Hawaiian Language Immersion Program.

The World's Shortest Alphabet

Before the arrival of missionaries in 1820, the Hawaiian language didn't exist in written form. Anxious to convert the natives to Christianity, they standardized the language by giving Hawaiians a twelve letter alphabet. Then, they proceeded to translate the Bible and other works into Hawaiian. The alphabet consisted of five vowels, a, e, i, o and u, and seven consonants, h , k, 1, m, n, p, and w.

In pronouncing Hawaiian words, vowels marked with macrons, short horizontal lines, are usually stressed. However, we suggest putting equal emphasis on all syllables until you become more familiar with the subtle differences in the language. It's important to note that some browsers will not correctly display the macron, or you may see an odd-looking character or symbol instead.

The glottal stop ' is a stop consonant. It's made by closing the glottis so tightly that no air can pass through, causing a momentary interruption in speech. One example of a glottal stop is that made in pronouncing the expression ''oh-oh! '' In the following list, diagonal lines indicate glottal stops, and dashes join syllables.

In many cases, common English words have been used, in the phonetic pronunciation of the Hawaiian words. Appearing in parentheses, the letter combination ''au'' should be pronounced to rhyme with the word ''now.''

Learn to Speak Hawaiian, Just for Fun!

The following are commonly used Hawaiian words. Learning to pronounce them will give you a general idea of how to speak in Hawaiian. For a more scholarly explanation of the language, visit the Polynesian Cultural Center Web site.

'ae (eye). . . . . . .yes
akamai (ah-kah-my). . . . . . .smart
ala (ah-lah). . . . . . .road
aloha (ah-low-hah ). . . . . . .love, hello, goodbye
'a'ole (ah/oh-lay ). . . . . . .no
hala-kahiki (hah-lah-kah-hee-kee). . . . . . . pineapple
hale (hah-lay) . . . . . . .house
hau'oli (hau/oh-lee). . . . . . .joy, happiness
heiau (hay-ee-au ). . . . . . .ancient Hawaiian temple
holoholo (hoe-low-hoe-low). . . . . . .to go for a walk or ride
hula (who-lah). . . . . . .traditional dance of Hawai'i
kai (kie, rhymes with pie). . . . . . . the sea, or seawater
kala (kah-lah) . . . . . . . money
kama'aina (kah-mah/eye-nah). . . . . . . native-born or long-time resident
kane (kah-nay ). . . . . . .man
kokua (koh-coo-ah). . . . . . .help
lei (lay ) . . . . . . . garland of flowers, shells, etc.
lua pele (loo-ah pay-lay ). . . . . . .volcano
lu'au (loo/au) . . . . . . .feast or party
mahalo (mah-hah-low). . . . . . .thanks
makai (mah-kie, rhymes with pie). . . . . . .toward the sea
malihini (mah-lee-he-nee). . . . . . .newcomer
mauka (mau-kah). . . . . . .toward the mountains
mauna (mau-nah). . . . . . .mountain
moana(moh-ah-nah). . . . . . .the ocean
nui (new-ee). . . . . . . big
'ono (oh-no) . . . . . . .delicious
pali (pah-lee) . . . . . . .cliff
pilikia (pea-lee-key-ah ). . . . . . .trouble
poho (poh-hoe) . . . . . . .loss, out of luck
poi (poy) . . . . . . . pasty food made from taro
'ukulele (oo-coo-lay-lay) . . . . . . .ukulele
wahine (wah-he-nay). . . . . . .woman
wai (why) . . . . . . .fresh water
wikiwiki (wee-key-wee-key). . . . . . .hurry