“Happy Birthday” translates to “Hau`oli Lā Hānau” in Hawaiian. “Hau`oli” means “Happy, glad, gay, joyful,” “Lā” means “Day, date” (as well as “sun, sunny”), and “Hānau” means “To give birth; to lay (an egg); born.” Note that the first “a” in both “Lā” and “Hānau” include the kahakō, or a macron, a Hawaiian diacritical mark […]
Articles Tagged: phrases
How do you say “I love you” in Hawaiian?
While, as in English, there are many ways to say “I love you,” the most common way in Hawaiian to express this wonderful sentiment is, “Aloha au iā ‘oe.” Note the Hawaiian diacritical markings: the kahakō, or long-vowel marker over the “a” in “iā,” and the ‘okina, or glottal stop marker, in “‘oe.” “Aloha,” in […]