Pronouncing the Hawaiian language correctly is one of the many important ways foreigners should respect the people, place, and culture of Hawaiʻi. In this episode, I walk through the basic pronunciation of Reverend Dennis Kamakahi's classic song, "Kōkeʻe."
Follow along with the words here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XsKAZqHEMVpDwDKFnSXGCxOFxJEwqwIb/view
This Kani Ka Pila Classics series on The Live ʻUkulele Podcast aims to provide malihini a better understanding of the lyrics to popular ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi kani ka pila songs. Since these songs are enthusiastically sung and strummed more often than others, they're also unknowingly mispronounced by more people.
By ensuring you're saying the words correctly, you preserve the meaning of a song, demonstrate your effort to honor the language, and bring a greater depth to your presentation of Hawaiian music that can be both felt and heard.
Because I am poʻe haole (caucasian) in Hawaiʻi who plays Hawaiian songs and has the privilege of playing ʻukulele for - and with - Hawaiians, I am extremely anal about using the correct pronunciation. These episodes are a small way that I can give back to the Hawaiian music scene by educating fellow malihini.
I have studied Hawaiian at UH Maui with Leinoa Kong and Kīʻope Raymond, and later with Lanakila Mangauil, Kaliko Beamer-Trapp, and others. While I am not a fluent speaker, I am certainly versed enough to assist other English-first speakers in avoiding the main pitfalls of sung Hawaiian.
Resources:
-Hakalama practice: https://oleloonline.com/0404p-hakalama-practice/
-Ka Alala with Malu States: https://www.kaalala.com/
-Malu on pronouncing "Hawaiʻi": https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ky8xgn7appQ
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CREDITS
- Hosted, produced, edited, and mixed by Brad Bordessa
- Theme music by Brad Bordessa: "Fallout," "Eat You," and "Sister's Got a Gun" available on https://bradbordessa.bandcamp.com/
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