Hawaiian Lesson 1

Kā Naiʻa Palapala Aʻo ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi – Haʻawina ʻekahi
Naiʻa's Learn Hawaiian Writings – Lesson One: The Basics

This is a lot of information to cover at once, so take your time! It's crucial to have a strong foundation for any further study of the language.

Ka Pīʻāpā – The Alphabet
The Hawaiian alphabet is the shortest in the world, with only 13 letters. They are, in order:

a, e, i, o, u, h, k, l, m, n, p, w, ʻ

The names of the letters are pronounced: ʻā, ʻē, ʻī, ʻō, ʻū, hē, kē, lā, mū, nū, pī, wē, ʻokina.

Vowels sometimes have macrons (kahakō) to show that they are long (see below.)

For more on Ka Pīʻāpā Hawaiʻi (the Hawaiian alphabet), see:
Leilani's Page, ka pīʻāpā", Hawaiian Alphabet Song,

A note on special characters: I have finally replaced ASCII kludges for representing macrons and the ʻokina with genuine unicode characters for them. At last!
In older written texts sometimes the kahako and ʻokina are left out.
Get Hawaiian Fonts for both Macintosh and Windows. (Kualono page)
Here's what Leilani has to say about the diacritical marks.

Pronunciation

a is pronounced as in "father"
e is pronounced somewhere between in "met" and ey in "they"
i is pronounced as ee in "meet"
o is pronounced as in "sole".
u is pronounced as oo in "moon".

Long vowels (ā, ē, ī, ō, ū) are pronounced the same as their short counterparts only, quite sensibly, longer. For two beats instead of one, if you will. It is important to pronounce long vowels long, as this can make a difference between the meanings of two otherwise similar words.

h, l, m and n are pronounced as in English.

k, and p are pronounced as in English, but with less aspiration. Hold your hand in front of your mouth while pronouncing words like "poke" or "cap" – you should feel a little puff of air. Now try to pronounce the same words without the little puff of air (as the "p" in "spin" is usually pronounced). This will approximate the Hawaiian pronunciation.

w is pronounced somewhere in between our "v" and "w". (something like a voiced w) Don't worry about it overly, either sound is acceptable.

ʻ, the ʻokina, represents a glottal stop. This sound often occurs in the middle of oh-oh (as in "oh-oh, I'm in trouble now!") in english. It can be difficult to hear in at the beginning of a word if said alone, though it is still important to remember when it occurs at the beginning of a word, as it can be clearly heard in the middle of a sentence.

Note: Sometimes "t" and "r" sounds are made in place of "k" and "l" sounds, respectively.. This is a common variation, and does not change the meaning of the words. "k" and "l" are almost always written, regardless of which pronunciation is used. The "k" and "l" sounds always go together and the "t" and "r" sounds always go together.

This is just a general guide; for more, see:
Leilani's Pronunciation page
Kualono's Pronunciation Page, with .au files
A page with .wav files of Hawaiian words
Another page with .wav files of Hawaiian words

Tidbits: Why "Pīʻāpā"?

You might be wondering, hey, how the heck did they get "pīʻāpā" out of "alphabet"? The clearest explanation I've heard is from Albert Schutz, in The Voices of Eden:
"In the edition [of Webster's (english) speller, excedingly popular at the time Hawaiians were being taught to read & write] just quoted, Lesson 1 begins with a table of syllables..to be spelled aloud and then pronounced as units: ba be bi bo bu by. Thus, students began to learn to read by reciting the names of the letters and the pronouncing the syllable the letters spelled: bī, ā: bā....This practice of spelling aloud, especially using the "syllabarium," gave the Hawaiian alphabet its name. Just as American schoolchildren taught with Webster's speller began their recitation by naming the letters that formed the first syllable, and then pronouncing the result: "B, A--BA," so did Hawaiian learners. However, they pronounced these sounds "pī, ā--pā," which is now the word for "alphabet".

Vocabulary/Common Social Phrases...

ʻAe - Yes
ʻAʻole - No
Au - I
ʻoe - You {singular}
Aloha kakahiaka - Good morning
Aloha ʻawakea - Good afternoon
Aloha auinala - Good afternoon (late)
Aloha ahiahi - Good evening
Pehea ʻoe? - How are you? (when talking to one person)
Maikaʻi au. - I'm good.
Maikaʻi nō au. - I'm very good.
Maluhiluhi au. - I'm tired.
Mahalo. - Thanks, thank you.
A ʻo ʻoe? - And you?
A hui hou. - Goodbye, until we meet again
A hui hou aku nō. - {in reply to the above}
E mālama pono ʻoe (i kou kino.) - Take care (of your body.) {A common parting phrase}

E kuʻu hoaaloha...
"E" is a little grammatical word that is placed in front when addressing someone directly, as used in the example dialogue below.

Example Dialogue:
Keola: Aloha kakahika, e Pua.
Pua: Aloha, e Keola. Pehea ʻoe?
Keola: Maikaʻi au, mahalo. ʻA ʻo ʻoe?
Pua: Māluhiluhi au. Mahalo. A hui hou, e Keola.
Keola: ʻAe, e mālama pono ʻoe.

Many more phrases, interjections and conversational vocabulary sorts of things can be found elsewhere on-line. You might start with:
Leilani's page
Ernie's Page