EXPLANATORY NOTE.
The Hawaiian alphabet proper contains but twelve letters, five vowels and seven consonants, namely: A, E, I, O, U, H, K, L, M, N, P, W. To these are sometimes added R, T and B. No appreciable distinction, however, is observed between the sounds of R and L, T and K, and B and P.
The almost invariable sound of A is as pronounced in father; of E as in they; of I as in marine; of O as in mole; of U as in mute. The only general deviation is in giving the vowels long and short sounds. W takes the sound of V in most cases.
Every word and every syllable of the language ends in a vowel, and no two consonants occur without a vowel sound between them.
The accent of nine-tenths of the words in the language is on the penultimate.
The indefinite article is he; the definite article ka or ke; the plural takes the prefix of na.
The “O” beginning the metrical lines of chants and meles is not always employed as an interjection. It is used chiefly as a prefix to personal nouns and pronouns in the nominative case.