Hawaiian Alphabet | Palapala Hawaiʻi

The Hawaiian alphabet consists of only 13 letters: 5 vowels and 8 consonants, making it one of the shortest alphabets in the world.

A a
A
ah
E e
E
eh
I i
I
ee
O o
O
oh
U u
U
oo
H h
He
h
K k
Ke
k
L l
La
l
M m
Mu
m
N n
Nu
n
P p
Pi
p
W w
We
w/v
ʻ
Okina
glottal stop

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Online Hawaiian Keyboard - Type Hawaiian Online

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About the Hawaiian Alphabet

The Hawaiian alphabet is one of the shortest in the world with only 13 letters: 5 vowels (a, e, i, o, u) and 8 consonants (h, k, l, m, n, p, w, ʻokina). The ʻokina is a glottal stop that functions as a consonant. Vowels can have macrons (kahakō) to indicate long vowels. The alphabet was developed by missionaries in the 1820s.

History

The Hawaiian alphabet was developed by American Protestant missionaries in the 1820s to translate the Bible and promote literacy. They reduced the Hawaiian language to 12 letters plus the ʻokina (glottal stop). The current orthography was standardized in 1826 and has remained largely unchanged, though the use of the kahakō (macron) for long vowels was added later.

Key Features

  • Written from left to right
  • Only 13 letters total
  • 5 vowels and 8 consonants
  • Includes glottal stop (ʻokina)
  • Macrons indicate long vowels
  • One of shortest alphabets