Kauai Local Lingo Did you know there are only 12 letters in the Hawaiian Alphabet? A E I O U P K H L M N W Here are some of the commonly used words and phrases. a hui ho'u - until we meet again (as in goodbye) Anini: dwarfed or stunted aloha - love, compassion, greeting as in hello, good bye, farewell aloha pumehana - with warm affection, as in signing a letter `aina - land hale - ( hah - lay ) house hana - work Hanalei: crescent bay haole - (how lay) caucasian / oriniginally meant foreigner but now accepted to mean caucasian. kai - sea Kalo: Taro. ( Colocasia esculenta ). Many uses but mainly for poi. In Hawaii, taro has been the staple from earliest times to the present. All parts of the plant are eaten, Its starchy root principally as poi, and its leaves as lu`au. It is a perennial heb consisting of a cluster of long-stemmed, heart-shaped leaves rising a foot or more from underground tubers. kama`aina - native born / child of the land today also means one who has lived here a long time. kane - (kah nay) man kapu - forbidden, keep out, taboo kaukau - food keiki - child, offspring Kilauea: spewing, much spreading. (as in volcanic eruptions) koa: 1. brave, bold, fearless. 2. Soldier, warrior. 3. The largest of native forest trees (Acacia koa) with light-gray bark, crescent-shaped leaves, and white flowers in small, round heads. A legume with fine, red wood, a valuable lumber tree, formerly used for canoes, surfboards, calabashes, now for furnitures and ukuleles. A small Koa was sometimes added to the hula altar to Laka, goddess to the hula, to make the dancer fearless. kokua - help kona - leeward lanai - porch luau - feast mahalo - thank you, gratitude mahalo nui loa - a great big (very much) thank you makai - toward the sea manu - bird mauka - toward the mountains malihini - newcomer, stranger muumuu - loose dress Na Pali - the cliffs ( coastal area on Kauai ) ohana - family ono - delicious opu - stomach pali - cliff pau - done pau hana - finished work poi - crushed taro root pua - flower puka - hole ( eg. puka shell necklaces. The shells have a naturally made hole in the end) pupu - hors d'oeuvres wahine - (wah- hee - nay) female wikiwiki - hurry- This word is very rarely used on Kauai. Can you guess why?