Hawaiian word of the week

April 21st, 2008

Filed Under Word of the week |

Pupu-(poo-poo)- appetizer

The alphabet contains 12 letters: 5 vowels (a, e, i, o, u) and 7 consonants (h, k, l, m, n, p, w). To simplify pronunciation, sound consonants as in English and break up words so they are easy to say (ie- Humuhumunukunukuapua’a would be pronounced humu-humu-nuku-nuku-apu-a-a)

Pronounce vowels as follows:

a - a in above; e - e in set; i - ee in see; o - o in some; u - oo in moon.

Pronounce vowels marked by a glottal stop (`) quickly ie- o`o sounds like oh-oh! in English.

Stress rising dipthongs (ae, ai, ao, au, oi, ou, eu, ei) on the first letter and end with a short e, i, o or u. ie- oi sounds like oy in soy, ending with a short “i”.


Comments

4 Comments so far

  1. Sheila on April 21, 2008 8:52 am

    I never knew pupu could be used as a stand alone word. I always thought that the word pupu was supposed to go with the words mai tai. He He! :-)

  2. Debo Hobo on April 21, 2008 11:27 am

    Is that the same as pupu plater, which is the appetizer plate at the Chineese restaraunt?

  3. Pua on April 21, 2008 1:38 pm

    Whenever you make it to the Big Island, visit Kawaihae Harbor restaurant on the Kohala Coast - short drive from Hapuna and Mauna Kea Beach - and order the Pupu platter consisting of fresh Hawaii fish pupus. Ono and delicious! Aloha, Pua

  4. Pele on April 21, 2008 2:16 pm

    Sheila- Pupu and mai tai’s are a great combo! heh heh

    Debo- Pupu platters were popularized by Chinese restaurants in the 1950’s after the big craze of Polynesian restaurants came along like Trader Vics and others. The Cantonese adapted it to many of their Chinese restaurants at that time and it stuck! :)

    Pua- Thanks for the tip! I’ll put it on our itinerary! I love trying new places!

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