Hawaiian word of the week

August 25th, 2008

Filed Under Word of the week |

Poi-(poy)- Cooked, mashed taro root that is pounded into a purple paste of varying thickness. Taste is bland and best used as a side dish to be mixed with salty meats.

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

1 Comment so far

  1. Pua on August 25, 2008 11:54 pm

    Hawaiians born on the islands definitely love their poi. It’s supposed to be very healthy and easy to digest for people with stomach problems but it’s an acquired taste for sure.

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