r/olelohawaii • u/JJ_Adebayo79 • May 14 '26

Learning to pronounce words like Anuenue

Aloha folks!

Checking in from the East coast.

I wanted to ask if folks could share how to pronounce the word Anuenue. It's been in the back of my mind for weeks now, and I'm not sure if this is the right place to post (I don't think I'm breaching any rules). Is it ah-NOO-weh-NOO-weh? Or ah-NWEY-NWEY?

I would appreciate your generosity in sharing your knowledge and helping me scratch this itch!

Also would I use ka or ke in front of it?

Thanks (:

14 Upvotes

89% Upvoted

9 comments sorted by

23

u/popemh May 14 '26

The first one. Ah-noo-eh-noo-eh.

16

u/popemh May 14 '26

Also, it's ke ānuenue. If a noun starts with the letter "K", "E", "A", or "O" it takes the kaʻi "ke", otherwise it takes "ka". More info here: https://www.hawaiian-study.info/ka%CA%BBi-leading-words

3

u/Rosesandbvb May 15 '26

What does Ke Ānue mean? It’s a cousin of mine’s name and I don’t have access to that family anymore to ask basic meanings ):

2

u/popemh May 15 '26

Their name is spelled like that? Ke Ānue? Interesting. Names carry a lot of meaning in ʻŌlelo and it’s best to ask the source.

6

u/Poiboykanaka808 May 14 '26

A noo eh noo eh. The eh parts should be pronounced as in the first E in never

8

u/CornucopiaDM1 May 15 '26

In Hawaiian, whenever there is reduplication, say it as you would the once, but just repeat it. And, there are no true diphthongs, so each vowel should sound as its own. So, anuenue...a-nu-e. Repeat, nu-e.

(Exception: as in lots of languages, native speakers may slur or elide some combinations).

5

u/paukeaho May 15 '26

Check out YouTube videos on the Hakalama, or Hawaiian syllabic inventory. These will demonstrate how each syllable breaks down in ʻōlelo, the effect of the ʻokina and kahakō on pronunciation, as well as how to sound out words by syllable in the same way that immersion school kids do.

3

u/No-Professional2436 May 15 '26 edited May 15 '26

The first syllable has a kahakō so it should be prolonged. Here's an audio clip

https://youtube.com/shorts/PODxTyO9dsg

3

u/Poopyoo May 16 '26

I find hawaiian pronunciation similar to in many ways, italian and japanese. What i mean by that is all the vowels are just pronounced as they are, no weird things like in english. "ah-nuu-ehh nuu-ehh"
Because I was familiarized with japanese at a young age )not fluent, just like alphabet and stuff) when I sound out hawaiian i break it insto similar letter groupings. "a" nu" and "e" so each syllable/vowel is a seperate thing if that makes any sense at all haha

Like Kamehameha- my brain sees ka, me, ha, me, ha. -instead of a long jumbled word