Why is there a different alphabet in Hawaii?

Answer 1

Because the Hawaiian were here before the English. So they had their own oral language which they had to put in writing when the Missionaries came to the islands.

Answer 2

Technically, the Hawaiian language includes13 letters, A, E, I, O, U, H, K, L, M, N, P, W, and the okina (pronounced oh-key-nah) which is basically an apostrophe and signals a break or small pause in the word. For example, the name of the state, commonly written as Hawaii is correctly spelled Hawai'i. The difference in pronunciation is the small pause between the double I. Hah-whyee becomes Hah-why-ee.

The Hawaiian Language was never transcribed into a written language until white missionaries came to Hawai'i to convert the people to Christianity. Hawai'i is also the youngest state, and therefore still has a culture all it's own, much like a different country would.

Answer 3

Because Hawaii has two official languages, English and Hawaiian.

Hawaiian has a 13 letter alphabet while English has 26 letters.

Answer 4

Well, the Hawaiian alphabet uses the same alphabet as English, but only 12 letters: 5 vowels (a, e, i, o, u) and 7 consonants (h, k, l, m, n, p, w). There are also several diacritical marks that influence pronunciation. Why only 12? When the missionaries brought a written language, they essentially transcribed words the way that they sounded.

Answer 5

The Hawaiian language was an oral tradition. The Hawaiian alphabet (piapa), was written by 19th century missionaries.

The alphabet contains 12 letters: 5 vowels (a, e, i, o, u) and 7 consonants (h, k, l, m, n, p, w).

Answer 6

Based on the underlying language.

You have no idea how confusing it is when I come home to Arizona & spot a U-HA-UL truck :-)