Hawaiian Language - Name

Name

The Hawaiian language takes its name from the largest island, Hawaii (Hawaiʻi in the Hawaiian language), in the tropical North Pacific archipelago where it developed, originally from a Polynesian language of the South Pacific, most likely Marquesan or Tahitian. The island name was first written in English in 1778 by British explorer James Cook and his crew members. They wrote it as "Owhyhee" or "Owhyee". Explorers Mortimer (1791) and Otto von Kotzebue (1821) used that spelling.

The initial "O" in the name is a reflection of the fact that unique identity is predicated in Hawaiian by using a copula form, o, immediately before a proper noun. Thus, in Hawaiian, the name of the island is expressed by saying O Hawaiʻi, which means " is Hawaiʻi." The Cook expedition also wrote "Otaheite" rather than "Tahiti."

The spelling "why" in the name reflects the pronunciation of wh in 18th century English (still in active use in parts of the English-speaking world). Why was pronounced . The spelling "hee" or "ee" in the name represents the sounds, or .

Putting the parts together, O-why-hee reflects, a reasonable approximation of the native pronunciation, .

American missionaries bound for Hawaiʻi used the phrases "Owhihe Language" and "Owhyhee language" in Boston prior to their departure in October 1819 and during their five-month voyage to Hawai'i. They still used such phrases as late as march 1822. However, by July 1823, they had begun using the phrase "Hawaiian Language."

In Hawaiian, ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi means "Hawaiian language", as adjectives follow nouns.