Hawaiian Language
ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi
Linguistic Classification Hawaiian is a Polynesian language within the Austronesian language family, closely related to other Polynesian languages such as Marquesan, Tahitian, Māori, Rapa Nui, Samoan, and Tongan.
Number of Speakers As of 2008, there were more than 24,000 total speakers of Hawaiian in Hawaii, with about 2,000 native speakers.
Official Status Hawaiian, alongside English, is an official language of the state of Hawaii, as established by the state's 1978 constitution.
Alphabet The Hawaiian alphabet, known as pīʻāpā, consists of 13 letters: five vowels (a, e, i, o, u) and eight consonants (h, k, l, m, n, p, w, ʻ). The ʻokina (ʻ) represents a glottal stop, and the kahakō (macron) indicates vowel length.