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Kokua Line June Watanabe |
KITV’s Muneno
pronounces Lihue
correctlyQuestion: What is the correct pronunciation of Lihue, Kauai? The weather people on most of the television stations say "lay hue," but some of us were told it should be pronounced closer to "lee hue." If it's the latter, then Kathy Muneno on KITV-4 is the only one correctly pronouncing it. Congrats to her, if so.
Answer: We checked with the Kauai Historical Society and the University of Hawaii-Hilo's Hale Kuamo'o Hawaiian Language Center, and representatives of both affirmed that the "Li" in Lihue should be pronounced "lee" as in lee-HU-ay ("ay" as in hay).
Lihue, by the way, translates to "cold chill."
While we were at it, we also asked about the correct pronunciation of Kaua'i, where there's more of a variation.
The Kauai Historical Society checked with Hawaiian language experts and got three different pronunciations. For example, some Niihauans tend to say "cow eye," but not all, a representative of the society said.
"If you take the okina out of the word, it becomes 'ka why e' (soft "i"); leave the okina in and it becomes 'ka why ee' (hard "i"); and then you get into the discussion if the okina is supposed to be there or not," she said.
Staff at the Hawaiian Language Center, meanwhile, said the name of the island should be pronounced "kau-wa-'i."
The advice of the historical society: "Say it with a smile on your face, and you can't go wrong."
We found some interesting information about the Kauai Historical Society on the Internet at www.kauaihistoricalsociety.org.
The society, established in 1914, is located in the Kauai County Building in Lihue, where it has a collection of more than 4,000 photographs; 3,200 maps; plantation records; copies of the Garden Island newspaper dating to 1911; 25 cabinet drawers of subject files; 4,500 books; personal papers from local families and organizations; and the Guslander Coco Palms Museum Collection.
The public may view the extensive collections by appointment.
According to its Web site, the society was first established to preserve Kauai's sacred places. It advocated early on for the preservation of the Hawaiian language and was instrumental in preserving the heiau sites of Wailua, the caves at Haena, the Menehune ditch at Waimea, the 'Alekoko Fishpond at Niumalu, the original Koloa sugar mill and the Russian Fort in Waimea. It helped found the Kokee Natural History Museum and the Kauai Museum.
Auwe
Parents, take my advice and be sure to check out the policies and procedures at whatever preschool or school you send your children to. My 3 1/2 year-old daughter was at her preschool when she fell and broke her collarbone, but I wasn't notified for 3 1/2 hours. They said they didn't think anything was wrong because she ate and took a nap, but my daughter said she couldn't eat or sleep because she was in too much pain. Make sure the school notifies you any time your child gets hurt. Needless to say, she is no longer enrolled in that school. -- No Name
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