Hawaiian | |
---|---|
ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi | |
Region | Hawaiʻi: concentrated on Niʻihau and Hawaiʻi, but speakers throughout the Hawaiian Islands and the U.S. mainland |
Ethnicity | Native Hawaiians |
Native speakers | 2,000 (1997)[1] to 24,000+ (2006–2008)[2] |
Latin (Hawaiian alphabet), Devanagari, Hiragana, Katakana, Hangul, Mongolian/Manchu, Cyrillic | |
Official status | |
Official language in | Hawaiʻi (with English) recognized as minority language in parts of: U.S. Mainland |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-2 | haw |
ISO 639-3 | haw |
ELP | Hawaiian |
The Hawaiian language (Hawaiian: ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi) is the language of native Hawaiians. Aloha and mahalo are probably its most recognized words. The word lanai is also used in English. (That is different from Lanaʻi, the name of one of Hawaiʻi's islands.)