How to pronounce Likelike (that highway) in Oahu?

[clear]

This question has bothered my wife and I for a while now. I've been calling it "like like" (as the the word "like"). Wife wants to call it something totally different. I'm hoping somebody who knows can set us straight. Thanks.

 

[pmorey]

LEE-kay LEE-kay

 

[kkimura]

Try leakyleaky?

 

[merlin666]

No the "E" at the end of like is pronounced like the e in Ken.

 

[kkimura]

No problem, guess I'll have to tell my family we've been saying wrong which is a possability as we are not native Hawaiian. We're Japanese/Korean who happen to have been born in Hawaii.

 

[rainbow21]

LEE-kay LEE-kay

I like this Likelike

 

[mds725]

LEE-kay LEE-kay

Lee-keh-lee-keh

 

[pmorey]

Lee-keh-lee-keh

I love trying to type out how to pronounce Hawaiian (!) but I believe we are on the same page. I think if we combine our two phonetic examples someone would get the idea. Basically the same "e" sound from ukulele... not to open a whole new can of worms!

 

[kkimura]

Lee-keh-lee-keh

Looks like how I pronounce leakyleaky.

 

[kkimura]

Here's an interesting factoid; spoken Hawaiian is pronounced a little differently on some of the islands notably O'ahu, Moloka'i and Ni'ihau for example.

 

[clear]

No!!!! That's what my wife thinks.

But ,thank you for setting me straight. This question surfaces every time we visit Oahu.

 

[nunsandi]

https://www.homeyhawaii.com/blog/culture/hawaiian-pronunciation-guide/ has a pronunciation guide

 

[PauoaPoiDog]

Lee-keh-lee-keh

Yes - this way.

 

[PauoaPoiDog]

I love trying to type out how to pronounce Hawaiian (!) but I believe we are on the same page. I think if we combine our two phonetic examples someone would get the idea. Basically the same "e" sound from ukulele... not to open a whole new can of worms!

This name of a princess of the royal Hawaiian family, and now a highway, is something of a shibboleth. It’s an easy and accurate way of telling locals from newcomers and visitors.

 

[kkimura]

So complicated.

I'm not even going to try pineapple.

 

[badhabits]

Hawaiian is fairly easy... once you realize the vowels are always pronounced the same way (short a and e, long e for i, etc). And they are similar to Italian and Japanese.

 

[kkimura]

Hawaiian is fairly easy... once you realize the vowels are always pronounced the same way (short a and e, long e for i, etc). And they are similar to Italian and Japanese.

Yes, I agree 100%. After living over 40 years in Northern New England, I think my accent has changed. When I sing Hawaiian it sounds Bostonian.

 

[John Colter]

I used to know a bloke who thpoke with a pronounthed lithp.

 

[man0a]

A few years ago, Google Maps used to pronounce the name LIK-LIK. Now they pronounce it reasonably well. Now they need to teach the tourists to pronounce poke the same way. Restaurants in California that are spelled "poki" make me laugh (or cringe). Who knows what you are going to get at a place like that.