He aliʻi ka ʻāina, he kauā ke kanaka — meaning and pronunciation
Pronounced /heh ah-LEE-ʻee kah AH-ee-nah, heh kow-AH keh kah-NAH-kah/ — syllables: heh · ah · LEE · ʻee · kah · AH · ee · nah, · heh · kow · AH · keh · kah · NAH · kah
Meaning
The land is a chief, man is its servant. This proverb expresses the deep reverence Hawaiians have for the land and their role as its stewards.
How to pronounce He aliʻi ka ʻāina, he kauā ke kanaka
Hawaiian vowels are always sounded separately. A kahakō (line above a vowel) lengthens it; the ʻokina (ʻ) is a glottal stop, like the pause in “uh-oh”.
Frequently asked
What does He aliʻi ka ʻāina, he kauā ke kanaka mean?
The land is a chief, man is its servant. This proverb expresses the deep reverence Hawaiians have for the land and their role as its stewards.
How do you pronounce He aliʻi ka ʻāina, he kauā ke kanaka?
He aliʻi ka ʻāina, he kauā ke kanaka is pronounced /heh ah-LEE-ʻee kah AH-ee-nah, heh kow-AH keh kah-NAH-kah/ — broken into syllables: heh · ah · LEE · ʻee · kah · AH · ee · nah, · heh · kow · AH · keh · kah · NAH · kah. Each vowel in Hawaiian is sounded separately, and the ʻokina (ʻ) is a glottal stop, like the pause in "uh-oh".
Is He aliʻi ka ʻāina, he kauā ke kanaka a proverb?
Yes — He aliʻi ka ʻāina, he kauā ke kanaka is classified as a proverb in ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi, within the Culture category.
Where does this definition come from?
Definitions and pronunciations on hawaiian-words.com are drawn from the authoritative Pukui-Elbert Hawaiian Dictionary (rev. ed. 1986), the standard scholarly reference for ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi.
https://hawaiian-words.com/meaning/he-alii-ka-aina-he-kaua-ke-kanaka