Amateur musicians intent on learning to play the ‘ukulele or traditional Hawaiian ki ho‘alu, or slack-key guitar, have the opportunity to do so from the best of the best every year at the Kahumoku Ohana Hawaiian Music and Lifestyle Workshop on the Big Island of Hawai‘i. The workshop is organized by Keoki Kahumoku, a five-time Grammy Award winner in the Hawaiian music category. Keoki shares his music and knowledge of the Hawaiian culture from the heart, warmly welcoming students to the workshop.
Oh, you grammar mavens are cringing over the possibility of an ‘ukulele, I just know it. But while you’ve probably known this tiny four-stringed instrument as a you-ka-lay-lee, that’s an anglified version of a Hawaiian word. The Hawaiian pronunciation is oo-koo-ley-ley. Pronounce it Hawaiian style, and “an oo-koo-ley-ley” sounds just fine.
It’s a problem for someone like me, who writes frequently about Hawaii. If I write it so that it feels comfortable to me, my editor will likely think I’ve skipped Grammar 101. When I do write about ukuleles* I present the issue of pronunciation to my editor. Invariably, ‘an ‘ukulele’ is trashed for the more common ‘a ‘ukulele.’ Editorial license trumps my comfort zone.
