Ka Hakalama Hou was created by Seth Van Middlesworth as an alternative way to write Hawaiian. It is a syllablic alphabet or abugida in which the symbols represent a consonant plus a vowel or an individual vowel. As Hawaiian has only a small number of phonemes, a syllabic script like this could be a more efficient way to write it than the Latin alphabet. The name Ka Hakalama Hou means 'The New Syllabary' in Hawaiian.
Base letter shapes are formed using a method similar to a pigpen cipher. Phonetically similar sounds are opposite each other (except for K and W). Velars are opposite each other, bilabials are opposite each other, and glottals are opposite each other.
Alphabet chart based on one by Mattias Persson
The letter a is pronounced [æ/a/ɐ/ə], e is pronounced [ɛ/e/i], k is pronounced [t] or [k], l is pronounced [l], [ɾ] or [ɹ], p is pronounced [p] or [b] and w is pronounced [w] or [v].
Hānau kū'oko'a 'ia nā kānaka apau loa, a ua kau like ka hanohano a me nā pono kīvila ma luna o kākou pākahi. Ua ku'u mai ka no'ono'o pono a me ka 'ike pono ma luna o kākou, no laila, e aloha kākou kekahi i kekahi.
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)
Other constructed scripts for natural languages
Information about Hawaiian | Phrases | Numbers | Family words | Tower of Babel |
Constructed scripts for: Ainu | Arabic | Chinese languages | Dutch | English | Hawaiian | Hungarian | Japanese | Korean | Lingala | Malay & Indonesian | Persian | Tagalog / Filipino | Russian | Sanskrit | Spanish | Taino | Turkish | Vietnamese | Welsh | Other natural languages | Colour-based scripts | Tactile scripts | Phonetic/universal scripts | Constructed scripts for constructed languages | Adaptations of existing alphabets | Fictional alphabets | Magical alphabets | A-Z index | How to submit a constructed script
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