What is Emma in Hawaiian?
Emma is ʻEma in Hawaiian, said EH-mah.
How Emma became ʻEma
Hawaiian is written with thirteen letters, so in Emma the doubled consonant was written once. Hawaiian never writes a consonant twice, so the pair collapses to one. The ʻokina at the front is a consonant in Hawaiian, the catch in the voice before the first vowel.
ʻEma has a page of its own as a Hawaiian given name, with its popularity and the names it is usually paired with.
How to say ʻEma
Say it EH-mah, leaning on EH, sounding every vowel: e as in “bet”, a as in “father”. The ʻokina (ʻ) is a catch in the voice, the break in the middle of “uh-oh”. The pronunciation guide covers the whole system.