What is Michael in Hawaiian?
Michael is Mikaʻele in Hawaiian, said mee-kah-EH-leh.
How Michael became Mikaʻele
Hawaiian is written with thirteen letters, so in Michael C became K, a vowel was slipped between the consonants that ran together, and a vowel was added at the end. Hawaiian does not run two consonants together, and every syllable ends on a vowel. A Hawaiian word cannot finish on a consonant, which is where the last vowel comes from. The ʻokina at the front is a consonant in Hawaiian, the catch in the voice before the first vowel.
Other recorded spellings of Michael
Hawaiian records do not settle on one spelling for every borrowed name. Alongside Mikaʻele, Michael was also written Mikala. Each is a real Hawaiian writing of the name rather than a variant anyone invented; which one a family used came down to who was doing the writing, and when.
How to say Mikaʻele
Say it mee-kah-EH-leh, leaning on EH, sounding every vowel: i as “ee”, a as in “father”, e as in “bet”. The ʻokina (ʻ) is a catch in the voice, the break in the middle of “uh-oh”. The pronunciation guide covers the whole system.