You say potayto, and I say potahto . . .

[mbarker]

Amusing. My wife, Mitsuko, taped a show about Hawaii the other day, and was watching it at lunchtime. I happened to ask, "Would you like a ukulele?" (pronouncing it the way I had learned - you-kih-lay-lee). She looked very puzzled, then said, "Oh, you mean a ukurere?" (oo-koo-ray-ray, with that wonderful soft r). The English dictionaries indicate that "you-kah-lay-lee" (I was close -- bet that was Dad's Ohio accent that turned the kah into ki) is the right pronounciation, but now we both wonder what the original Hawaiian was?

Fun - a word that both languages have borrowed, but not quite the same way.

Comments

[dsgood.livejournal.com]

The Etymology Online dictionary (http://etymonline.com) doesn't give the original pronunciation, but looks interesting:

ukulele 1896, from Hawaiian 'ukulele, lit. "leaping flea," from 'uku "louse, flea" + lele "to fly, jump, leap." So called from the rapid motion of the fingers in playing it. It developed from a Port. instrument introduced to the islands c.1879. Abbreviated form uke is attested from 1915.

[dsgood.livejournal.com]

And I just looked to see what the original Portuguese might be -- and the current Portuguese term translates as "Hawaiian guitar."

[drammar.livejournal.com]

If my understanding of Hawaiian vowels is correct, the pronunciation would be: yoo-koo-lee-lee. But I would not swear to this -- it's just a guess.