Editing Hawaiian language (section)

==Name==
The Hawaiian language takes its name from the largest island in the Hawaiian archipelago, [[Hawaii (island)|Hawaii]] (''{{lang|haw|Hawaiʻi}}'' in the Hawaiian language). The island name was first written in English in 1778 by British explorer [[James Cook]] and his crew members. They wrote it as "Owhyhee" or "Owhyee". It is written "Oh-Why-hee" on the first map of Sandwich Islands engraved by {{ill|Tobias Conrad Lotter|de}} in 1781.<ref name="Princeton Library">{{cite web |title=Carte de l'OCÉAN PACIFIQUE au Nord de l'équateur / Charte des STILLEN WELTMEERS nördlichen des Äequators |trans-title=Chart of the PACIFIC OCEAN north of the Equator |url=https://library.princeton.edu/visual_materials/maps/websites/pacific/cook3/map-pacific-north-mann-1781.jpg |format=JPG |website=Princeton University Library |access-date=2020-10-26}}<br />
'''French''': Carte de l'OCÉAN PACIFIQUE au Nord de l'équateur, et des côtes qui le bornent des deux cotes: d'après les dernières découvertes faites par les Espagnols, les Russes et les Anglais jusqu'en 1780.<br />'''German''': Charte des STILLEN WELTMEERS nördlichen des Äequators und der Küsten, die es auf beiden Seiten einschränken: Nach den neuesten, von der Spanier, Russen und Engländer bis 1780.<br />'''English''' (translation): Chart of the PACIFIC OCEAN north of the Equator and the Coasts that bound it on both sides: according to the latest discoveries made by the Spaniards, Russians and English up to 1780.</ref> Explorers Mortimer (1791) and [[Otto von Kotzebue]] (1821) used that spelling.<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Schütz|1994|pp=44, 459}}</ref>

The initial "O" in the name "Oh-Why-hee" is a reflection of the fact that Hawaiian predicates unique identity by using a [[copula (linguistics)|copula]] form, ''ʻo'', immediately before a proper noun.<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Carter|1996|pp=144, 174}}</ref> Thus, in Hawaiian, the name of the island is expressed by saying ''{{lang|haw|ʻO Hawaiʻi}}'', which means "[This] is Hawaiʻi."<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Carter|1996|pp=187–188}}</ref> The Cook expedition also wrote "Otaheite" rather than "Tahiti".<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Schütz|1994|pp=41}}</ref>

The spelling "why" in the name reflects the {{IPAblink|ʍ}} pronunciation of ''wh'' in 18th-century English (still [[Pronunciation of English ⟨wh⟩|used]] in parts of the [[English-speaking world]]). ''Why'' was pronounced {{IPA|[ʍai]}}. The spelling "hee" or "ee" in the name represents the sounds {{IPA|[hi]}}, or {{IPA|[i]}}.<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Schütz|1994|pp=61–65}}</ref>

Putting the parts together, ''O-why-(h)ee'' reflects {{IPA|[o-hwai-i]}}, a reasonable approximation of the native pronunciation, {{IPA|[ʔo həwɐiʔi]}}.

American missionaries bound for Hawaiʻi used the phrases "Owhihe Language" and "Owhyhee language" in Boston prior to their departure in October 1819 and during their five-month voyage to Hawai{{okina}}i.<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Schütz|1994|pp=304, 475}}</ref> They still used such phrases as late as March 1822.<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Schütz|1994|pp=108–109}}</ref> However, by July 1823, they had begun using the phrase "Hawaiian Language".<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Schütz|1994|pp=306}}</ref>

In Hawaiian, the language is called ''{{lang|haw|ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi}}'', since adjectives follow nouns.<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Carter|1996|pp=3 ''Figure 1''}}</ref>