Editing Hawaiian language (section)

===Consonants===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|+ Consonants
!
![[labial consonant|Labial]]
![[alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
![[velar consonant|Velar]]
![[glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
![[Nasal stop|Nasal]]
| {{IPA link|m}}
| {{IPA link|n}}
|
|
|-
![[Plosive]]
| {{IPA link|p}}
| colspan=2|{{IPA link|t}} ~ {{IPA link|k}}{{efn|name=ipafn1}}
| {{IPA link|ʔ}}
|-
![[Fricative]]
| rowspan="2" |{{IPA link|w}} ~ {{IPA link|v}}
|
|
| {{IPA link|h}}
|-
![[Sonorant]]
| {{IPA link|l}} ~ {{IPA link|ɾ}}
|
|
|}
{{notelist|refs=
{{efn|name=ipafn1|Today, the use of /t/ is predominantly found in the [[Niʻihau dialect]], though it exists generally in some words within Standard Hawaiian such as ''tūtū'' 'grandparent'. The grapheme ⟨t⟩ is historically attested across all Hawaiian dialects.{{sfn|Newbrand|1951|p={{page needed|date=August 2024}}}}}}
}}

Hawaiian is known for having very few [[consonant]] phonemes&nbsp;– eight: {{IPA|/p, k ~ t, ʔ, h, m, n, l, w ~ v/}}. It is notable that Hawaiian has allophonic variation of {{IPAblink|t}} with {{IPAblink|k}},<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Schütz|1994|pp=115}}</ref><ref name="Elbert 1979 22-25">{{Harvcoltxt|Elbert|Pukui|1979|pp=22–25}}</ref><ref name="Kinney 1956">{{Harvcoltxt|Kinney|1956}}</ref><ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Newbrand|1951}}</ref> {{IPA|[w]}} with {{IPA|[v]}},<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Elbert|Pukui|1979|pp=12–13}}</ref> and (in some dialects) {{IPA|[l]}} with {{IPA|[n]}}.<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Elbert|Pukui|1979|pp=25–26}}</ref> The {{IPA|[t]}}–{{IPA|[k]}} variation is quite unusual among the world's languages, and is likely a product both of the small number of consonants in Hawaiian, and the recent shift of historical *t to modern {{IPA|[t]}}–{{IPA|[k]}}, after historical *k had shifted to {{IPA|[ʔ]}}. In some dialects, {{IPA|/ʔ/}} remains as {{IPA|[k]}} in some words. These variations are largely free, though there are conditioning factors. {{IPA|/l/}} tends to {{IPA|[n]}} especially in words with both {{IPA|/l/}} and {{IPA|/n/}}, such as in the island name ''Lānaʻi'' ({{IPA|[laːˈnɐʔi]}}–{{IPA|[naːˈnɐʔi]}}), though this is not always the case: ''ʻeleʻele'' or ''ʻeneʻene'' "black". The {{IPA|[k]}} allophone is almost universal at the beginnings of words, whereas {{IPAblink|t}} is most common before the vowel {{IPA|/i/}}. {{IPAblink|v}} is also{{Clarify|reason=What is the similarity with the antecedent?|date=January 2025}} the norm after {{IPA|/i/}} and {{IPA|/e/}}, whereas {{IPAblink|w}} is usual after {{IPA|/u/}} and {{IPA|/o/}}. After {{IPA|/a/}} and initially, however, {{IPAblink|w}} and {{IPAblink|v}} are in free variation.<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Elbert|Pukui|1979}}</ref>