Place Names of Hawaii: Revised and Expanded Edition

As a student of Hawaiian music, this comprehensive book of place names lends deeper understanding of many older compositions which refer to places whose names and significance have been lost over passage of time. Modern names like Pearl Harbor or Salt Lake have buried the traditional place names. This book, used in conjunction with Mary Pukui’s Hawaiian Dictionary, gives the student insight to cultural meaning beyond literal translation.

Elbert and Pukui are the go-to folks to read about Hawaiian language. I have their dictionary and now I am happy to have this book as well! There are some very interesting explanations for some of the place names.

Very handy little book to keep in the van when taking visitors around the island. Entertaining and interesting to find out what those interminable Hawaiian names really mean!

An indispensable reference to get the diacritical marks correct in Hawaii place names, with the bonus benefit of telling the often interesting meaning and etymology of those names. A great companion to the classic Pukui/Elbert English-Hawaiian dictionary.

Great for learning the meanings and background of places mentioned in traditional hula.

This is an amazingly useful and fun book. I am on my second copy and have given a couple more to family. The only reason for four stars is that the binding wears out after a couple years. Pages come loose and the plastic laminate peels off the cover. I wish the publisher would print a hardcover copy again or reprint a soft cover with a better quality binding and cover. Otherwise an educational and great book!

This is not a textbook, but very informative and entertaining to read. It has names of places that you will hear in Hawaiian songs that may not be in dictionaries. The meanings of most of the names are provided unless the names are so ancient that the original meanings have been lost. I have referred to this book many times.

This book is a welcome addition to the Hawaiian Section of my personal library and has already come in handy while I have been studying Hawaiian history and doing personal research. I have even been able to find the information I was looking for using only the sound of the place name without having the spelling in front of me.