Humuhumunukunukuapua'a

A lesson in the native Hawaiian language (as taken from Oahu Revealed - which I HIGHLY recommend, by the way).

The Hawai'i state fish is the humuhumunukunukuapua'a. At first glance it seems like a nightmare. But if you read the word slowly, it is pronounced just like it looks.

Humu (hoo-moo) is pronounced twice.
Nuku (noo-koo) is prounounced twice.
A (ah) is pronounced once.
Pu is pronounced once.
A'a (ah-ah) is the ah sound pronounced twice.

Now you try it:

HU MU HU MU NU KU NU KU A PU A 'A

I once had a friend who was a literary genius. Her favorite word to pronounce was humuhumunukunukuapua'a. I would then retort with "Atatata kata desu." Which means "It is warm outside" in Japanese and was my favorite phrase to pronounce.

Imagine my surprise when her little linguistic joy was broken down so simply for me :)

LB - I think it is time you upgrade from onomatopoeia!