Rusty -
I'm hurt! I've always been one of your almost-friends! BTW, I'd compare my IQ with yours or anyone else's.

Crazy, you are OK and certainly not low IQ. But I would watch the Scotch consumption anyway just to be on the cautious side! You and sap seem to have a pretty good handle on me but poor ol' Jacket still hasn't figured it out! Let him ramble on.

I've skipped over the drivvle to respond to iceeu2. I tend to watch the local news and have found that it is not Ha why ee, or Ka why ee, but rather Ha wah ee and Ku ah ee. Anyone???

I agree with gyppielou. Those are the pronunciations I have heard while in the islands. I also heard them on Magnum PI (my FAVORITE hawaii TV show) - maybe they tried to get them right too.

iceeu2: I'm sorry this question got so far off track. It was a good question and I hope it doesn't discourage you from posting more.

I lived in Hawaii three years and the a's are pronounced as 'ar' and the the i's are pronounced as 'e' ; the u's are pronounced as 'oh' and when an 'u' follows the letters 'ka', then instead of it being 'car' it then becomes 'cow' as is the case in Maui (mao-ee) thus Kauai as I heard it was (cow-war-ee) or just call it "The Green Isle" Confusing, I got confused trying to recall and respond.

Realize that if you ask 10 Kaua`i residents to pronounce this name, you'll get 10 answers. :-)

But the following are absolute when speaking -- or attempting to speak -- Hawaiian. The vowels are spoken as:

a = ah
e = eh (as in "Eh?")
i = ee
o = oh
u = oo (as in "Ooooooh!")

Few of our local TV personalities speak the language, but their repeated incorrect pronunciation of everyday words (such as the names of our islands and main towns) can become irritating.

YOu may hear it pronounced many different ways, but Kauai will never have an "r" in it, and does not start with Ku!

Practice saying each vowel according to Auntiemaria's list above (although I like to say that 'u' will rhyme with 'boo') and you will be closer to right than wrong.
Two other words that are often mispronounced (and not just by tourists...newscasters are some of the worst offenders) are Honolulu and Oahu.

Honolulu is Hoe-no-lu-lu with long 'o's, not Hah nah lu lu.

The island of Oahu is oh-ah-hu, not oh-wah-who or a-wha-who.

Hey Crazy you can't take the oxidated one seriously. Just ignore the little fellow under the bridge. He can't be happy at all to play these games.

To Crazy: If you like highland malts try Speyburn. It is a 10 yr. and is the best bang for the buck I have tried in a while. Cheers.

Will try the Speyburn. - Thanks! I may be "watching my Scotch consumption" this very night. Ha, ha!
With regard to pronunciations, you can't go wrong with Auntie Maria. I'd trust her over the transplanted news announcers anytime!
Kau-ah-ee here I come!

Right on Crazy! That is the exact point I made, and it caused ol' Jacket to almost blow a fuse !

Keep dreaming Rusty, keep dreaming. Nice try anyway. I'm fine, thanks. And keep looking for that spiritual Kona. LOL!

Wow, between the pronunciation issues, the personality clashes and the booze, I'm not sure if this fits in, or if I'm going to get my head handed to me on a platter. But here goes:

Phonetic spelling of the islands, or how to pronounce them when you haven't got a clue.

Oahu, Oh (as in: Oh, Susannah), Ah (as in: open wide and say ahhhhh), Who (as in: who goes there), emphasis on the Ah syllable.
Maui, Mau (as in: Mau Tse Tung), E (as in: eek, I see a mouse!), emphasis on the Mau syllable.
Kauai, Kuh (K as in Karate, uh as in Huh, I don't understand?), Why, E (as in eek), emphasis on the why syllable. (NOT COW EYE!!)
Hawaii, Huh (as in: Huh, I don't understand), Why, E (as in eek), emphasis on the Why syllable.
Molokai, Mow (as in: mow the lawn), Low (as in: sweet and low), and Kai (rhymes with why), E (as in eek), emphasis on the kai syllable.
Lanai, Luh (like huh above), Nye (rhymes with why), E (as in eek), emphasis on the nye syllable.
Niihau, Knee, E (as in eek), How (as in How are you?), emphasis on the knee syllable.

And yes, I know Kahoolawe isn't here.