How do you recognise a Hawaiian accent?

“Da kine” as an all-purpose filler. Flip-flops are slippers. TH-stopping is common in local speech. Cot and caught merge, as in California.

Which famous people have a Hawaiian accent?

Bruno Mars is a speaker whose recorded speech anchors the Hawaiian English profile used by DialectGuessr.

How do I test whether I have a Hawaiian accent?

DialectGuessr's free accent test asks 29 questions about the words you use and how you pronounce them, then scores your answers against the Hawaiian English profile and every other profile in the survey. It takes about two minutes and needs no account.

Honolulu and the Hawaiian Islands

The Hawaiian accent

Hawaiian English sits on a continuum with Hawaiian Pidgin. “Da kine” fills in for a thing you have not named, TH often stops to T or D, and flip-flops are slippers. The rest of the vowel system is West Coast American, which is why California and Hawaii agree on almost every other question in the bank.

Take the quiz and see how close your accent is →

How to recognise a Hawaiian accent

“Da kine” as an all-purpose filler.
Flip-flops are slippers.
TH-stopping is common in local speech.
Cot and caught merge, as in California.

Also known as Hawaiian English, Hawaii Pidgin, Hawaiian Pidgin, Honolulu accent. Spoken in Honolulu and the Hawaiian Islands, United States.

The Hawaiian pronunciation fingerprint

These are the answers the quiz expects from a Hawaiian speaker on its 30 pronunciation questions. Where a feature varies within the region, more than one answer counts as a match.

“bath” takes the short vowel of “cat”
The Trap–Bath Split: Does “Bath” Rhyme With “Cat” or “Father”?
the R at the end of “car” is pronounced, or “car” ends in a vowel, with no R sound
Rhotic vs Non-Rhotic: Do You Pronounce the R in “Car”?
a quick D-like tap in “bottle”
Bottle, Bo'le or Boddle? The T in the Middle of a Word
“cot” and “caught” rhyme
The Cot–Caught Merger: Do “Cot” and “Caught” Sound the Same?
“Mary”, “marry” and “merry” all sound the same
Mary, Marry, Merry: One Sound, Two or Three?
“day” ends on a slight “ee” — day-ee
The Vowel in “Day”: Gliding or Steady?
“go” ends on a slight “oo” — go-oo
The Vowel in “Go”: Gliding or Steady?
“tune” sounds like “toon”, without a Y sound
Tune, Toon or Choon? The Y After a Consonant
no — they sound different
Do “Singer” and “Finger” Rhyme? The Velar Nasal Plus
one — “film”
“Film” or “Fillum”? The Helping Vowel in Highland and Irish English
no — they end in a vowel
The Bristol L: Why “Area” Can Sound Like “Areal”
a d-like sound — “dat”, or a th sound
“Dat” for “That”: TH-Stopping in the Function Words
“ship” and “sheep” have different vowel sounds
Ship or Sheep? The Vowel That Divides Native and Learned English
“put” and “putt” have different vowels
The Foot–Strut Split: Do “Put” and “Putt” Rhyme?
“three” sounds like “tree”, starting with T, or “three” starts with a TH sound, with the tongue against the teeth
Three, Free or Tree? What Happens to Your TH
the H in “house” is pronounced
H-Dropping: Do You Say “House” or “'Ouse”?
“fur” and “fair” stay distinct
Fur and Fair: The Merger That Marks Liverpool
“beer” and “bear” stay distinct
Beer and Bear: The Merger That Marks New Zealand
“happy” ends on a long “-ee”
Happy: Does It End in “-ee” or “-ih”?
“wine” and “vine” start with different sounds
Wine or Vine? Where V and W Fall Together
“school” starts straight on the S
“Eschool” for “School”: The Vowel Some Accents Add
“bed” ends with D and “bet” ends with T
Bed or Bet? Final-Obstruent Devoicing
a smooth R, without tapping or rolling the tongue
Rolled, Uvular or Neither? How the R Is Made
“pin” and “pen” stay distinct
Pin or Pen? The Southern US Vowel Merger
the vowel in “ride” glides from one sound to another
Does “Ride” Stay on One Sound? Southern PRICE
“celery” and “salary” stay distinct
Celery or Salary? Melbourne's Quiet Giveaway

Everyday words in Honolulu and the Hawaiian Islands

Expected everyday vocabulary for a Hawaiian speaker.
Question	Usual answer
What do you usually call a sweet carbonated drink?	Soda
What do you call shoes worn for sport or exercise?	Sneakers
What do you usually call the main evening meal?	Dinner
What do you call a small, round piece of bread for one person?	Roll
What do you call thin strips of potato served hot and fried?	Fries
What is your general word for small sugary treats?	Candy
What do you call the wheeled basket used in a supermarket?	Shopping cart
What do you call restaurant food collected to eat elsewhere?	Takeout
What do you call a public fixture you drink water from?	Water fountain
What do you call a small neighbourhood shop selling everyday items?	Convenience store
How do you usually address a group of people informally?	You guys
What do you call the household container for unwanted rubbish?	Trash can
What do you call the narrow passageway between or behind houses?	Alley / alleyway
What do you call the insulated box you carry cold drinks in?	Cooler
You are waiting your turn behind other people. What are you doing?	Waiting in line
“Man’s getting emotional.” Who is “man”?	It does not make sense to me
What do you call rubber sandals held on by a strap between the toes?	Slippers
What do you call the red-amber-green signal at a junction?	Stoplight
What do you call a circular junction you drive around?	Traffic circle
How do you say “the” in a phrase like “I’m going down the shop”?	A full “the”
“We’ll not be home while seven.” What does that sentence mean to you?	It does not make sense to me
“I’m after having my dinner.” What does that sentence mean to you?	It does not make sense to me
What do you call a shared minibus used as public transport?	I do not have a word for that
Does “she be working on Fridays” sound like a normal way to say she works Fridays regularly?	No — it does not sound like my English
Does “the car needs washed” sound normal — without “to be”?	No — I would say “needs to be washed”
What do you call a long sandwich in a split roll?	Sub / submarine
What do you call a multi-storey building for parking cars?	Parking garage
Can “da kine” stand in for a thing you have not named?	Yes — I use “da kine”

How Hawaii answered the Harvard Dialect Survey

The Harvard Dialect Survey, collected by Bert Vaux and Scott Golder in 2002–2003, recorded how respondents in every US state answered the same questions. These are Hawaii’s answers, most common first.

Hawaii, Harvard Dialect Survey.
Question	Answers in Hawaii
Soda, Pop or Coke? The Map of How America Orders a Fizzy Drink	soda 95% · pop 0% · coke 0%
Traffic Circle, Roundabout or Rotary?	roundabout 42% · rotary 16% · traffic circle 11%
Water Fountain, Drinking Fountain or Bubbler?	water fountain 86% · drinking fountain 14% · bubbler 0%
Lightning Bug or Firefly?	firefly 67% · lightning bug 5%
Crawfish, Crawdad or Crayfish?	crayfish 63% · crawfish 25% · crawdad 4%
Roly Poly or Potato Bug?	potato bug 38% · roly poly 14%
You Guys, Y'all or You All?	you guys 49% · y'all 12% · you all 11%
Kitty-Corner or Catty-Corner?	kitty-corner 41% · catty-corner 5%
Garage Sale or Yard Sale?	garage sale 56% · yard sale 33%
Tennis Shoes or Sneakers?	sneakers 51% · tennis shoes 26%
Trash Can or Garbage Can?	trash can 43% · garbage can 21%
Frosting or Icing?	frosting 38% · icing 5%
Scratch Paper or Scrap Paper?	scratch paper 63% · scrap paper 5%
Frontage Road, Service Road or Access Road?	access road 33% · frontage road 15% · service road 15%
Does “Route” Rhyme With “Out” or “Hoot”?	rhymes with "out" 27% · rhymes with "hoot" 25%
Caramel: Two Syllables or Three?	with 3 syllables ("carra-mel") 75% · with 2 syllables ("car-ml") 9%
Mischievous or Mischievious?	mischievous (3 syllables) 52% · mischievious (4 syllables) 32%
Rubber Band, Hair Tie or Elastic?	rubber band 53% · hair tie 18% · (hair) elastic 11%

Data from the Harvard Dialect Survey (Bert Vaux and Scott Golder, 2002–2003), used under the CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 licence. A self-selected sample from two decades ago: how people spoke then, not a census.

Speakers with a Hawaiian accent

Bruno Mars
Honolulu, Hawaii, United States
A Hawaiian English reference profile; Mars was born and raised in Honolulu.

Accent profiles are anchored to primary-source regional recordings from the International Dialects of English Archive, not to any individual performance.