The Hawaiian language has offered a number of words to the English language. Some Hawaiian words are known to non-Hawaiian speakers, and a few have also been assimilated into the English language (e.g., aloha, meaning "hello", "love", or "goodbye", or mahalo, meaning "thank you"). English also borrows some Hawaiian words (e.g. ukulele, mahimahi, and muûumuûu). Hawaiian vocabulary often overlaps with other Polynesian languages, such as Tahitian, so it is not always clear which of those languages a term is borrowed from.
The Hawaiian orthography is notably different from the English orthography because there is a special letter in the Hawaiian alphabet, the ûokina. The ûokina represents a glottal stop, which indicates a short pause to separate syllables. The kahakà  represents longer vowel sounds. Both the okina and kahakà  are often omitted in English orthography.
Due to the Hawaiian orthography's difference from English orthography, the pronunciation of the words differ. For example, the muûumuûu, traditionally a Hawaiian dress, is pronounced by many mainland (colloquial term for the Continental U.S.) residents. However, many Hawaii residents have learned that the ûokina in Hawaiian signifies a glottal stop. Thus, in the Hawaiian language, muûumuûu is pronounced , approximately . The pronunciations listed here are how it would sound in Hawaiian orthography.