Aloha

Aloha (pronounced [əˈlo.hə]) in the Hawaiian language means affection, peace, compassion, and mercy. Since the middle of the 19th century, it also has come to be used as an English greeting to say and hello. "Aloha" is also included in the state nickname of Hawaii, the "Aloha State".

The word aloha derives from the Proto-Polynesian root *qarofa. It has cognates in other Polynesian languages, such as Samoan alofa and Māori aroha, also meaning "love".

A folk etymology claims that it derives from a compound of the Hawaiian words alo meaning "presence", "front", "face", or "share"; and ha, meaning "breath of life" or "essence of life". Although alo does indeed mean "presence", etc. by itself, the word for "breath" has a long A (hā), whereas the word aloha does not.

The use of the word as a greeting has been reconstructed to Proto-Polynesian. Before contact with the West, other words used for greeting included welina and anoai. Today, "aloha kakahiaka" is the phrase for "good morning". "Aloha ʻauinalā" means "good afternoon" and "aloha ahiahi" means "good evening". "Aloha kākou" is a common form of "welcome/goodbye to all".

In modern Hawaiʻi, numerous businesses have aloha in their names, with more than three pages of listings in the Oʻahu phone book alone.

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