How to Pronounce Ho'oponopono, and What the Word Actually Means

Ho'oponopono is pronounced ho-oh-po-no-po-no, six syllables with a brief catch between the first two. The word is Hawaiian and means, roughly, to make right or to put things in order.

That is the quick answer. Below you will find a syllable-by-syllable guide, what the apostrophe-like mark is doing, how the word breaks down, and how its meaning has shifted from a Hawaiian family process to the personal four-phrase practice many people use today.

The short answer

• Say it: ho-oh-po-no-po-no.
• Syllables: ho · ʻo · po · no · po · no (six).
• The mark after ho is the ʻokina, a glottal stop: a short break in sound, like the pause in uh-oh.
• Meaning: to make right, to correct, to restore order. From hoʻo (to make or cause) and pono (right, proper, good), with pono doubled.
• Spelling: the most accurate spelling is hoʻoponopono with the ʻokina. Ho'oponopono with an apostrophe and hooponopono without any mark are common online substitutes.

Syllable by syllable

Hawaiian is easier to pronounce than it first looks. Every syllable ends in a vowel, and the vowels are steady and clear.

1. ho sounds like hoe. 2. ʻo is the same o sound, but with a tiny stop in your throat before it. Think of the break in uh-oh. 3. po sounds like the start of pole. 4. no sounds like no. 5. po again. 6. no again.

Put together: ho-ʻo-po-no-po-no. Say it slowly at first and let each syllable have equal space. Native speakers place a light stress on the syllables according to Hawaiian rules, but if you keep the vowels clear and include the small stop after the first syllable, you will be understood and you will be close.

For reference, Wikipedia's article on hoʻoponopono gives the Hawaiian pronunciation in phonetic notation as [ho.ʔo.po.no.po.no], where the ʔ marks the glottal stop.

The common mistakes

• Dropping the stop: saying hoo-po-no-po-no, with the first two syllables merged into one long oo sound. This is the most common English-speaker version. It is understandable, but it is not how the word is said in Hawaiian.
• Using an English oo sound: as in food. The Hawaiian o is closer to the o in go, said cleanly.
• Rushing the end: the repeated ponopono is easy to blur into pono-pono-po. Keep it to two clear pairs.

What the ʻokina is

The ʻokina is a letter in the Hawaiian alphabet. It looks like a single opening quotation mark (ʻ) and marks a glottal stop, the same catch in the throat you make between the two halves of uh-oh. It is not decoration and it is not an apostrophe, although an apostrophe is the usual substitute on keyboards that do not have the ʻokina.

That is why you see the word spelled several ways:

• hoʻoponopono, the most accurate, with the ʻokina.
• ho'oponopono, with a straight apostrophe standing in for the ʻokina.
• hooponopono, with the mark left out entirely, common in web addresses and hashtags.

All three refer to the same word. If you are writing about it and can type the ʻokina, it is a small gesture of respect for the Hawaiian language.

What the word means

The word is built from Hawaiian parts:

• hoʻo is a prefix that turns what follows into an action: to make, to cause, to bring about.
• pono is a rich Hawaiian word that includes goodness, uprightness, correctness and proper order. The standard reference, Pukui and Elbert's Hawaiian Dictionary (University of Hawaiʻi Press), lists a wide range of senses for it, from moral rightness to things being in their proper condition.
• ponopono, the doubled form, carries the sense of putting things to rights, tidying up, or setting in order.

Put together, hoʻoponopono means something like to make right, to correct, or to restore order and balance. It is not a magic word and it is not an ancient secret formula. It is an ordinary Hawaiian word for an important cultural process.

From family process to personal practice

The meaning of the word in use has changed over time, and knowing that helps you understand what people mean by it today.

Traditional Hawaiian hoʻoponopono was a family process for resolving conflict. Family members gathered, often guided by a respected elder, to talk through what had gone wrong, admit wrongs, forgive one another and release the matter. The Hawaiian scholar Mary Kawena Pukui described the practice, drawing on her own upbringing, in Nānā I Ke Kumu (Look to the Source, 1972), written with E. W. Haertig and Catherine A. Lee.

Self-Identity Through Hoʻoponopono (SITH) is a 20th-century adaptation by Morrnah Nalamaku Simeona, a Hawaiian healer who reworked the process so that an individual could practice it alone, working with the Divine rather than gathering the whole family.

The four-phrase practice, I'm sorry, please forgive me, thank you, I love you, is the form most people meet today. It was popularized through Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len's teaching and the book Zero Limits (Wiley, 2007).

So when someone today says they practice Ho'oponopono, they almost always mean the four phrases, said privately. When a Hawaiian elder uses the word, they may well mean the traditional family process. Both are legitimate uses; they are just different things. For the full comparison, see traditional Ho'oponopono vs Self-Identity Ho'oponopono.

Using the word respectfully

A few simple habits go a long way:

• Credit the source. Ho'oponopono is Hawaiian. The personal practice is a modern adaptation, not the whole tradition.
• Avoid "ancient secret" framing. The word names a real cultural practice that Hawaiians have written about openly.
• Try to pronounce it properly. Including the glottal stop is a small effort that shows respect.

How the meaning shows up in the practice

The idea of making right runs straight through the modern practice. When you say the four phrases, you are not trying to change someone else or win an argument. You are taking responsibility for your side of what you are experiencing and asking for it to be set right. That is the word's meaning turned into a habit.

If you want to understand each phrase in turn, read the four Ho'oponopono phrases and what each one means. For the people who mean the longer prayer when they say Ho'oponopono, see the original Ho'oponopono prayer vs the four phrases. And if you are completely new, what is Ho'oponopono? covers the basics.

Frequently asked questions

How do you pronounce Ho'oponopono?

Ho-oh-po-no-po-no, six syllables, with a short glottal stop between the first ho and the following o.

What does Ho'oponopono mean in English?

Roughly, to make right, to correct, or to put things in order. It comes from hoʻo (to make) and pono (right, proper, good).

Why is there an apostrophe in Ho'oponopono?

It stands in for the ʻokina, a Hawaiian letter that marks a glottal stop.

Is it spelled hooponopono or ho'oponopono?

Both are common. The most accurate spelling uses the ʻokina: hoʻoponopono.

Is Ho'oponopono a prayer?

The word itself means to make right. In its modern form, many people use the four phrases as a prayer, but you can also use them as a non-religious reflective practice.

Put the meaning into practice

Knowing what the word means is a good start. Using it is better. The free Ho'oponopono Cleaning Guide walks you through the four phrases and a simple daily practice so you can begin making things right in your own life.