0901P Practice Describing Things #1

Using Single-Word Kāhulu

Introduction

This assignment will allow you to practice one of the most basic and important building blocks of Hawaiian language: the kaʻi + memeʻa + kāhulu sequence. You will be able to use the knowledge you have gained so far to be able to create some fun, simple, and useful phrases! If you are arriving here wondering what any of this means, here are the previous lessons you should have already completed:

So now that the stage has been set, let’s get into this practice! You’ll need some index cards or perhaps a nice notebook for this one.

Learn Vocabulary

I am going to give you two great lists of vocabulary words you should definitely memorize, because they are commonly used Hawaiian words. The first set contains kikino (common nouns), and the second contains ʻaʻano (describing words). Take these vocabulary words and write them onto index cards or into a notebook and study them until you start to remember them. You don’t have to be perfect at recalling them at this time. And I know what you may be thinking: It is possible to print this page right from a computer! But I think you’ll find that writing the words will (1) make you see each word better, and (2) help you to see its shape better so you can recognize it later on, and (3) give you much more of a chance to cogitate on the meanings as you go through the lists!

Set One

Kikino (noun-like words)

ka inoa	name
ka haumāna1	student
ke keiki	boy, son, child
ke keikikāne	boy, son
ke kaikamahine2	girl, daughter
ka wahine	female, woman
ke kāne	male, man
ka makua	parent
ka luahine	old woman
ka makuakāne	father
ke kumu	teacher; source; trunk of tree
ka makuahine	mother
ka mokupuni	island
ka ʻanakala	uncle (from English)
ke alanui	street, road
ka ʻanakē	aunty (from English)
ka hale	house, building
ka ʻekemakule	old man
ke kaʻa	car
ke pākaukau3	table
ka noho	chair
ka palapala	document

Footnotes

1. be careful with the word haumāna. There is always a kahakō regardless of whether it is singlular or plural.
2. the word kaikamahine is often pronounced “keikiamahine” although it is not written that way.
3. pākaukau retains the kaʻi “ke” rather than “ka” as one might expect.

Set Two

ʻAʻano (words describing a state or condition)

akamai	intelligent
hūpō	stupid, idiotic
mākaukau	ready; capable at doing something
hemahema	uncoordinated; weak; maladroit
huʻihuʻi	cold (the object)
anuanu	cold (the feeling)
wela	hot (of an object or a feeling)
māluhiluhi	tired
ʻōmaʻimaʻi	feeling unwell
maʻi	very unwell
ola	alive, living; better (after being unwell)
ehuehu	healthy (in good health); also ahuahu
hauʻoli	happy, fun
nuha	grumpy (internalized); obstinate
huhū	angry, displeased, or resentful (outwardly)
ʻoluʻolu	kind (disposition); comfortable (as a chair or cool temperature)
kahiko	ancient, from the olden days
hou	new
pupuka	ugly
nani	beautiful, pretty
liʻiliʻi	small
nui	large; important
nunui	very big
hewa	wrong, incorrect
pololei	correct; straight
kekeʻe	crooked, bent
lohi	slow; late
wikiwiki	quick, fast
hauna	generally stinky
ʻaʻala	pleasantly fragrant
ʻeleʻele	black
keʻokeʻo	white
ʻōmaʻomaʻo	green
kaulana	famous
maikaʻi	good, fine
ʻono	delicious
momona	sweet tasting; fatty or greasy (in a good way); corpulent

Making Simple Phrases

The next step is to remember how to build a sequence of words which allow you to say things like “the famous island” or “the quick car”. These are not sentences; rather, they are just little bits of what could be a complete sentence (like, “I went to the famous island last week” or “I have a quick car“). The order we will use for this practice is, of course, as follows: kaʻi + memeʻa + kāhulu. Remember that a kāhulu can be made of any memeʻa-type word (a kikino, an ʻaʻano, a hamani, or a hehele). This is one of the things that makes Hawaiian so amazingly powerful! Unlike in English, where we have to remember to change endings or even use different words for the same feeling (e.g., “good” vs. “well”), any memeʻa can be used to describe another just by putting it immediately afterwards. Make up as many combinations as seem to make sense using the vocabulary in this practice lesson, and any other memeʻa you might know already or look up in Ulukau’s “Wehewehe Wikiwiki” online dictionary. Here are some examples:

ka makua ehuehu	the healthy and strong parent
ke pākaukau nunui	the huge table
he mokupuni nui	a large island
he kaikamahine hauʻoli	a happy girl
kekahi kaʻa hou	another new car

Putting Practice To Use

The final part to this practice is to now go out and try to use these kaʻi + memeʻa + kāhulu combinations. As you drive around or walk to work or watch television, take a look at things and try to recall how to describe them. If you run into a word you don’t know, no problem! Just use the English one until you have a chance to learn the Hawaiian word. For example, you might see a large pizza or a broken table, but you don’t know the word for pizza or broken; you should just say “he pizza nui!” or “ke pākaukau broken”. Just have fun and enjoy the words you do know and get the order right first and foremost.

Next Steps

To continue practicing how to create kaʻi + memeʻa + kāhulu phrases, head over to the next item in this section: 0902P ʻAilāʻau The Forest Eater in which you will read an interesting short story and use some more vocabulary words to create more short phrases.

aloha Kaliko