Aloha kāua. This lesson continues on from Video 0702 which introduced the idea of papani (pronouns) in Hawaiian.
In this video, we will approach one of the hardest aspects of Hawaiian papani for English language speakers: the need to distinguish whether or not you are including the person to whom you are speaking when you refer to two or more people using a pronoun. This idea is called exclusivity and inclusivity; in other words, the pronouns themselves are often referred to as being “inclusive” or “exclusive” of the person you are speaking with.
The two papani here discussed are kāua and māua, with both mean “we” or “us” in Hawaiian, but refer only to two people. The next video in this set, V0704, continues with the dual papani, and that is followed by V0705 which will teach you about papani used to three or more people.
It may sound like there are so many papani in Hawaiian: 11 in total. Eleven is certainly plenty, but don’t forget that English has many more and you can master these Hawaiian ones as easily as you have the English ones. Just practice a little using the exercises which will be provided soon below the video resources on this page. (The PDF lessons are still being created.)
Let’s get started! The video is about 10 minutes long.
In Hawaiian, we call the personal pronouns «papani». There are 13 papani to learn in ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi. This lesson will introduce you to the first five: “I”, “me”, “you”, “he/she”, and “him/her”.
Learning Guide
The Hawaiian personal pronouns in the first, second, and third person are shown in the two tables below. Spend some time looking at each part of the tables, first trying to understand what you see in the context of English language, and then learning the Hawaiian language equivalents. You could even print them out and put them on your “icebox” (refrigerator) so you see it daily for a few weeks.
Papani Pronoun Tables
Papani – Subject Position
Person
English
Papani
First
I
au (wau)
Second
you
ʻoe
Third
he/she
ʻoia
Papani – Object Position
Person
English
Papani
First
me
aʻu
Second
you
ʻoe
Third
him/her
ia
I and Me
ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi and English both use two different pronouns for the first person: «au» is used in the same place as “I” in English —for example, “I speak to you.”— and «aʻu» is used in the same place as “me” in English —for example, “You speak to me.”
He / She: Gender In The Third Person
ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi does not encode gender in its papani pronouns. Thus for the third person —”he/she” and “him/her”— there are only two pronouns: «ʻoia» is used in the same place as “he” or “she” in English —for example, “She speaks to you”— and «ia» in the same place as “him” or “her” in English —for example, “She speaks to him”.
“It” Is Not A Pronoun In Hawaiian
Finally, the English language pronoun “it” is NOT a pronoun in ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi; it is an article. In most places, I recommend you do not even try to put “it” into your ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi at all, especially as a direct object —e.g., “I eat it”. As I tell my students: “Leave ‘it’ out – just leave it out!” But let’s leave that lesson for another post.
The Pronunciation of «Au»
Note that for the first person singluar pronoun “I” we can opt to either use au or wau. Au is most likely the oldest form of this papani and is widely used in Eastern Polynesia (Tahitian being the exception; like Hawaiian, it has both «au» and «vau»). The papani «wau», if you choose to use it, should be pronounced with a leading soft w-glide, /w/ sound, or soft /v/ sound, never a greatly aspirated /v/ sound like the one we often use in English where we allow a lot of air to escape the lips (eg. “very” or “vivacious”). I suggest that you pronounce it and write it as au even though there’s a case to be made that it’s harder to pronounce properly than wau, which probably leads to the latter’s popularity with beginner speakers.
You will not really be able to get a sense of how to pronounce au properly until you start putting it into phrases and, later, sentences. The most common problem I hear is students putting an ʻokina before it – so try your best to run it together with the word that preceedes it.
Should «ʻOia» Be Written As One Or Two Words?
Prior to the 1978 “Spelling Convention” in Honolulu which codified many of the ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi spelling practices we use today, he/she was written as «ʻoia» or «oia» (without ʻokina). It still appears in the current Pūkuʻi-Elbert Hawaiian Dictionary, Revised & Enlarged Edition (1986) as «ʻoia» which is the version I prefer, since I can see no logical reason to split a pronoun into two pieces. Nevertheless, it has become very common to write it as «ʻo ia», so you will undoubtedly see it that way. Regardless of how it is written, it should always be pronounced as one word, with no noticeable rise in pitch on the «-ia» part. Modern speakers who write it as «ʻo ia» do actually pronounce it as one word, which makes the desire to write it as two even more perplexing.
Next Steps
Following this lesson, you will need to learn about something very important indeed in Polynesian thinking: the concept of “inclusive” versus “exclusive” papani. So after you are done with this video, go on to the second video in this series, 0703V Papani Pronouns #2: Kāua and Māua, which will explain the concept.
aloha ʻoe Kaliko
Video Outline
Papani are pronouns
There are 11 papani in Hawaiian
These are the 3 easiest
Au, ʻoe (I and you)
ʻOia (he or she); does not mean “it”
Review
Practice Haʻawina 0702H
Next up
Length: 11 minutes
Video Links for V0702 Papani Part I
We are working on replacing this video.
Video Help
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This lesson continues on from 0514G Telling Time On The Hour in which the basic structure for telling time in Hawaiian is introduced. Make sure you understand that lesson first before moving into this one.
In this lesson, you will learn how to tell the time on the half hour. Here are some examples:
It’s 6:30 (“six-thirty” or “half past six”)
It’s half past three.
It’s 8:30 in the morning.
It’s 12:30 in the afternoon.
It’s nine-thirty at night.
Notice that in English there are a couple of common ways to express the half-hour. In Hawaiian, we only use one which makes things easier for us to learn!
Time On the Half-Hour
The structure of the half-hour phrase is very similar to the on-hour structure. You just need to add the word hapalua before the hour. The word hapalua (which means “half”) is built from the words hapa (part) and lua (two).
Pepeke Model For 2:30
ʻO ka hapalua hola ʻeluakēia
It is half-past two.
(lit., this is half hour (past) two)
[topic marker] half hour twothis
Here are some examples of time on the hour and the half-hour with audio available by clicking on the text:
ʻO ka hola ʻelua kēia.
2:00
It’s 2 o’clock
ʻO ka hapalua hola ʻelua kēia.
2:30
It’s half-past two.
ʻO ka hola ʻeono kēia.
6:00
It’s six o’clock.
ʻO ka hapalua hola ʻeono kēia.
6:30
It’s six thirty.
ʻO ka hola ʻumi kēia.
10:00
It’s now 10 o’clock.
ʻO ka hapalua hola ʻumi kēia.
10:30
It’s now 10:30.
You may be asking, “How is it that using the word for a half (hapalua) along with the hour can mean ‘a half-past the hour’ and not ‘a halfway to the coming hour’?” It’s a fair question, but to understand the answer will take you learning a little more Hawaiian grammar, for there is a missing modifier (kāhulu) in the phrase which can be left unspoken. The full phrase would be “ʻO ka hapalua (hola) kēia i hala ka hola x” (where “x” is the hour number). We almost always shorten it down to “ʻO ka hapalua hola x kēia” however, and that’s the form you should learn for now.
Add The Time Period
Do you remember the basic time periods we learned in the previous lesson, 0514G Telling Time On The Hour? They were ahiahi, pō, aumoe, wanaʻao, kakahiaka, awakea, and ʻauinalā. Here’s a reminder should you need it.
Seven Basic Time Periods
ahiahi – late in the day, when you start to notice the dimming of daylight and feel like it’s time to stop work and go back home; evening.
pō – when it’s dark enough to see stars in the sky, all the way through the turning of the Milky Way and until light breaks the horizon line; night.
aumoe – in the middle of the night, when all is quiet and still and not even the pueo (owl) stirrs; this time ends well before the eastern sky starts to brighten and well before any roosters crow. It’s the time when the menehune were said to be active.
wanaʻao – when the eastern sky starts to brighten enough to wake up the roosters and the sky gains its beautiful purple tint; continues as the sky becomes orange in color.
kakahiaka – from when it’s light enough in the early morning to see where you are going without an artificial light, and it’s time to get going for the day; morning.
awakea – when the sun is over and above your shoulders and head and you feel perhaps it’s time to get out of the hot sun for a rest and something to eat; midday.
ʻauinalā – when the sun is visibly making its curving descent towards the western horizon; after a rest, time to think about wrapping up the day; afternoon.
As in the previous lesson, we will add the time period phrase to the end of our clock time. Notice that we do not need to translate the “a.m.” or “p.m.” designations into Hawaiian; what we add instead are the appropriate time period designations as described above.
It is also possible to add the time period in English of course —saying “It’s 3:30 p.m.” is the same as “It’s 3:30 in the afternoon” for example. But in spoken Hawaiian, we should only add the time of day description and not say “3:30 pī mū.”
That’s a great example of how Hawaiian style can differ from English style when building sentences in your mind; it’s a wonderful thing and you should be sure to celebrate that difference as you learn Hawaiian so that your Hawaiian doesn’t just sound like English spoken with Hawaiian words.
So here are some examples of adding the time of day designation to half-hour phrases:
ʻO ka hapalua hola ʻelua kēia.
2:30
It’s two-thirty.
ʻO ka hapalua hola ʻelua kēia o ka pō.
2:30 a.m.
It’s 2:30 a.m.
ʻO ka hapalua hola ʻeono kēia.
6:30
It’s half-past six.
ʻO ka hapalua hola ʻeono kēia o ke ahiahi.
6:30 p.m.
It’s 6:30 in the evening.
When you actually write the times in Hawaiian, you can indeed use the “a.m.” and “p.m.” designations; but when you read those times back, use the appropriate time period designations that we have been going over in this and the previous lessons.
Now time for practice…
Practice Exercises and Answers
Once again, it’s your turn to practice! Don’t forget that you should follow this simple set of suggestions:
write the questions out yourself so you can practice writing Hawaiian
say the questions to yourself by reading them out loud
write the answers
say your answers several times out loud
Note: Press and hold with your mouse on the answer link underlined in orange to see my answer for each question. On touch-based devices like iPads and phones, click on the disclosure triangle below each set of exercises to see the answers.
Basic Exercises
“ʻO ka hola ʻehia kēia?” (What time is it now?)
ʻO ka hola ʻehia kēia? 4:30
ʻO ka hola ʻehia kēia? 7:30
ʻO ka hola ʻehia kēia? 9:30
ʻO ka hola ʻehia kēia? “Half-past One”
ʻO ka hola ʻehia kēia? It’s 11 o’clock
ʻO ka hola ʻehia kēia? It’s now 2:00
ʻO ka hola ʻehia kēia? “It’s now six thirty”
ʻO ka hola ʻehia kēia? 5:30
All Answers for Basic Exercises
1
4:30
ʻO ka hapalua hola ʻehā kēia.
2
7:30
ʻO ka hapalua hola ʻehiku kēia.
3
9:30
ʻO ka hapalua hola ʻeiwa kēia.
4
Half-past one.
ʻO ka hapalua hola ʻekahi kēia.
5
It’s 11 o’clock.
ʻO ka hola ʻumikūmākahi kēia.
6
It’s now 2:00.
ʻO ka hola ʻelua kēia.
7
It’s now six thirty.
ʻO ka hapalua hola ʻeono kēia.
8
5:30
ʻO ka hapalua hola ʻelima kēia.
Time and Part of Day Exercises
Include the part of the day in your answers, as explained above. Pretend you are responding to an imaginary friend who is asking you the time:
ʻO ka hola ʻehia kēia? It’s now 4:30 a.m.
ʻO ka hola ʻehia kēia? It’s 7:30 p.m.
ʻO ka hola ʻehia kēia? 9:30 in the morning.
ʻO ka hola ʻehia kēia? It’s now half-past one after lunch.
ʻO ka hola ʻehia kēia? It’s 1 o’clock in the middle of the night.
ʻO ka hola ʻehia kēia? 2 o’clock in the afternoon.
ʻO ka hola ʻehia kēia? It’s now six thirty in the morning!
ʻO ka hola ʻehia kēia? It’s 5:30 p.m.
Answers for Time & Part of Day Exercises
Note that alternate answers are provided where the position of the sun in the sky at that time of day might make one of the answers more appropriate than the other.
It’s now 4:30 a.m.
ʻO ka hapalua hola ʻehā kēia o ke kakahiaka ʻO ka hapalua hola ʻehā kēia o ka wanaʻao.
It’s 7:30 p.m.
ʻO ka hapalua hola ʻehiku kēia o ke ahiahi.
9:30 in the morning.
ʻO ka hapalua hola ʻeiwa kēia o ke kakahiaka.
It’s now half-past one after lunch.
ʻO ka hapalua hola ʻekahi kēia o ke awakea. ʻO ka hapalua hola ʻekahi kēia o ka ʻauinalā.
It’s 1 o’clock in the middle of the night.
ʻO ka hola ʻekahi kēia o ke aumoe.
2 o’clock in the afternoon.
ʻO ka hola ʻelua kēia o ka ʻauinalā.
It’s now six thirty in the morning!
ʻO ka hapalua hola ʻeono kēia o ke kakahiaka!
It’s 5:30 p.m.
ʻO ka hapalua hola ʻelima kēia o ke ahiahi.
Next Lesson
The next lesson in this series on time is 0516G Time On The Quarter Hour. Don’t forget to use what you have learned here every day so that you can understand times used in texts and conversation, and so that you can write and speak the same!
Did you ever wonder how to tell the time in Hawaiian? This is the lesson to start you off!
Speaking about the time of day in modern Hawaiian blends both traditional and modern methods. Traditionally, the time of day was not nearly as specific as an hour or a minute; people didn’t care to worry if the time were 9:00 or 9:30 or 11:00 or 4:00. Rather, terms like the following would have been commonly used:
Some Times Of Day In Hawaiian
ahiahi
late in the day, when you start to notice the dimming of daylight and feel like it’s time to stop work and go back home; evening.
pō
when it’s dark enough to see stars in the sky, all the way through the turning of the Milky Way and until light breaks the horizon line; night.
aumoe
in the middle of the night, when all is quiet and still and not even the pueo (owl) stirrs; this time ends well before the eastern sky starts to brighten and well before any roosters crow. It’s the time when the menehune were said to be active.
wanaʻao
when the eastern sky starts to brighten enough to wake up the roosters and the sky gains its beautiful purple tint; continues as the sky becomes orange in color.
kakahiaka
from when it’s light enough in the early morning to see where you are going without an artificial light and it’s time to get going for the day; morning.
awakea
when the sun is over and above your shoulders and head and you feel perhaps it’s time to get out of the hot sun for a rest and something to eat; midday.
ʻauinalā
when the sun is visibly making its curving descent towards the western horizon; after a rest, time to think about wrapping up the day; afternoon.
There are, actually, several other terms that reference times of day within those mentioned above, but as most of them are poetic, you can just stick to those shown above for starters. We’ll learn more terms in later lessons on time.
New Hawaiian Words Used For Time
With the coming of western technology and thought to Hawaiʻi in the early 1800s, new words and ways of speaking about time appeared along with chronometers of various kinds. Here are some words that were taken from the English versions:
hola
hour – also often written as “hora” in the 1800s
minuke
minute – also “minute” in the 1800s but obviously spoken with Hawaiian pronunciation
kekona
second – also “sekona” in some 1800s publications
uaki
watch – also “uwaki”, “uati”, “uwati”, and “waki” variously in former times.
The first printed use I have found of the word “hora” is in the 28 Feb. 1834 issue of Ka Lama Hawaii, a missionary newspaper (note that it is written in the old newspaper style without markings and refined word separation):
He lio olalua ka Hipopotamu, no ka mea, ola no ia maloko o ka wai, a ola no mawaho. E luu no ia ilalo i hapalua o ka hora paha, pii hou iluna e hanu, e like me ka honu.
The Hipopotamus is a quadruped with two lifestyles because he lives both in and out of water. He can submerge for perhaps a half hour, and then come up again to breathe, just like a turtle.
Of course you will need to be able to count from 1 to 12 in order to state the hour. So if you need to go over your numbers, please review Video 0502V Hawaiian Number Basics: From 1 to 100 before continuing with this lesson.
Note that when we tell time, we want to use the ʻe- prefix before the number base names (from 1 to 9). To learn more about number prefixes, you can review 0505V Hawaiian Number Prefixes #1: ʻA-, ʻE- which came before this lesson.
Numbers 1 – 12 For Telling Time
1ʻekahi
2ʻelua
3ʻekolu
4ʻehā
5ʻelima
6ʻeono
7ʻehiku
8ʻewalu
9ʻeiwa
10ʻumi
11ʻumikūmākahi
12ʻumikūmālua
Sentence Structure for Time in Hawaiian
The sentence structures used to tell time are all based on what we call the Pepeke ʻAike, which is an “equational” type of sentence where you say [something] is equal to [something else], i.e.:
“This is the lesson” : This= the lesson
“It is 1 o’clock” : It= 1 o’clock
In Hawaiian, this “equation” is written the other way around for time. Also, instead of “o’clock (on the clock)”, we say “hour”. And finally, instead of “it is”, we say “this”. Here’s an example:
“1 hour this” : 1 hour= this
“ʻO ka hola ʻekahi kēia” : ʻO ka hola ʻekahi= kēia
For now, just memorize this simple pattern as it is demonstrated in the examples below. Later on, you will come to understand the reason for the structure and its parts.
ʻO ka hola ʻekahi kēia.
It’s now one o’clock.
ʻO ka hola ʻelua kēia.
It’s now two o’clock.
ʻO ka hola ʻumi kēia.
It’s now ten o’clock.
ʻO ka hola ʻumikūmālua kēia.
It’s now twelve o’clock.
Add the Time Period
Remember the times of day we saw at the top of this page, like ahiahi and pō? You can add “…o ka [time period]” to the end of your hourly time to indicate what time period of the day you mean. See the examples below:
ʻO ka hola ʻekahi kēia o ke awakea.
It’s 1 o’clock in the middle of the day.
ʻO ka hola ʻelua kēia o ka ʻauinalā.
It’s 2 o’clock in the afternoon.
ʻO ka hola ʻumi kēia o ke kakahiaka.
It’s 10 o’clock in the morning.
ʻO ka hola ʻumikūmālua kēia o ke aumoe.
It’s twelve o’clock in the middle of the night.
Practice Telling Time In Hawaiian
Now it’s your turn to practice! The exercises and answers are right here for you! Here’s what you should do:
write the questions out yourself so you can practice writing Hawaiian
say the questions to yourself by reading them out loud
write the answers
say your answers too (even if they might be wrong at first!)
Note: Press and hold with your mouse on the answer link underlined in orange to see my answer for each question. On touch-based devices like iPads and phones, click on the disclosure triangle below each set of exercises to see the answers. Once again, be sure you read the correct answers out loud to yourself many times.
Basic Exercises
Someone might ask you, “ʻO ka hola ʻehia kēia?” (What time is this?). What will you say?
ʻO ka hola ʻehia kēia? 10 o’clock (Press the link to see the answer)
ʻO ka hola ʻehia kēia? 2 o’clock
ʻO ka hola ʻehia kēia? 6 o’clock
ʻO ka hola ʻehia kēia? 8 o’clock
ʻO ka hola ʻehia kēia? 9 o’clock
ʻO ka hola ʻehia kēia? 3 o’clock
ʻO ka hola ʻehia kēia? 11 o’clock
ʻO ka hola ʻehia kēia? 12 o’clock
All Answers for Basic Exercises
1
10 o’clock
ʻO ka hola ʻumi kēia.
2
2 o’clock
ʻO ka hola ʻelua kēia.
3
6 o’clock
ʻO ka hola ʻeono kēia.
4
8 o’clock
ʻO ka hola ʻewalu kēia.
5
9 o’clock
ʻO ka hola ʻeiwa kēia.
6
3 o’clock
ʻO ka hola ʻekolu kēia.
7
11 o’clock
ʻO ka hola ʻumikūmākahi kēia.
8
12 o’clock
ʻO ka hola ʻumikūmālua kēia.
Time and Part of Day Exercises
You can add the part of the day to your answer, as explained above. Try to respond to an imaginary friend who is asking you the time:
ʻO ka hola ʻehia kēia? It’s now 10 o’clock in the morning
ʻO ka hola ʻehia kēia? It’s now 2 o’clock in the afternoon
ʻO ka hola ʻehia kēia? It’s now 6 o’clock in the evening
ʻO ka hola ʻehia kēia? It’s now 8 o’clock in the morning
ʻO ka hola ʻehia kēia? It’s now 9 p.m. light late evening eg. in Canada
ʻO ka hola ʻehia kēia? It’s now 4 o’clock in the morning
ʻO ka hola ʻehia kēia? It’s now 11 o’clock in the middle of the day
ʻO ka hola ʻehia kēia? It’s now 12 o’clock in the middle of the night
Answers for Part of Day Exercises
1
It’s now 10 o’clock in the morning.
ʻO ka hola ʻumi kēia o ke kakahiaka.
2
It’s now 2 o’clock in the afternoon.
ʻO ka hola ʻelua kēia o ka ʻauinalā.
3
It’s now 6 o’clock in the evening.
ʻO ka hola ʻeono kēia o ke ahiahi.
4
It’s now 8 o’clock in the morning.
ʻO ka hola ʻewalu kēia o ke kakahiaka.
5
It’s now 9 o’clock in the late evening.
ʻO ka hola ʻeiwa kēia o ke ahiahi.
6
It’s now 4 o’clock in the morning.
ʻO ka hola ʻehā kēia o ka wanaʻao.
7
It’s now 11 o’clock in the middle of the day.
ʻO ka hola ʻumikūmākahi kēia o ke awakea.
8
It’s now 12 o’clock in the middle of the night.
ʻO ka hola ʻumikūmālua kēia o ke aumoe.
Next Steps
When you are done with this lesson, move on to the next one in this series on time, 0515G Time On The Half Hour. And don’t forget to use what you have learned here every day so that you can answer this question quickly any time of day or night!
The story is about a young man who was working for the sugar cane company in 1865. He was riding home one day from work on his new horse when all of a sudden he ended up entangled in the stirrups and ropes and found himself hanging beneath the horse’s belly with the horse bucking around above him! His friends managed, in the end, to free him, but not before he was hurt quite badly. The moral of the story is given at the end by the letter-writer: be especially careful when you are riding a new horse, and never wrap the ropes around your thighs.
How To Use This Lesson
This resource is primarily targeted at the beginner level student who wants to practice pronunciation. There are several great ways to use the lesson:
listen to the entire audio a few times and then try to replicate what you heard on your own
see if you can read along at the same time and with the same pacing as the reader
listen to the audio while trying to “shadow” the reader by simultaneously repeating what he says immediately after you hear it without stopping
find a friend who is also learning Hawaiian to work with and use the PDF printout to read to your partner (who does not have the paper) and have your partner shadow you
record yourself reading the passage and listen back to it
In all cases above, you should listen to your own voice and continually analyze the quality of both your phrasing and your pronunciation. You must become good at doing this all the time when learning a new language, and even when you think you are completely fluent! Now is a good time to start building that skill. When you listen to your own recording, put aside what you think is your “funny sounding voice” (because that’s how we all hear you anyway!) and focus on the quality of your spoken language.
Lesson Resources
The resources for this lesson include marked-up PDFs and audio readings for Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced levels.
Click on the link below to download the PDF. You may want to print it out and use it to write your answers on. Take the examples shown in the table at the bottom of the PDF and make your own table of kaʻi + memeʻa (article + content word) sequences using the kaʻi “he”.
Be sure to say the combinations of kaʻi + memeʻa to yourself out-loud many times so you can start to get the feeling of physically speaking the language. These are the smallest building blocks of Hawaiian, so you’ll want to be able to speak them quickly and without overthinking them or trying to translate in your head before saying them.
Doing this exercise will be especially useful to you in a structure that you will learn later on which allows you to say “something is a something” (like “Kimo is a boy” or “The bird is an ʻapapane“). But more on that later; first get to this lesson!
Above: Kaliko teaches beginning ʻukulele chords at Aloha Music Camp, Keauhou, Kona.
Below: Kaliko always has lots of fun teaching class.
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Above: Kaliko accepts the esteemed Magic Penny Award on behalf of Aunty Nona Beamer for the Children’s Music Network, 2006. Please read this article for more information.
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Above: Kaliko loves to explain all about the Pepeke in Hawaiian grammar. The Pepeke idea was thought up by Pila and Kauanoe Wilson in Hilo in the 1980s and is the best way to describe Hawaiian sentence patterns at the beginner level to both L1 (native) and L2 (second-language learning) students.
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Above: Kaliko poses for friends before performing at Ken Burgmaier’s 2nd Annual Lanaʻi ʻUkulele Festival, April 2012. See this site for more information.
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Above: Kaliko spends time with his very good friend, Morisi Roʻotuehine, in the Marquesas Islands, Summer 2011.
This section includes excerpts from “He Moʻolelo Pōkole” (abbreviated title*) written by James W. L. McGuire about the journey of Queen Consort Kapiʻolani (1834-1899) and her sister-in-law, Princess Liliʻuokalani (1838-1917), to England in the year 1887 for the 50th Jubilee celebrations honoring Queen Victoria (1819-1901). James McGuire played an important role in the journey of Kapiʻolani and Liliʻuokalani: he was their personal attendant.
The book was written originally without the macrons or glottal-stop markings that we commonly use today to help students of Hawaiian to pronounce the words correctly; I have therefore added them to these PDFs.
Note, however, that although the macrons and glottal-stops were not written on the page in the original book, they were of course pronounced when spoken or read!
Eventually, much of McGuire’s excellent book will be up here in this area. Enjoy! Aloha and thanks to Mr. James McGuire for his wonderful words.
Kapiʻolani in 1877
Liliʻuokalani in 1890
Victoria in 1882
*The full name of McGuire’s 1938 publication is “He Moolelo Pokole o ka Huakaihele a ka Moiwahine Kapiolani i Enelani i ka Makahiki 1887 i ka Iubile o ka Moiwahine Vitoria o Beretania Nui” meaning “A short chronicle of the journey of Queen Kapiʻolani to England in the year 1887 for the jubilee of Queen Victoria of Great Britain.” Now you know why I used the abbreviated version above!
This item is Chapter Two of the book “He Moʻolelo Pōkole” by James W. L. McGuire. It is titled “Ka Haʻalele ʻana iā Hawaiʻi”, meaning in essence “The Departure From Hawaiʻi”.
The vocabulary sheet and audio readings are in production at this time.
Ka Haʻalele ʻana iā Hawaiʻi
Ma ke kakahiaka Pōʻalua o ka lā 12 o ʻApelila, he manawa ia no ka pīʻōʻō o ka poʻe e hele ana ma muli o ke komo ʻana mai o nā hoaloha e ʻike a e hāʻawi i ko lākou aloha a me nā ʻōlelo hoʻohauʻoli; aia nō hoʻi nā kalapu hīmeni e mele ana i nā mele nani o Hawaiʻi; ka poʻe hea inoa nō hoʻi a me ka poʻe olioli e hāʻawi mai ana i nā kānaenae aloha e like me ka mea maʻamau ma nā huakaʻihele a ko Hawaiʻi nei poʻe aliʻi.
Ma ka hola 11:30, ua kau akula ka Mōʻīkāne a me ka Mōʻīwahine, ke Kamaliʻiwahine Liliʻuokalani, a me ke Kiaʻāina John O. Dominis, ma ke kaʻa aliʻi, a ʻo nā ukali nō hoʻi ma ko lākou kaʻa ma hope aku, a holo akula no kai o ka uapo, kahi a ka mokuahi Australia e kakali mai ana no kāna mau ʻōhua hanohano i aloha nui ʻia e ka lāhui Hawaiʻi, a i hōʻike mai hoʻi i ko lākou aloha ma ka hiki kino ʻana aʻe a piha pū ka uapo, ke hele lā a “Lei Kohala i ka nuku nā kānaka.”
Ma ka hola 12 ponoʻī, ua hemo maila nā kaula hoʻopaʻa o ka moku, me nā leo hulō o nā makaʻāinana e paʻapaʻina ana i ka lewa, nā ani hainakā goodbye aloha ana, ua emi hope maila ka Australia, e hoʻokū pono ana i kona ihu i ke ala e hiki aku ai i ka nuku o Māmala. I ka hoʻokuemi pono ʻana iho o ke kīkala o ua wahine ʻau moana lā, ua ʻoni mālie aʻela kona mau ʻenekini me ka lawe nihi mālie ʻana o kona huila, a niau akula no ka hale ipu kukui, ʻoiai hoʻi ka hae kalaunu o ka Mōʻīwahine o Hawaiʻi e welo haʻaheo ana i nā welelau makani ma ke kia hope o ka Australia.
ʻOiai ka Australia e niau mālie ana ma mua mai o nā moku manuā e kū ana i loko o ke awa laʻi o Kou, ua ʻaoa maila nā ʻīliohae a Uncle Sam, ma ka hāʻawi ʻana mai i nā pū aloha he 21 no nā kamahele aliʻi e ʻau ana i ka moana kai uli o ka Pākīpika. A i ka wā a ka Australia i kāʻalo aʻe ai ma mua o ka Hale Ipukukui, a huli pono akula ka ihu i Māmala, ua ʻuʻina nākolokolo maila ka leo o nā pūkuniahi a nā koa kūmau o ke alo aliʻi, ma ka batare o Kakaʻako (ma kahi e kū nei ʻo ka Fort Armstrong), e hāʻawi mai ana nō hoʻi i ke aloha goodbye o ka lāhui.
E ukali ana nō hoʻi ka moku kolo ʻo ʻEleu, me ka Mōʻī a me kekahi mau maka hanohano, ma luna ona. Pēlā nō hoʻi ka mokuahi ʻo John A. Cummins a me ka Royal Hawaiian Band ma luna ona e haʻaheo ana i nā mele kaulana o Hawaiʻi. I ka puka ʻana aku ma waho o ka nuku o Māmala, ua pā maila kahi aheahe makani mai ka ʻāina mai a hoʻopuehu aʻela i nā hunakai ma ke alahele o nā Aliʻi; a laila, hoʻomanaʻo aʻela au i kēia mau lālani mele o Hawaiʻi:
A waho lā o Māmala Hao mai nei ehuehu Puluʻelo i ka hunakai Kīheʻaheʻa i ka ʻili
Ua ukali mai nō nā mokuahi ʻo ʻEleu a me Cummins a hiki i ke kāʻalo ʻana aʻe o ka Australia ma mua o Daimana Hila, a laila, huli hoʻi aku lāua me ka Mōʻī a me kona mau hoa, me ke mele ʻana mai a ka Bāna i ke mele i ʻanoʻi nui ʻia, ʻo “Aloha ʻOe.”
This free reading practice is available to both members and non-members of ʻŌlelo Online.
Ke Kono A Pelekāne
In early 1887, an invitation was sent to the Hawaiian Royals, specifically King Kalākaua, inviting them to the 50th Jubilee of Queen Victoria of Great Britain. This reading practice lesson focuses on Chapter One of the book “He Moʻolelo Pōkole” by James W. L. McGuire (1938) titled “Ke Kono a Pelekāne,” meaning in essence “The Invitation sent by Great Britain”.
Listen & Learn
The resources for this lesson include a vocabulary sheet, marked-up PDFs, and audio readings for Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced levels.
You can listen as you follow along in the text; you can use the files to practice transcribing Hawaiian; or you can just enjoy listening to a good story in the Hawaiian language!
Following the resources section below, please find the complete chapter text (in Hawaiian) along with a quick English translation (by me) to help you understand the story so far.
Next Steps
Following this chapter is “Ka Haʻalele ʻAna Iā Hawaiʻi” (The Departure From Hawaiʻi) which you will find here.
Ma nā lā mua o ka makahiki 1887, ua loaʻa maila he palapala kono i ka Mōʻī Kalākaua mai ke Aupuni mai ʻo Pelekāne, e kono mai ana e komo pū aku i loko o nā hana hoʻohiwahiwa o ka piha ʻana o nā makahiki he kanalima o ka nohoaliʻi ʻana o ka Mōʻīwahine Victoria ma luna o ka nohoaliʻi o Beretania Nui. I ka wā naʻe i loaʻa mai ai ʻo kēia kono, e noho ana ka Mōʻī Kalākaua a me ke aloaliʻi, a me ka lāhui Hawaiʻi holoʻokoʻa, i loko o ke kanikau no ka Mea Kiʻekiʻe ke Kamāliʻiwahine Miriam Kapili Likelike, (Mrs. A. S. Cleghorn), i hala aku i ka make. No laila, ua hiki ʻole i ka Mōʻī Kalākaua ke hoʻokō kino aku i kēia kono a ke Aupuni ʻo Pelekāne. Akā, ua hoʻoholo koke ihola nō ke Aliʻi, e hoʻouna aku i kāna Aliʻiwahine i aloha nui ʻia, ka Mōʻīwahine Kapiʻolani, i pani hakahaka ma kona wahi, a i hoʻokō ʻia ai hoʻi ke kono a ke Aupuni ʻo Pelekāne. Ua maikaʻi kēia hoʻoponopono ʻana i ka manaʻo o nā aliʻi, a ua lilo nā lā o ka mahina ʻo Pepeluali a me Malaki o ka makahiki 1887 i mau lā hoʻomākaukau no nā wahi pono kino no ka hele ʻana.
Ma kēia huakaʻi a ka Mōʻīwahine Kapiʻolani, ua hoʻouna pū ʻia nō hoʻi ke Kamāliʻiwahine Liliʻuokalani, ka hoʻoilina o ka Nohoaliʻi o Hawaiʻi, i hoahele no ka Mōʻīwahine, a ua hele pū nō hoʻi me kāna kāne, ke kiaʻāina John O. Dominis (Keoni Kamaki), kona (Liliʻuokalani) ukali pilikino ponoʻī. Ua hele pū ma kēia huakaʻi a ka Mōʻīwahine, ka Hon. Curtis Piehu* ʻIaukea, ka Puʻukū a ka Mōʻī, Konela James H. Boyd, a me ka Mea Kākau nei, i poʻe ukali no ka Mōʻīwahine, a me ka wahine mālama kapa o ke aliʻi, ʻo ia hoʻi ʻo Pahupahu. Ma ka ʻaoʻao o ke Kamāliʻiwahine, ua lawe nō hoʻi ʻo ia iā Joseph ʻAeʻa a me Charley *Kaiaiki, i mau kānaka lawelawe nona. ʻO kēia poʻe aʻela a pau i hōʻike ʻia ma luna, mai nā aliʻi, nā ukali, a me ka poʻe lawelawe, ua hala aku i ke ao polohiwa a Kāne, a koe mai e ola nei i kēia lā, ka Hon. Konela Curtis Piehu* ʻIaukea a me ka Mea Kākau.
Aloha nō ia mau lā o nā makahiki he 50 i kūnewa akula!
Translation
The Invitation Sent By Great Britain
In the first days of the year 1887, an invitation was received by King Kalākaua from the Country/Kingdom/Government of England, inviting [us] to be involved in the honorary celebrations on the completion of fifty years of rulership of Queen Victoria on the throne of Great Britain. At the time, however, when this invitation was received, King Kalākaua and his retinue, as well as the whole Hawaiian race, found themselves in the midst of mourning for Her Royal Highness Princess Miriam Kapili Likelike (Mrs. A. S. Cleghorn), who had passed away. It was therefore not possible for King Kalākaua to personally fulfill this invitation of the English Kingdom. But the royal quickly decided to send his beloved chiefess, Queen Kapi‘olani, as a substitute in his place, so that the invitation of the English Kingdom could be fulfilled. The chiefs all thought this solution a good idea, and the days of February and March of the year 1887 became days of preparation for the personal items [needed] for the journey.
On this trip of Queen Kapi‘olani, Princess Lili‘uokalani, the heir to the throne of Hawai‘i, was also sent, as travelling companion for the Queen, and she went along with her husband, governor John O. Dominis (Keoni Kamaki), her (Lili‘uokalani) personal escort. Also on this journey of the Queen was Honorable Curtis Piehu* ‘Iaukea, the treasurer (?) of the King, Colonel James H. Boyd, and this writer, as attendants of the Queen, as well as the woman who took care of the garments of the chiefess, that being Pahupahu. On the side of the Princess, she took Joseph ‘Ae‘a and Charley Kaiaiki* as stewards for herself. All of these people mentioned above, from the chiefs, the attendants, and the escorts and stewards, have all passed along the path of the great dark clouds of Kāne [fig., death], excepting Honorable Colonel Curtis Piehu* ‘Iaukea and the writer, who are still alive today.
O what fond recollection for those days 50 years ago which have passed by so quickly!
translation by Kaliko Trapp
* note that some names have not been modernized in spelling because the exact meaning is not known to the translator.
INSTRUCTIONS: This lesson follows 0901P: Practice Describing Things, so be sure you have done that one first. Now, take a few minutes to read the brief story about ʻAilāʻau shown below. Then read the directions and see my examples in the grey box. I have included some suggestions for vocabulary that you can use below the story. You will be creating kaʻi + memeʻa + kāhulu structures that match elements in the story. If you would like to download the original book from which this story came, please go to Google Books and search for either Westervelt or the name of the book (shown below).
ʻAilāʻau, The Forest Eater
From “Hawaiian Legends of Volcanoes” by W. D. Westervelt (1916), with slight spelling modifications for Hawaiian language students by Kaliko Beamer-Trapp.
When Pele came to the island Hawaiʻi, seeking a permanent home, she found another god of fire already in possession of the territory. ʻAilāʻau (ʻAi-lāʻau) was known and feared by all the people. ʻAi means the “one who eats or devours.” Lāʻau means “tree” or a “forest.” ʻAilāʻau was, therefore, the fire-god devouring forests. Time and again he laid the districts of South Hawaiʻi desolate by the lava he poured out from his fire-pits.
He was the god of the insatiable appetite, the continual eater of trees, whose path through forests was covered with black smoke fragrant with burning wood, and sometimes burdened with the smell of human flesh charred into cinders in the lava flow.
ʻAilāʻau seemed to be destructive and was so named by the people, but his fires were a part of the forces of creation. He built up the islands for future life. The process of creation demanded volcanic activity. The flowing lava made land. The lava disintegrating made earth deposits and soil. Upon this land storms fell and through it multitudes of streams found their way to the sea. Flowing rivers came from the cloud-capped mountains. Fruitful fields and savage homes made this miniature worldbuilding complete.
ʻAilāʻau still poured out his fire. It spread over the fertile fields, and the natives feared him as the destroyer giving no thought to the final good.
He lived, the legends say, for a long time in a very ancient part of Kīlauea, on the large island of Hawaiʻi, now separated by a narrow ledge from the great crater and called Kīlaueaiki (Kīlauea-iki, Little Kilauea). This seems to be the first and greatest of a number of craters extending in a line from the great lake of fire in Kīlauea to the seacoast many miles away. They are called “The Pit Craters” because they are not hills of lava, but a series of sunken pits going deep down into the earth, some of them still having blowholes of sputtering steam and smoke.
After a time, ʻAilāʻau left these pit craters and went into the great crater and was said to be living there when Pele came to the seashore far below.
In one of the Pele stories is the following literal translation of the account of her taking Kilauea:
“When Pele came to the island Hawaiʻi, she first stopped at a place called Keahialaka (Ke-ahi-a-Laka) in the district of Puna. From this place she began her inland journey toward the mountains. As she passed on her way, there grew within her an intense desire to go at once and see ʻAilāʻau, the god to whom Kīlauea belonged, and find a resting-place with him as the end of her journey. She came up, but ʻAilāʻau was not in his house. Of a truth he had made himself thoroughly lost. He had vanished because he knew that this one coming toward him was Pele. He had seen her toiling down by the sea at Keahialaka. Trembling dread and heavy fear overpowered him. He ran away and was entirely lost. When Pele came to that pit she laid out the plan for her abiding home, beginning at once to dig up the foundations. She dug day and night and found that this place fulfilled all her desires. Therefore, she fastened herself tight to Hawaiʻi for all time.”
These are the words in which the legend disposes of this ancient god of volcanic fires. He disappears from Hawaiian thought and Pele from a foreign land finds a satisfactory crater in which her spirit power can always dig up everlastingly overflowing fountains of raging lava.
Kikino (noun-like words)
ka mokupuni
island
ka home1
home (residence)
ka hale
house (building)
ka poʻe
people (singular kaʻi but plural meaning)
ke ahi
fire
ka ʻāina
territory
ka nahele2
forest
ka pele3
lava
ka lua pele
fire-pit (crater)
ka uahi
smoke
ke ola
life
ke one ʻā
volcanic cinder (lit., burnt sand)
ke kahena pele
lava flow
ka lepo
earth (soil)
ke kahawai
stream
ka ua
rain
ka ua nui
rain storm
ka lua puhi
pit-based blowhole
ka māhu
steam
ka lihi ʻāina
the edge of the land (eg. seashore)
ka ʻiʻini, ke ake
the desire to see or have something
ka huakaʻi
journey
ke kahua
foundation
ka ʻaʻā4
ʻaʻā lava (the broken and very rough type)
ka pāhoehoe5
pāhoehoe lava (the smooth, rippled type)
1. Obviously, the word “home” is from English. Pronounce it in a Hawaiian way, however.
2. Be careful to use no kahakō in “nahele”. Only “nāhelehele” has a kahakō, as do many words reduplicated in such a fashion (eg. malama, mālamalama)
3. Pele capitalized is the woman; pele uncapitalized is the lava she creates.
4. Be sure to pronounce this as shown, with the second kahakō.
5. Most non-Hawaiian language speakers mispronounce this; be sure to pronounce the kahakō and stress evenly the three main pieces: “pā-“, “hoe”, and “hoe”. Do not only stress the first “-hoe-“.
ʻAʻano (words describing a state or condition)
paʻa
permanent; complete
kamaʻāina
acquainted, familiar with something
makaʻu
afraid
ʻōneanea
cleared (as desolate land)
pōloli
hungry
hauna
stinky
ʻeleʻele
black
pulu
wet (soaked)
momona
fertile (of soil)
makaʻu
afraid
kahiko
ancient
kaʻawale
separated
mua
first (in sequence)
hope
last (in sequence)
hohonu
deep
nui
intense (eg. ka ʻiʻini nui)
lōʻihi
long
hakahaka
empty (of a space)
nalowale
lost (disappeared), vanished
paʻahana
very busy with work
makaʻu
fearful
mau
abiding (permanent); fastened tight
kō
fulfilled; completed
kūpono
satisfactory; proper, appropriate
ʻā
fiery, burning, alight
Hehele (action words without an object)
hele
to travel (on two feet)
holo
to travel (on a canoe); to run
huakaʻi
to travel (a journey)
hōʻea
to arrive (at a destination)
kahe
to flow (as water)
ua
to rain
noho
to live, reside somewhere; sit, stay in a single spot
kū
to stop at a location; to stand still; to stand upright
piʻi
to climb up; to go uphill
iho
to descend; to go downhill
Hamani (action words which act upon something or someone)
ʻimi
to search for something
ʻai
to eat something
hoʻokumu
to found something (to begin the creation of sth.)
luku
to destroy something
unuhi
to translate something
hana
to make or do something
hoʻoholo
to decide on something; to plan to do something
ʻeli
to dig into something
As you did in the last lesson (0901P: Practice Describing Things), take the vocabulary words and write them onto index cards or into your notebook and study them until you start to remember them. You don’t have to be perfect at recalling them at this time because you can look them up anytime!
Although it is possible to print this page right from your computer, 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.
If you did not do the practice numbered 0901P, or you do not know what a kaʻi + memeʻa + kāhulu sequence is, then you should go back to the start of the 0900 series with 0900: Basic Kāhulu, Introduction and also find videos about this subject in the Coursework Index.
The goal of this lesson is to be able to read the story in English and then create kaʻi + memeʻa + kāhulu sequences from parts of the story. I have provided many vocabulary words for you, so you should be able to have fun all day without having to look up even one word from the online dictionary!
Some important points for this, the second homework lesson about kaʻi + memeʻa + kāhulu sequences:
kaʻi: the leading word before a memeʻa, such as ka, ke, nā, kekahi, and he.
memeʻa: a content word which could be any one of four types, kikino, ʻaʻano, hamani, or hehele
kāhulu: a memeʻa word functioning as an adjective or adverb, meaning that it adds a description to the preceeding memeʻa. ʻAʻano are very frequently used as kāhulu.
Make up as many combinations as seem to make sense using the vocabulary in this lesson, and any other memeʻa you might know already or look up in the online dictionary.
I am not asking you to try to translate the story; that would be very hard indeed at this stage! All you should try to do is synthesize in your mind some short three-word kaʻi + memeʻa + kāhulu sequences based on the story content, write them down, and say them to yourself over and again.
Here are some examples from the first paragraph:
When Pele came to the island of Hawaiʻi, seeking a permanent home, she found another god of fire (=a fire god) already in possession of the big island. ʻAilāʻau (ʻAi-lāʻau) was feared by the Hawaiian people at that time. He was indeed an ancient god, a hungry god, living in the deep pit up on the mountain. …
Some Example Sentences
he home mau
a permanent home
kekahi akua ahi
another god of fire (lit. another fire god)
ka ʻāina nui
the great territory; the huge land
ka poʻe makaʻu
the fearful people
ke akua ‘ai
the eating god
ka mea luku
the destroyer (lit., the one who destroys)
Now here’s the fun part! Go and try the quiz for the kikino vocabulary words (0902Q.1: Vocabulary Quiz #1 for ʻAilāʻau) to see how many you remembered.
The final part to this lesson is to now go out and try to use these kaʻi + memeʻa + kāhulu combinations. Think about the story and recall, in mini kaʻi + memeʻa + kāhulu fragments, your feelings about some of the elements in the story. Perhaps you will even be able to make up some more on the fly! I hope so.
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.
