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Aloha Friday

By Don Wall February 18, 2005

Get In Hawaiian!
Visitors to Hawaii are surprised---and frequently baffled---to discover that, unlike the
mainland United States, more than ninety per cent of the place names are in a foreign
language. When I first came to Honolulu, I was fascinated by the variety of street
names. Oahu alone has about 4,000 streets, and most of them begin with one of the
twelve letters in the Hawaiian alphabet.
I had the impression that a history of Honolulu might be based on the origin of eponyms. “Beretania,” of
course, derived from the powerful roll of England in that history. “McKinley” and “Victoria” were simple to
attribute. “Bachelot” recalls the efforts of the French to obtain a foothold on the islands. “Olohana” in Waikiki
was based on a Hawaiian version of a boatwain’s call of “all hands,” a common shout of John Young, a close
adviser of Kamehameha I. “Mission Lane” is still the abode of houses put up to shelter the pioneer New
England workers in the islands vineyard. “Lusitania” and “Funchal” were chosen residence of Portuguese
workers from the Azores. “Chun Hoon” reminds one of the heavy population from China. “Pensacola” is one
of the streets named for visiting ships. And downtown, a person can even live on “Easy Street.”

I found this god today north of Kahuku.

When you visit the Hawaiian Islands, you may hear spoken not only Hawaiian, but also
Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, several Philippine dialects, and various brands of
pidgin. But general American is the dominant language, and you do not need to learn
any other tongue to travel about freely on all the islands in the group. English has been
the language of instruction in the schools for much longer than a hundred years. One
third of the population is white American stock, whereas the pure Hawaiians comprise
only two per cent. The visitor, nonetheless, will enjoy his or her stay much more if he
knows something about the Hawaiian language, can spot the common expressions, can
pronounce the curious personal names, and even practice a phrase or two of pidgin.

This one was found in Laie.

Hawaiian differs from other Polynesian languages in the use of (k) for (t), (l) for (r), (n) for
(h), (h) for (f) or (s), and sometimes (w) for (v).

The Hawaiian language has eight consonants (h), (k), (l), (m), (n), (p), (w), and the glottal
stop, which is an inverted apostophe ( ` )., and ten vowels, each long and short:
(a), (e), (i), (o), (u), Every word ends in a vowel and a vowel always appears between
consonant; some words contain no consonants at all.

I found this little piece of paradise around mile marker 23 up Kamehameha


Highway.
It looked absolutely untouched

Aloha, the Hawaiian greeting, is known around the world, as is the song “Aloha Oe” (Love
to Thee) written by Liliuokalani, the last queen of the native monarchy.
Aloha means “love, sympathy”; it can be used for “hello” or “good-bye” and is a
frequent reminder of the spirit of the Hawaiian hospitality.

The Hawaiian vocabulary has about 20, 000 words.


I took this shot north (Mauka) of Laie opposite some lost beach.

Here are a few phrases that are useful if you want to “Get in Hawaiian”:
1. “Wikiwiki” = “Hurry up!” But good luck with this one. It has been my experience
that the Hawaiians are not in much of a hurry to do anything!
2. “Pehea oe” = “How are you?”
3. “Kulikuli”= “Keep quiet!” This one I’ve used a few times when I lived in the central
north shore area of Wahiawa. There’s a lot of Micronesian keiki (children) who live
in the neighborhood there and they can get quite loud when they play. But they
are very well mannered and always smiling and laughing. Good kids, I’d say.
4. “Kani ka pila”= “Turn it up!” usually used in reference to music. I’ve used this a lot
when I stroll by locals playing the ukalele, or listening to some cool tune on the
radio.
5. “Wele ka hou!” means “Let her rip!” This is something you might say, or heard
said in reference to maybe surfing, or something regarding the mainland
equivalent of: “Let’s do it!”
6. “Hiki no”= “Can do!” or “It is possible.” A lot of kids ask me to take their pictures
and I say, “Hiki no.”
7. “Hawaii no ka oi” = “Hawaii is the best!”
8. “Mele Kalikimaka”= “Merry Christmas.”
9. “Hauoli Makahiki Hou”= “Happy New Year”
10.“Ua mau ke ea o ka aina i ka pono”= “The life of the land is preserved in
righteousness.” This is the motto for the state
of Hawaii.

Another deserted beach near Muliwai. Typical of the islands.


11.“Mauka” means toward the mountains. We don’t say “East” or “West.”
12.“Makai” is toward the sea.
13.“Go Diamondhead” means easterly if you are west of Diamondhead.
14.“Go Ewa” (eh-vah) if you mean “heading west.”
15.Note: Since we are on an island, no one really knows where north is! Think about
it. That’s why if something is behind us we just say, “Mauka!” But you can think
of terms of the north shore at times. If you referred to something in the north from
there, you’d be making reference to trillions of gallons in sea water!
16.“Kona” refers to the leeward side, which can be almost said to be west, though it
runs way up north to Kaiena Point where the road ends between Makaha and
Wailua.
17.“Hokela” is “Hotel.”
18.“Kelepona” is “Telephone.”
19.“Kula” is “School.”
20.“Nupepa” is “Newspaper.”
21.“Pepe” is “Baby.”
22.“Pipi” is “Beef.”
23.“Puke” is “Book.”
24.“Ka`a” is “Car.”
25.“Popoki” is “Cat.”

I stumbled upon this lagoon. Somewhere beyond Kahuku.

Well, though not too useful to most visitors, perhaps you can give some of these
words and phrases a shot if you visit the islands. The point is, most locals will smile
with affection if you give some of their language a shot. An “Aloha,” or “Mahalo” goes
a long way here. Just remember:
To walk past someone and making eye contact in Hawaii without saying something is
generally considered somewhat rude. This is called: “Stinkeye.”

I hope you’ve enjoyed the Hawaiian lesson. If you have any questions or comments,
please ask me and I’ll be happy to respond.
Another shot Mauka side. There are ancient temples up there. Between
Kahuku and Muliwai.

Tip: Hawaiian Airlines is currently offering roundtrip fares through March 10 for
$298.00, and $139.00 for one-way flights through June 9th! These fares may be
regarding flights from L.A.X.

I wasn’t too sure where I was at this point, so I did what I thought best:
I cracked open some coconut, ate, drunk, and was merry!
Talk about “Lost.”
“Well, I hope you enjoyed this Aloha Friday as much as I did.
I try not to verbalize too much about my Hawaiian adventures.
I believe to do so is like telling someone all about the movie!
You’ll have to ‘experience’ Paradise for yourself!”

“See you next week. I’m thinking about doing a shoot at Shark’s Cove.

Aloha `Oe,
Don

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