the Hawaiian language....

[Jonah K]

Originally Posted by Jungjohann

One of the first things that I learned about the Hawaiian language, from Hawaiians, was that it was extremely difficult to get someone from Hilo and someone from Lahaina to agree upon the meaning of many Hawaiian words, and 'ke a'o', ke being used before any noun beginning with either a 'k', or an 'a,o, or e'

Of course, I did learn this back in the 70's, and one of the fellows was named Mohikea, from the Bigger Island, and the other was Awai, from Molokai.

And, there may have been some drinking involved, I'm not sure if the 'okina' exception even came up


There may have been a LOT of drinking involved. But at least it wasn't awa mixed with okolehao

Of course, there's a difference between learning the Hawaiian language from a Hawaiian that's drunk and one that's sober and knows how to teach.

[Jungjohann]

Originally Posted by McFrostyJ

While we were on Molokai there were a couple of Hawaiians debating whether Molokai should or should not have an ʻokina.
So, what do you think?
Molokaʻi or Molokai?

According to anyone I know from Molokai, mostly folks past 50, it's Molokai. For Raiatea Helms, it's Moloka'i, or even Molokai'i. Think it must sound better, musically.. Probably a good way to start a fight over there though.

'This is Guy Hagi, with the latest breaking news from Molokai. The Maui Police Department was dispatched late last night, or was that early this morning, to the pier at Kaunakakai, where it seems a large fight had broken out amongst a group of locals. At first the police thought that the fight had originated over a dispute as to whose turn it was to bring beer to the semi-weekly gathering, but, as it turned out, the fight had been brought on by an argument concerning the proper pronunciation of the word 'Molokai', and whether it should, or should not, have an 'okina' at the end. Police thought the situation was under control, until the fire department showed up, and a fight broke out between the police and the firemen over who had the better soft ball team.

Film at six

Hope this helps,,, uuurrrrpppp, scuze me

[Jungjohann]

Originally Posted by Jonah K

Of course, there's a difference between learning the Hawaiian language from a Hawaiian that's drunk and one that's sober and knows how to teach.

I think they had political aspirations.

[Jonah K]

Originally Posted by McFrostyJ

While we were on Molokai there were a couple of Hawaiians debating whether Molokai should or should not have an ʻokina.
So, what do you think?
Molokaʻi or Molokai?

Some folks that know Hawaiian mythology believe the island was named after "Molokaʻi," a child of Hina (a Hawaiian goddess) and choose include the ʻokina. Others, who don't know the mythology or choose to ignore it, omit the ʻokina.

[Buckeye77]

Originally Posted by McFrostyJ

Just throw away the extra letters. Although, you would probably have to save one to custom make an ʻokina.

That was my first thought, but most sets have different letters on the six sides of the block. "A" might have a "B" on 2 sides, etc

For scrabble, you'd need to define a reference source for the words.

[Kawena]

HONOLULU (AP) — A Hawaii man has waged a court battle centered on his right to speak and write Hawaiian, saying his inability to take a driver's license exam in the language represents discrimination that violates the state constitution.

Man fights to take license test in Hawaiian