I'm thinking of naming my newborn Luka- but we live in Hawaii. I don't want it to translate to something terrible. So does anyone know if there's a direct translation for Luka?

I was looking at an obituary for a relative which included a statement on Hawaiian ancestry. Trouble is, I don't really understand its format -- using a dictionary, it appears to be a mix of place names, ancestors, and abbreviations.

How would you interpret the following:

‘I. mar, Luukia Makakaulua mar,kihei Kahooikaika mar. Kalimaonaona Ohule Kalimaonaona mar.K hookuanui w) Mele Ohule [then there's a list of names I know are our ancestors].

Aloha kakou,

I found the first part of the lyrics for this song but the second half is a bit different and I havent been able to find it. Its my favoruite and singing songs is one of my favourite ways to learn a language

Chat has been a great supplemental tool for me, helping me create structure and a plan for myself and also explaining things. Here is what it did for the first half incase it helps or inspires anyone

ʻO ʻOe Nō

Hawaiian:

ʻO ʻoe nō kuʻu kīhei

E mehana ai ʻo loko

Nākiʻi ʻia paʻa hemo ʻole

I malu hoʻi ke kino

I maha hoʻi ka naʻau

E lei ana i ka maile

Kaulana aʻo Panaʻewa

E paʻa ai ke aloha

English Translation:

You are indeed my kīhei (cloak)

That warms me inside

Bound tightly, never to be untied

The body is protected

The heart is at ease

Wearing the famous maile lei

From Panaʻewa

That holds love steadfast

ʻO ʻOe Nō

Direct Breakdown:

• ʻO ʻoe nōYou indeed / You truly*(ʻO is often used to indicate the subject, ʻoe = you, nō = indeed/truly)*

• kuʻu kīheimy cloak*(kuʻu = my [affectionate/close], kīhei = cloak/shawl)*

• E mehana ai ʻo lokoThat warms the inside*(E = [future action or imperative marker], mehana = to warm, ai = [for], ʻo loko = the inside)*

• Nākiʻi ʻia paʻa hemo ʻoleBound tightly, never to be untied*(Nākiʻi ʻia = tied/bound, paʻa = firm/tight, hemo ʻole = never untied)*

• I malu hoʻi ke kinoThe body is protected*(I = in, malu = protected/shaded, hoʻi = also/again, ke kino = the body)*

• I maha hoʻi ka naʻauThe heart is at ease*(I = in, maha = at rest/relaxed, hoʻi = also/again, ka naʻau = the heart/intestines [metaphorically, emotions])*

• E lei ana i ka maileWearing the maile lei*(E lei ana = wearing/will wear, i = [object marker], ka maile = the maile [a type of vine used in leis])*

• Kaulana aʻo PanaʻewaFamous from Panaʻewa*(Kaulana = famous, aʻo = from/of, Panaʻewa = a place in Hilo, Hawaiʻi)*

• E paʻa ai ke alohaThat holds love steadfast*(E paʻa ai = to hold firmly, ke aloha = the love)*

Also is anyone knows a place I can find more song lyrics!

I am learning ukulele, and was thinking -- especially in these times -- that I ought to put a "this machine kills fascists" sticker on my ukulele, like the one Woody Guthrie had on his guitar. Given the association between ukulele and Hawaiian culture, it would be fitting, I think, to have the text in the Hawaiian language.

Suggestions? Chatbots and other automatic translations have suggested:

"Hoʻopau kēia mea i ka poʻe hoʻohālua"

"pepehi kēia mīkini i nā fascist"

...but I'm leery of using those without confirmation from actual humans, lest I end up with the equivalent of this "I am out of the office" mistake on my ukulele...

Hi Everyone!

Currently writing something and the title is Hō’ili’ili o nā mea ho’omana’o

I know ho’mana’o is (in English syllables) ho-oh-mah-nah-oh, how would you break down the rest?

Hi!
I am writing a story and after reading many posts, I saw that creating a character with traditional name might be very difficult and should be taken extremely seriously.

In reality, I am not really writing in the setting of Hawaii, nor is the main character from there. Its a modern urban fantasy, and we have characters from various corners of the world, as limiting the phenomenon present to singular area wasn't prefered idea.
One of the characters is from Hawaii though, he is a side character and none of the aspects of living there is really present. My question is if there are certain common last names.

I have read that since certain year, the law pretty much required people to chose last names. At the same time, I have seen that many of the names have been anglicized (sorry if I spelled it wrong) or derived from other languages, like korean or japanese. So...are there common "modern" names that aren't strictly created in the traditional ways that I could use as someone who would just fuck up a lot if they attempted to create a unique name?
All I was set on was giving him first name Nalu or Kalei, as those would fit his character pretty well, but I am not dead set on those, as I am still researching.

Any feedback or criticism would be welcome!

I am British but have been reading about Hawaiian mythology and spiritual traditions, which has made me interested in learning some of the language. May I ask you respectfully how ‘difficult’ that is for an English speaker?

I am currently trying to start a YouTube channel on Austro-Tai studies. I think it would be nice to find a native speaker of one of these languages, so I was wondering if anyone was interested in taking that role. I have a low budget, so I am willing to start at $50 for 2500 words, but I am open to increasing that if I like your work and my channel continues to grow. Let me know if you are interested.

I have been using the spoken hawaiian flash card deck on anki but adding examples and further defintions where needed. My main resourece has been the wehewehe dictionaries but they don't always have the best examples

Is there anywhere else I can look to find example senteces. Feel free to send me any links you think may help. Like I was also thiking maybe a big pdf with childrens books that I could use the search feature with to find the examples myself? idk brainstorm with me yall

Aloha kakou!

I've been loing this series but I have had a hard time finding the extra material to go along with each episode. It says on the facebook to lookat at the "KLO Support Sheets" tab but i can't find that. Any help would be really appreciated! isnt a must for me to learn but I'd like to have it!

Hello,

I recently listened to Keale’s recording of “Ua Nani Ni’ihau & Somewhere over the Rainbow.” In between the first and the second song he takes a moment to reflect on his passed loved ones and also discusses this idea of knowing your place in time. When he names this idea, it sounds like he’s saying Ku’u Wau or maybe Pu’u Wau, phonetically it sounds like Koo-oo Vow of Poo-oo vow.

I could be wrong on my interpretation of the way he’s saying it but I’m interested in knowing what this term is that he’s discussing and if anyone here has any more insight on this idea of standing in time and knowing your place in time.

Recording link: https://soundcloud.com/keale-1/ua-nani-niihau-somewhere-over-the-rainbow-what-a-wonderful-world

Thanks!

Hi. I would be interestds in exchanging hand written letters in Hawaiian, partly because its nice to have mail, but mainly because im practicing Hawaiiain translations and writing in Hawaiian, and i cant think of a better aid to learning that exchanging letters.

Anyway, DM me or respond here if interested

Hi, I was wondering what people's thoughts are about translating poetry from English to Hawaiian. Specifically, if the poem in its English form has a somewhat unusual word order, would that translate as anything other than nonsense in hawaiian unless I modified it to adhere to the typical "Verb-Subject-Object' sentence structure often seen in Hawaiian sentences?

Aloha, I'm new to learning Hawaiian, I just started a few days ago. I heard that Hawaiian has something like 200 words for rain, so I am just curious, how would someone say the phrase: "it is raining." (As in, I look outside and see that it is raining, or someone asks me about the weather). Does "he ua" work? Should there be another word based on how heavy the rain is? How else can I express this concept? Mahalo in advance 🙏

I am hawaiian but don't olelo, while my baby's father is samoan. I want baby's name to include a deep meaning about healing as I got pregnant not too long after a traumatic experience and he lost a loved one not too long after we found out I was pregnant. We believe our boy came along when he did to help us heal in ways we can't do on our own. (Also I give birth in 2 days)

Hi, I'm writing a story which has a family from Hawaii, I would like to use a term of endearment/affectionate name a mother would call her daughter. I'd be grateful for help! Thank you

Thank you!

I was shopping around for canoes and saw a canoe company called Kai Wa’a. Is it supposed to be Wa’a Kai?

Aloha 'oukou! I have a grammar question: what is the standard way to form the agent noun in 'ōlelo hawai'i? Equivalent to the -er suffix in english? Like that turns a verb into a noun that does the verb? Such as turning the verb "drive" to the agent noun "driver", or periphrastically as "the one who drives".

How do i form this type of construction in this language?

I am looking for videos or sound resources with subtitles in ‘Ōlelo Hawai’i. I have been using ‘ŌiwiTV but none of the videos have any subtitles that aren’t auto generated English. Any help would be amazing!

aloha mai kakou. just wanted to ask a quick question about how to know when to use na vs mau for making nouns plural. or is just something you just pick up in time, and there's no rule underlying it?

Lohi kēia nūhou, akā ʻo kēia koʻu manawa mua e ike ai i kēia.

https://keaolama.org/2024/08/15/08-14-24/

Hello! I'm happy this subreddit exists. I saw in another post that questions like this are welcome here, so I hope it's ok. I'm learning 'Ōlelo Hawai`i from whatever online resource I can find, and like a lot of folks, I'm trying to translate everyday sentences into Hawaiian but I'm not sure if I'm getting it right.

So for a sentence like Alan will not clean the floor I'm torn between two possible translations:
`A`ole e ho`oma`ema`e i ka papahele ana `o Alan.
`A`ole e ho`oma`ema`e ana i ka papahele `o Alan.

And of course, both of those could be wrong lol. I know how to say Alan will not clean:
`A`ole e ho`oma`ema` `o Alan

But I don't know where to add an object.

Similarly for I will not clean the floor:
`A`ole au e ho`oma`ema`e ana i ka papahele.
`A`ole au e ho`oma`ema`e i ka papahele ana.

I appreciate anyone's help, and if anyone has a favorite resource for this kind of thing please give me recommendations! I use some but I don't know if they are the most reliable (Google Translate, definitely not), plus the online dictionaries I know only do single words, they can't check sentences.

Mahalo nui, 'oukou!

Aloha! I just found this subreddit and think it’s amazing, since I’ve trying to learn ‘Ōlelo Hawai’i for a few years on and off. I am not Hawaiian so I also have no way to practice with anyone :).

Anyway, I have been playing in my mind with the idea of getting “mana wahine” tattooed in the handwriting of my mother. I wanted to ask the native Hawaiians here if you feel this would be more cultural appreciation or appropriation, since I am absolutely not fluent.

My intentions are definitely from an appreciation standpoint. I have been very interested in the language and culture of Hawaii for a long time now, but I want to make sure I’m not overstepping.

Mahalo nui!!

Can someone confirm if Keka’e means “chosen” “appointed”? We adopted a senior who was surrendered to HHS and that was the name she had her whole life, so we kept it. Just want to confirm the meaning.

Aloha mai kākou! Does anyone have lyrics, translation and notes for "He Inoa No Lili'uokalani" from Kumu Mark Keali'i Ho'omalu's album 'Call It What You Like'? Mahalo