ALOHA, HOALOHA

HAWAIIAN IS AN OFFICIAL LANGUAGE of our 50th state; so is English. (The only other U.S. states with multiple official languages are Alaska including 20 Alaska Native tongues and South Dakota with Sioux.) 

Recently I came upon the WordGenius website identifying “9 English Words With Hawaiian Language Origins,” and that got me interested in learning more about this language.

The Hawaiian Language. Wikipedia notes, “Hawaiian is a Polynesian language and critically endangered language of the Austronesian language family that takes its name from Hawaiʻi, the largest island in the tropical North Pacific archipelago where it developed…. King Kamehameha III established the first Hawaiian-language constitution in 1839 and 1840.” 

Kamehameha III, 1814–1854. The third king of the Kingdom of Hawaii. Image, c. 1853, from Hawaii State Archives via Wikipedia.

Wikipedia recounts, “Under his reign, Hawaii evolved from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy with the signing of both the 1840 Constitution, which was the first Hawaiian Language Constitution, and the 1852 Constitution. He was the longest reigning monarch in the history of the Kingdom, ruling for 29 years and 192 days, although in the early part of his reign he was under a regency by Queen Kaʻahumanu and later by Kaʻahumanu II. His goal was the careful balancing of modernization by adopting Western ways while keeping his nation intact.” 

Alas, because of American colonization, the king was less than successful in this.

A Language’s Rise, Fall, and Recovery. The WordGenius website recounts, “In the mid 19th century, the native Hawaiian language, related to other Polynesian and Oceanic languages, was alive and thriving. In fact, in 1841, the Kingdom of Hawai’i started the first high school west of the Mississippi River, and the literacy rate was estimated at 90%. However, by the end of the century, the monarchy had been overthrown by the U.S. government, leading to decades of white, colonialist attempts to wipe out the native Hawaiian culture.”

WordGenius continues, “In 1896, the Hawaiian language was banned from schools, and the government discouraged locals from speaking it at home. As a result, an entire generation lost the ability to communicate in native Hawaiian. Since the 1970s, a movement has been growing to teach students using Hawaiian language immersion. Today, 18,000 people living in the state say they speak both Hawaiian and English at home, giving this lyrical language a chance to live on.”

Hawaii Enriches English. Here are several Hawaiian words finding their way into English.

Aloha, Hoaloha. WordGenius notes, “It’s probably the best known of all Hawaiian words, and most Americans know this word means both ‘hello’ and ‘goodbye.’ The term aloha literally translates to ‘love’ is used as a simple greeting or parting expression….”

Also, the Hawaii State Public Library System describes that hoaloha has the English meaning of “friend, beloved companion.”

Kahuna. Google Translate agrees with WordGenius in identifying kahuna as literally meaning “priest.” It’s entering English as meaning expert in any field. 

Image from drive-in ad, 1959, via Wikipedia.

WordGenius recounts, “The term was popularized by the 1959 teen beach movie Gidget, which featured a surfing character named the Big Kahuna. Today, we might use it as a tongue-in-cheek phrase for someone important, just like ‘big cheese’ or ‘head honcho.’ ”

Luau. “Like to party?,” Word Genius asks. “Then you’ll love this Hawaiian feast. Luaus are meals meant to bring a whole group or community together with food and entertainment. The name literally means ‘young taro tops,’ one of the traditional dishes served at a luau. As tourists from the mainland flocked to Hawaii in the 1960s, the popularity of luaus grew around the United States.”

Image by Kimberlie Wong from Culture Trip.

In “Cherchez La Gem,” January 4, 1952, one of The Lives of Harry Lime radio series, Harry i.e. Orson Welles is in Hawaii where a young lady introduces him to the concept of a luau. At 10:50 of the episode, Harry pronounces the word in a most haeole manner. Haeole being another Hawaiian word entering English, this one as “not from around here.”

Wiki. WordGenius offers etymology of our use of the work “wiki,” as in Wikipedia: “A ‘wiki’ is any website where users can contribute information and quickly share it on simple, editable pages. Think Wikipedia, WikiHow, or Wookieepedia. The word ‘wiki’ was coined in 1995 by Ward Cunningham, the creator of the WikiWikiWeb, the first user-editable website. On a trip to Hawaii, Cunningham was told to take the Wiki Wiki Shuttle—wiki wiki being the Hawaiian term for ‘very quick.’ ”

Hawaiian Pidgin? I wonder if this isn’t a bit of Hawaii Pidgin, which Wikipedia notes in contrast to Hawaiian, “is an English-based creole language spoken in Hawaiʻi. An estimated 600,000 residents of Hawaiʻi speak Hawaiian Pidgin natively and 400,000 speak it as a second language.” 

In particular, Google Translate renders Hawaiian “wiki” as “week.” The nearest the Hawaii State Public Library System has for “wiki” is wikiō with English meaning “video.” 

Isn’t language good fun, whichever it may be. ds 

© Dennis Simanaitis, SimanaitisSays.com, 2024