Summary of Silva reading:
The reading talks about Hawaiian language and some history of its literacy. The study Hawaiian language limits us to very few resources. Western influence played a big role in Hawaiian history. Things changed during those times.
There are two dictionaries that Silva mentioned. Lorrin Andrews’s dictionary was the dictionary when everyone in
Hawaiian language is better read in Hawaiian and not in English because there are different meanings within the language that English cannot fully explain. It’s good to have both dictionaries to study and have fun learning.
Schutz reading:
Grammar:
- Parts of Speech
- Nouns
i. Based on meaning , form (ex. ai ‘eat’, ai-na “the meal”), and function (ex. Maika’i ka poi ‘ the poi is good’)
ii. To pluralize a noun a marker is placed before the word
- Pronouns
i. As explained also by Lynch, pronouns are based on inclusive or exclusive perspectives
ii. He, She, and it is not used in Hawaiian
- Possessives
i. Similar to how pronouns are used, inclusive or exclusive.
ii. Makes distinctions that are closely related to the culture, alienable vs. inalienable
- Verbs (and adjectives)
i. When it comes to transitive vs. intransitive verbs and active and passive voice Hawaiian verbs are similar to English; English tense is different.
ii. Active and stative verbs explain morals
- How to form sentences
- The order of Hawaiian sentence is opposite of English. The concept of a subject and predicate is not quite similar to Hawaiian.
- A comment tells something about the topic
- Two types of questions. One that requires a long, detailed answer and the other answers yes or no
- Emphasis using a marker. (for example no)
- A conjunction is used to combine words. Phrases are combined by modifying complement
http://www.geocities.com/olelo.geo/workshop.htm - a site where you could learn more about Hawaiian language structure. Many of the information in this site is similar to what Lynch described.
http://shopping.msn.com/reviews/introduction-to-hawaiian-grammar/itemid2937336/?itemtext=itemname:introduction-to-hawaiian-grammar “The best available primer in the grammar of the Hawaiian language.” What do you think?
Schutz, Albert. Hawaiian: A sketch. Undated Manuscript
I think that learning new languages is fun. It gives us an understanding of how the culture is like. At a point of realization, we can do better things. All languages are equal in their own means. Silva's study of Hawaiian language and its change helps us realize what our culture has resulted in today. It leads us to our next topic discussion, Language and identity in the Pacific.
9 comments:
Thanks for the summary of the reading, Ralph! As a language student, I found these last two articles focusing directly on the Hawaiian language pretty interesting reads... The most confusing parts for me were probably where Polynesian languages and the English language seem to be most different, like with the topic/complement explanation, and stative verbs. With a brain firmly drilled since elementary school on Nouns, Verbs, and Adjectives, I was mentally defining a verb as an "action", at first.
After reading Silva's Hawaiian dictionary introduction, I think I learned a lot about Hawaiian that I never knew before: and in some ways, even with the Hawaiian language renaissance, learning Hawaiian now seems like it might be more difficult than other languages. (I wouldn't say that because of its range of sounds, or grammar or anything, but just because it seems like so much information about the language has been lost since it was the automatic first language of Hawaii.) Anyway, that was my first impression after reading Silva!
But on second thought, I guess that is a pessimistic view, since as seen in the Pukui-Elbert and Andrews dictionaries example, people can still reconstruct meanings and for words based on clues in what there is left. Hopefully other endangered languages can experience the same revival as Hawaiian has!
"Hawaiian language is better read in Hawaiian and not in English because there are different meanings within the language that English cannot fully explain."
I think you would find this true of any foreign language. Somethings just don't translate nicely because a cultural concept and/or an object may be foreign and just doesn't exist in both societies. How can you translate something that doesn't exist? Hence, why we have borrowing in some cases.
I also enjoyed the Noenoe Silva reading myself. I thought she gave good points on how when reading the Hawaiian language not all the meanings are going to available in English. I learned a lot of this through Hawaiian songs as she mentioned in her article. Hawaiians seemed to be very poetic people and many of their songs have multiple meanings, some which can not be explained in Hawaiian. One word that I learned held two different meanings is the word pua. It can mean flower as well as child. In Hawaiian thinking one could probably figure out which meaning is being used. However, in English way of thinking it's hard to differentiate the two.
I agree with Tianna in the fact that it can hold for any language, and it got me to think what things have we missed out on in Hawaiian. When you think about it that way, it makes you think that there could be whole words and even sayings lost because the meaning could not be fully translated.
I learned how to speak the Hawaiian language for 2 years, and not once did my kumu break down the parts of speech and grammar in the “foreign” way and teach us how to organize the nouns, verbs, etc… I found it extremely interesting how to form sentences the proper way, because at Kamehameha Schools, my kumu told the class to feel the language and speak from the “aloha zone” and to think how our ancestors spoke. Amazingly, we all knew what he was talking about and not once did he teach us where the verb or subject went in the sentence before translating it to English, he told us to think like a Hawaiian and somehow we knew where everything went and how to speak it in English. The only thing I remember learning formally was sentence structures, much like the structures mentioned in the reading (Ua, Aia, etc..) I really enjoyed the fact that the Hawaiian language, and how to speak/learn it is written down. That gives me a peace at mind because I do remember that at one point the language was almost dead after being banned at schools, and to know that it’s written down and at hand makes me know that the language is not going to die, and there are always going to be native speakers.
kI thought this article was really interesting because of the differences that the two dictionaries have between themselves. The different time frames and the influence of different cultures are depicted in the two dictionaries mentioned in the reading. I think that it's great because the reader can have two different sources to compare and contrast while looking up terms. It gives an insight into what was going on at the time the dictionary was published, and what words were added to the language since then.
I completely agree when the author says that not all of the words given can be translated into English. I think for every language, there are certain words that you really can't put into English because it's just understood within that group and translating it otherwise might alter its meaning.
Aloha Kākou ,my major is Hawaiian Studies and with all the classes iʻm taking this semester, learning to think Hawaiian has been a plus. Reclaiming an identity lost in a Western way of living. Understanding my roots and culture through stories retold over hundreds of generations. The Hawaiian tradition is alive today resounding throughout the islands due to those people such as Pukui-Elbert, Andrews dictionaries.
Summary was awesome! Great way to understand in breaking the sections up from Noenoe Silva readings. I feel Hawaiian language as many different meanings interpreted differently because a Hawaiian thinking and living created their language. Many words and meanings in Hawaiian were understood through nā moʻolelo (stories). Learning Hawaiian Pepeke grammar is most challenging because in elementary school I was only developing standard English grammar too.
You bring up good points about the general history of Hawaii as a culture. I like and appreciate that you touched on different levels of the language itself, addressing how it was established, how it became altered, and how the words itself have hidden meanings and cultural derivation. It is also nice to see that you mention even the repeated subjects, as they are often times overlooked because of their redundant aspect. However, I feel as a summary, it must be included and is very helpful when you are trying to recall the source of a particular piece of information. Overall, a good, straightforward summary.
I think this is Pacific time.
The Hawaiian language is a strong language that surrounded my life as a child growing up around friends and relatives that spoke Hawaiian. It was interesting for me to hear them speak this and to also hear the diverse relations between the Hawaiian language and english. Because I was so interested in Hawaiian, I took it as a second language in high school. It was difficult for me to learn at first but after a year or so I caught on and was able to have conversations in Hawaiian. Studying the languages of the Pacific is new to me, but when I can relate to some of the things like the sentence structures and the history of the Hawaiian language.
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