Talking Hawaiian Language with Dr. Keao NeSmith, PhD
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- čas přidán 28. 08. 2024
- #hawaiian #hawaii #hawaiianlanguage #olelohawaii #languagelearning #language #polynesia #polynesian #moana
Today we sit down with Dr. Keao NeSmith, PhD and go over just a few of the many words/phrases that have been coined by second language speakers of hawaiian and can often be heard amongst classroom settings but are not used amongst traditional native speakers of the language. Dr. NeSmith was raised in the small town of Kekaha, Kauai amongst many native speakers of both the Niihau community and Kauai. He went on to acquire the hawaiian language in his teens from his grandmother whom he lived with in Hauula, Oahu.
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This interview, kukakuka. Needs to be archived, and/or saved for future generations in a hard copy form. I’ve watched the video three times and I cried at the end when you and Keao were standing on that street outside just Wala’au, because for me it was beautiful to see two Kanaka, speaking our language with such fluidity and mana at the same time. It took me back to the days when I would hear my Tutu and Kūpuna speak Ōlelo Hawaiʻi.
A lot, and I mean all of what Keao said is so very true, I remember a Kūpuna I forget her name
But she was raised in Waipio and she spoke about how modern speakers now “loli ka mana’o ōlelo oia”, at first I didn’t know why she meant, but she said “the new Hawaiian? Different da way they talk, not da same”, at that time my ōlelo was not that good (I’m not an expert but know here and there kine), but as the years went on, what she said made a lot of sense.
Another example is from the late Lilia Hale, she openly discussed how certain words have become “haolefied ” to fit a Hawaiian way or forcefully put into the lexicon. Again, at that time ōlelo Hawaii wasn’t important to me, so I just thought “ok this how is it is I guess”. Not realizing the gravity of what she said was so true.
It was only until later when I met a UH educated, and Kamehameha school taught Hawaiian speaker (I’m going to withhold this persons name) long story short I worked with a man from Ni’ihau and my friend because I told him
About this Ni’ihau man wanted to
Meet him as well. Long story short the interaction between my friend who was taught from these schools, stammered, stuttered and constantly had to repeat himself to the ni’ihau man, the man was cordial and very friendly, and even humored my friend, but you could tell the ni’ihau man, speaking with such fluidity and confidence, that Hawaiian is his first language.
I later asked my friend “how come you repeated yourself and even translated to English a few times?”. My friend’s answer was disappointing, to say the least; and downright disrespectful. My friend said “oh yeah, those Ni’ihau people yeah?, their version of Hawaiian is kinda F’ed up in a way”. I was like WHAT! ?? How you figgah?. I saw this same pattern from other people who were immersion students that grew up in that classroom or college settings, not all and please don’t take what I say as a generalization.
I can clearly remember in the early 90’s certain UH students learning Hawaiian, looked down on other Kanaka, because they didn’t speak it. I can also remember someone making a comment about my father because he didn’t speak it, and that hurt, and it turned me off from speaking Hawaiian for many years. You hit the nail on the head when you said “I want to speak it the way my Kūpuna speak it”. And that’s how and why I’ve come to know such elderly Kūpuna who still have a foot in that past. Wonderful interview mahalo piha no Keao oukou manaʻo nui kela! E hoʻomau!.
The movie you refer to with ruth kaholoaa and lilia hale is hawaiian voices: bridging past to present by eddie and myrna kamae
Amazing movie!
Wow. I appreciate this comment a lot. You're one of the people that witnessed the school Hawaiian and native speakers at that time. The native speaker kupuna weren't respected and appreciated by all. Which is such a loss because their language didn't transfer but was lost with their passing.
Also, that disregard to the Niihau community still happens in some circles. Typically by people who don't have a relationship with them and can't communicate with them. I think it's a bit of insecurity from Hawaiians learning today and are faced with a native speaker their age but is lightyears ahead of them. I know their above my level and I appreciate them and build up to their level. I don't disregard and treat them with disrespect. It is what is is and we can learn from them.
Keao is one, if not the best 2nd language speaker we have so to know that our conversation in Hawaiian had that emotional effect on you means a lot to me. I'm not at his level, but knowing him and presenting him to the lahui allows us to strive and become better. And guess what, he learned an immense amount of native speakers past and present. No surprise there.
Anyways, mahalo to you. We have much to learn and we have time and more opportunity then the generation before so let's keep pushing forward and look to native speakers as our end goal. Aloha
Mahalo piha for having Dr.Nesmith in this wikio! I love listening to his perspectives and I think I actually understand his olelo more than the technical or academic way to speak.
I’m glad you liked this interview. He is always willing to give what he knows
I agree! I am at a beginner level, confused and lost in a sea of learning vs acquisition. I felt I could understand more of what he was saying vs what my children are learning via kula kaiaʻōlelo.
This was a wonderful topic and great to hear from Dr. NeSmith.
I was discouraged listening to this at first but as I "pa‘a ka waha" ā "wehe ka pepeaiao" I came to understand exactly the point the Dr. Keao is expressing.
Mahalo for all your guidance, this is all very important points that I will take to heart.
Mahalo! So glad to hear that you kept an open mind throughout the video. It’s not easy stuff to hear, but it really helps us know where we are so that we have a better chance to figure out where to go.
@@kaalala ʻAe, maopopo wau i kēia manawa. Mahalo nunui!
Mahalo for sharing your conversation with Dr. Nesmith. It gave me a lot to think about and where I want my Hawaiian language to go. My grandma wouldn’t let me learn from UH or immersion schools because she didn’t like the way they sound. It took me a long time to learn what she meant. Stuff like this helps a lot. Mahalo nui 🙏🏽
Big mahalo to Dr. NeSmith! You know, over the years I've had individuals describe the same experience. People who heard tutu man or tutu lady speak traditional Hawaiian have that as a reference point. Just like you, some kupuna even advised against the school route. I really appreciate you sharing your family's experience.
My nephew wants to continue Olelo beyond the classroom setting. Yet, his circle of friends, along with casual and professional acquaintances don’t find the practicality to continue it. He said it’s frustrating to find people who want to think and engage in Hawaiian along with him. It’s like you’re about to board the Hokule’a and go on a voyage with all your friends you’ve trained with for years when suddenly everyone starts to change their minds. Now you’re all alone on a giant canoe with no one to share, learn, and experience it with.
You're commenting on a very real issue that's been present since the inception of immersion schools. Even at the collegiate level, once someone leaves the school many don't have a community to go to to continue improving and speaking. It's a lonely road for many. Behind the scenes I've been working on ways to combat this issue. For now, tell nephew to come talk to the people here on this channel. He may find a sense of community here.
Same problem here in Waiʻanae, really all over. I moved back here thinking I’d find a lot of speakers…not really. Building that community is really the next step. Punana Leo does a great job at addressing this; it’s not just a preschool, it’s a whole world and community and movement.
It’s a good day when there’s a new video of him posted
Glad you enjoyed this one
Time to push for mandatory Hawaiian language classes for all schools in Hawaii.
Well, I think the DOE, administrators, and teachers of mainstream and immersion schools need to ponder and discuss the differences between their individual compentencies in Hawaiian and native speakers. It’s a really tough situation and it’s a sensitive subject, but a much-needed discussion, as painful as it may be. There are so few who can teach Hawaiian well who are good role models themselves, and there aren’t enough of them for each public school. Aloha no, Keao. :)
@@rkn2800 You are correct, it’s a sensitive topic and I apologize if I come off as rather ignorant of that aspect. I hope and pray for Hawaiians to one day succeed in restoring much the the cultural practices and language that has already been lost as a result of colonialism. Hawaii is a beautiful place and it should belong only to Hawaiians!❤️🤙🏽
@@SamoanMustang Mahalo nui. Your comment was spot on and reflects the thoughts and feelings of so many people across the islands. Stay optimistic! Aloha no.
Should've been done a long time ago people.😮😊
@@taluaigaluega905 YESSSSSS! & now it feels like we kinda missed the boat.. :(
Love ❤️ listening to Keao
He’s the man
My Aunty is Cook Island and she said 'Why they only Teach Dictionary Maori?" 😂 As opposed to the Living Reo we use Daily and the Reo we use amongst our Elders.
So interesting that as a NZ Born Cook Islander I can understand a good 30-60% of what hes saying too ❤
That’s happening on a lot of islands I hear. For me, hoping to find ways to bring that living language to students everywhere.
And when i hear cook island maori I can pick out a lot of. We all family
This I love braddah it's hard for kupunas or other pacific families to undastan. Mahalo nui🤙🏾
Would love to learn more about Ni’ihau, its people, island culture, and language - mahalo for this important video.
The usage of the word ani is also the same in Samoan and Tongan. We say Agi or Angi :). Thank you for these insights on Olelo Hawai'i,truly enjoyed this video.
Thank you for the cross-Polynesian confirmation!
Great connection! I wouldn't have known if you didn't share. Mahalo
Awh my friend Keao, thank you for sharing!
Thanks for sharing and watching!
Aloooooha!
Its so nice to hear this discourse. My mom always told me she was forbidden to learn let alone speak any Hawaiian. But as a baby back in waimanalo i swear i remember my tutu lady speaking hawaiian to me and somehow understanding what she was saying... Its been 30+ years, i now live in Atlanta, and i have forgotten everything. 😢
Thank you for the education!
That’s the unfortunate part about our history. I wish it was different but we can’t go back. These kinds of conversations help us move forward in a better and more authentic way. Mahalo
Olelo Hawaii kakou!
As someone whose family comes from Guam and is also trying to revive the CHamoru language, respectively, the doctor comes off as defensive which is not necessary. Yes he is very intelligent and has unique insight. The interviewer asked him about new words or words that weren't used by great grandparents- this is common even in English and any other language. No need to get defensive or say you're just creating new words. You can explain, especially being an educator how language evolves over time no matter the language, instead of being defensive as if the language is being colonized.
For example, in the CHamoru (Guam) language, my grandparents who were born in the 40's, taught me when you ask a question 'can you?' in CHamoru, you start the sentence with Ko sina hao? I later learned that this newer generation says kao sina hao. When I use the word ko instead of kao as a 30 something year old people can almost distinguish my CHamoru as being old school. language evolves over time with influence from other languages due to travel and intercultural influence. In CHamoru when you ask Hafa peyedu-mu? is very closely similar to spanish que es tu apellido (What is your last name?) Dr. NeSmith would do himself justice by explaining from an educators point of view that language overtime can evolve due to strong influences from languages be it English, Tagalog, Mandarin, Spanish etc. Instead he comes across as if he had to defend his language and he is almost has to defend the real words from modern day Hawaiian to what they used in the 20th century. Yes preserve the language, yes it might change or evolve and also this is educational. Just like the English used today is probably not the same English used in the 1920's
So listening to this video (as a California guy w/o any background in Hawaii/Hawaiian), though having studied 10 other languages I've a question. How do I trust the books I have to teach myself the basic Hawaiian language because according to this man, if I'm understanding correctly, the language as taught today in schools, or by teachers likely isn't pure or is greatly influenced by outsiders...So how is someone off island no history supposed to learn?
Language is a lived experience. I learnt by living in the island 🏝️
Truthfully...this is why, even though I'm Hawaiian, I never wanted to learn the language. My kupuna were gone. Most kupuna were gone. I never grew up around the Niihau people even though I lived on Kauai. Hawaiian language just didn't have any value to me without being around these people. Now that I'm learning again, I'm so glad to have guys like Keao and Malu who I can relate to. I hate having people who don't have genuine first hand experience with olelo kupuna being at the forefront of the culture. Leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
I appreciate the honesty. I was about the same before too. No one I knew was a native speaker and I wasn't afforded the opportunity so "out of sight, out of mind."
I'm happy to hear you are back. If we can be part of your experience and add value in any way, we're happy to do so. Just keep learning and listen to the kupuna on the recordings and videos left for us. Do you know where to acces those?
@@kaalala I do. I've been listening to those as well. You've been putting out excellent content. I remember coming across your podcast a few years back. You sounded pretty much like the Tutu I used to come across at times. Good stuff. Thanks you for the hard work.
As a Welsh speaker and supporter of an independent Wales, this is a very interesting discussion. Many things are similar to our situation of Welsh as a minoritised language but differences too, of course. My only suggestion is that you give the English translation or word when discussing Hawai'ian words and concepts as those are lost to non Hawai'ians. A a non-Hawai'ian I don't quite understand the situation - is Keano saying that the Hawai'ian taught in immersion schools or as a second language essentially a new different language or dialect and should be thought of it as so, or is he saying what's being taught is not good enough to be thought of as Hawai'ian?
Good luck and all strength in reviving the language - "cenedl heb iaith, cenedl heb galon" ('a nation without a language, language without a heart' as we say).
Mahalo nui mai Cymru.
Parch mawr o Gymru.
E hiki mai ana ka la e nui ai ka poe liilii
Daw dydd y bydd mawr y rhai bychain.
I also would to know if Mr NeSmith sees a similar story of Hebrew, and elements of Yiddish and loanwords from Euopean languages?
I’m only halfway through this interview, I can just FEEL his hostility through the screen. My question is… who exactly is it directed at? He does realize that 90% of us kanaka are “non-native” speakers, right? Teaching olelo to the next generation of “non-native” speakers.. Through no fault of our own. So what committee was he fighting vocabulary on? Is that why he’s so angry?
Either way, mahalo for sharing. Despite the obvious tension, these discussions need to be had. I’m just trying to understand where his frustration is coming from.
So, i should pull out my 3 grandchildren from Kaiapuni?
Problem established but you never talk about the solution. It seems that the language is dead because how many people speak the old language? How many have access to Niihau speakers , neighbors and friends to speak with?
There are thousands of children and parents who thirst for the language but it’s dead. RIP
Aloha no. Keao here. Mahalo nui for your manao. Yes, it is frustrating. I think we will end up with (already have ended up with) a hybrid language, and as long as we are honest and transparent about that fact, at least we are being honest. One problem identified in the 1990s about the immersion schools that were popping up then was the fact that many of the teachers could not speak Hawaiian well, but they wanted to increase numbers in order to attract DOE and HI State Legislature support, and unfortunately, the immersion school focus turned into a quantity-over-quality game. I think that is still true now. Numbers may be impressive when there is increased enrollments and the founding of new schools, but the quality of Hawaiian language among teachers and students is very sketchy. Ke aloha no. Keao.
@@rkn2800
He kumu a’o ‘oe? Inā mahea?
He kumu ao no o Keao. I ko’u manao, aale oia ao i ka olelo Hawaii ma kekahi kula.
@@rkn2800 The quantity over quality problem is a big issue with the Irish language in schools also (including the immersion schools). I call it the McDonaldisation of the language.
@@CCc-sb9oj Thanks for that input! It really helps inform the larger issue that spans across language groups that are trying to revive endangered languages.
Maikai no keia, mahalo
Mahalo no kou nana ana!
🤔 interesting
Pololei! Agree about insulting our kupuna.
Same here
He rawe ngā kōrero a kōrua ka puta mai i te wikio/kiriata nei. Otirā me hoki ahau ki tēnei wikio ki te āta whakarongo anō ki te kōrero me ngā mātauranga a te tohunga nei a Dr Keao Nesmith. Ko ētehi hanga ōna he rite ki te Māori.....lol.....Maybe Dr Keao Nesmith has Māori ancestry as well ..... he speaks like us in this video....brutally honest, however, mā te katoa e ora ai te reo, ehara i tētehi anake!
Aloha kaua. Maopopo ia'u kekahi maua hua olelo au i kikokiko mai ai. Mahalo.
Haha I think he and I get along because of the brutal honesty. Give it to me straight and honest. Then we know where our weak points are and then we can act. If we bury them, they will never be improved.
As a Tongan and listening many words I can understand and many you use the K and we use a T like Niihau. I think the answer to the language is not lost but still there. You need to look at the other islands nearby in Polynesia who the language is spoken. Not to translate how someone speaks English but how a Samoan, Tongan, Tahitian or Māori or one of the other languages would say it. Same as Tongan if you translate it in English it does no make sense. When William Mariner wrote his book the Hawaiians on his boat before the Tongan took over understood the Tongans and were unharmed and sent back to Hawaii. Ofa Lahi Atu and Keep The Fight Alive
Critical thinking, observing. I am okay, you are okay, we are all okay, and anyone making an effort to learn Hawaiian, respect, thank you for giving creative energy to the words you are learning. All language evolves and changes as society evolves and changes. This is a normal and natural occurrence. It is my experience and understanding that colonialism pitted Hawaiians against Hawaiians and this in my view continues on among the people to this day, and coining integration of words "invented" as a part of a second language, and expressing this as an "insult" to the kupuna is a way of conveying somehow that it is not pono in the speakers view (to me at least, this is how it comes across) this pits one form against another. What is unsettling to me personally is having a copy of the Hobbit in Hawaiian, and how there are words in the book that I imagine the "native speaker" referred to in this view would not understand that is a part of the "invention" process that seems to be disparaged. So, in essence, following the logic, the speaker is showing disrepect to the kupuna through its use. I see what has occurred with the Hawaiian language as a bold and courageous act of resiliency. How the elders at one time observed that the young ones were not speaking and action was taken to preserve the language and it flowed with the changes. Yes, there may have been actions in the process of forming the immersion schools that might not have been perfect and might have been awkward, but I am grateful they exist! Not all speakers have access to relationships with Ni'ihau speakers, and yes, this is true, it is the only unbroken line remaining, but language varied from the bits I have gathered, from region to region, and even the way it was spoken among strata of community differed according to the teaching of one kupuna. For me, moving forward, it is mostly about intention, authenticity, integrity, honesty, hard work, embracing responsibility. As a part of my journey it felt like a call from my ancestors to come home to the language and I have been heeding the call reading and listening and digesting as much as I can. I don't have the luxury of being day to day in an environment embraced by those whose first language was Hawaiian. In fact, I can expect what my father called the haole stink eye, and expressions of the genocide wound in form of non-acceptance from some at being a Turtle Islander. My ancestors have planted me elsewhere. Just as ancestors of the Hawaiians came from other islands the flow continues of moving to other lands. What is beautiful about being here, is there are the chance occasions where I may meet an indigeous, as I did recently, and how they welcomed me with a warm embrace saying our grandmother says we are canoe brothers, this type of warmth, not counting degree of Hawaiian blood, not judging the type of Hawaiian speaking coming out of my mouth or the oli chanted as a blessing, they gave aloha, I gave aloha, we celebrated that we were able to speak in whatever form and whatever degree the language of our ancestors. In my older age, I just don't have the energy for divisiveness.
There is the added layer, in referring to a particular community of speakers, about the spiritual nature within language, and how the paradigm completely shifted with embrace of colonizers religions, with language and prayers and chants which I suspect are no longer alive within the "native speaker" community referred to because of this radical shift in religion. This along with an awareness of the flow of seasons and time following the Gregorian calendar rather than the lunar Hawaiian calendar and the layers of insight in relation to this spiritually, agriculturally, fishing, etc. This to me is the larger harm, not the words coming out of the mouth, but the nature of the human heart/gut and seeming lack of capacity to critically think inside some of the colonizer religions, how that can pit family members against family members who perhaps do not experience these religions as authentic to a personal path, and injurious even. (the indigenous on Turtle Island experienced the same with colonizer religions, the trauma within the churches, in my lived experience, same). How, for 200 years, going back as far as Kepalino's writings, the hula and the oli, these were seen as really bad, even calling the oli as things crafted by the devil. So, while there is an unbroken line of speaking, the deeper layers of language have shifted, how one relates spiritually, the paradigm of colonizers understanding of Isu, that thought it their right to steal land, suppress culture, suppress language. The Ni'ihau speakers have a strong faith in a foreign god from what I can gather from looking at music sung. Not good or bad, it just is what it is. If you really want to be a purist, I imagine one could limit themselves to the vocabulary only found in the earliest writings one can find and one would also leave the colonizer religions, one would attune to the moon, the solstices and equinoxes, and would live by the value systems of that time, and pray in a way the ancients prayed. This to me is the bigger concern, how critical thinking has been attacked through this colonizing mindset in the religions (which goes hand in hand with harming the land, in that, the root of this is the belief that their god gave them the right to the land above others) and how the connection to ancestors has been broken because to pray to an 'aumakua for example might be considered demonic.
Mahalo no keia wikio e nā Kānaka. Nui ka ‘ikena ma loko nei.
Mahalo. He mea nui no ka hoolaha ana i keia mau hihia i loaa mai. Ke kakou ike i ka hihia, hiki ke hooponopono.
Does Dr. Keao have a contact email or website? I have some specific questions for him about native speakers on Kaua`i.
You can email me at malu@kaulumaika.com and I'll get it to him. Mahalo!
Puni kuʻu ʻohana i ka hale ʻaina ʻo Peppas aia nō ma kahi o laila, mau nō ka hale waina?! Mahalo i kēia kūkā ʻana a ʻolua.
Oia paha? Aale au i ike i kela hale paina. He aha ke ano o ka mea ai?
kōlea
Sadly the situation feels so dire.
How intelligible is the Hawaiian that's say written in the newspapers during the Kingdom of Hawaii years to immersion speakers and niihau speakers?
Would you describe this neo Hawaiian as a Creole language? Or even a constructed language like Israeli Hebrew? Maybe Pseudo Hawaiian
I think I can see what he is saying here, but I admit I'm a little sad to see Keao, an educated linguist with a specialization in linguistic revitalization, participate in the escalation of tension between native speakers and neo-speakers, which is one of the biggest challenges and pitfalls and hindrances in any revitalization community. Just a couple thoughts to offer a different perspective:
1) There is nothing inherently wrong with creating new words, which I think he tried to express in talking about such and such not being "morally wrong". This happens in language communities the world over and we have this phenomenon to thank for great new words like "yeet" or even "automobile", a word which certainly didn't exist before the invention of the motorized carriage. Recursion is a property of human language as a phenomenon, which means that language is (theoretically) infinite. If humans invent something new or discover a previously unknown phenomenon, humans create a word or words to name and describe it. As linguist, Keao knows this. I do kind of understand his sentiment regarding mānaleo, when native Polynesian expressions like 'ōlelo kuakahi existed already, though.
2) Languages are not fossils frozen in amber, but are ever evolving. It is in fact impossible for them not too, due to the poverty of the stimulus leading to ever so slightly different grammars between generations of speakers. This happens in healthy languages and is the reason I can't read or understand the original Beowulf. This happens even in other minority languages where intergenerational transmission has not been successfully interrupted; Rottet (2021) shows how directional motion events in Welsh and Breton have converged in structure closer English and French respectively, the dominant languages of their communities, yet Welsh remains the most vitalic of the Celtic languages and in a much healthier place than ka 'ōlelo.
Linguistic convergence is a phenomenon that occurs when two or more languages are in close contact, and it's kind of impossible to stop. Ultimately if we want the language to survive it will be different than the language of the ancestors, just as their language was different than their ancestors. Native speakers and neo-speakers have to work together if they want the language to survive because each has what the other needs: (1) native speaker input (as both a target to shoot for as well as corrective feedback) and (2) new speakers to transmit the language and increase its vitality. Neo-speakers should of course be aiming for a native-like target, but there's a reason CEFR levels cap out at a near-native level of proficiency, because true native-level proficiency in a language is simply an impossible target for a adult language learners.
I'm not sure what I'm advocating for here, except I guess more grace on all sides. I think it's a good and honorable thing for a person to make any attempts to reclaim and relearn what was forcibly taken. As the Māori say: he waka eke noa. We're all in this together.
braaa soo much of this resonates with me and I have so much to say, but I'll keep it short I cant wait to learn more from Keao and your self.
I could tell on my own learning this new Hawaiian that it is all Grammer oriented and get all kine fake words in aunty Puki's Hawaiian dictionary and it even said in there that "this is a new way to say it and how it should be said moving foraward"!?!plus all the fake Hawaiian names in that back is cringy af.
I love that you’re so passionate about it. I intend to keep bringing Keao on to share his thoughts, knowledge and even instruct.
@@kaalala braaaaa you dont even know yet I'm in between passionate and obsessed wit Hawaiian History, Just found my 2x great and 3x great tutu man name on the ani annexation pettition Sept 11 1897 they when sign em. my 3x great tutu man was 64 when he signed. I've seen some kupuna on that list with the age listed at 125 years old. I like looking at my family in the old census of Hawaii, as you may know there is a section indicating if they can speak English, much of my family never bothered to learn English and only spoke Hawaiian, something I'm proud of.
E Malu, hiki iaʻoe ke wehewehe (hou) mai i ka okoa ʻo "Eia aʻe ke kaa ohua" a me "Eia mai ke kaa ohua" (ʻo ka mahele o ka wikio kahi kokoke i ka panina)? Ua lohe ʻia kāu nīnau no "holo mai ke kaa ohua" a me "holo ae ke kaa ohua" akā ʻaʻole moakaka ka manaʻo iaʻu....Mahalo nui!
Aloha mai. Owai kou inoa?
I ka'u hoomaopopo, ke oe ku ma ka aoao o ke alanui, e holo ae ana ke kaa ohua mai kou aoao hema mai, "eia ae ke kaa." Ina e holo pololei mai ana ke kaa ia oe, "eia mai ke kaa" ka mea e olelo ai. Moakaka paha ka'u i wehewehe aku nei?
‘O Hualani. Nui ko’u le’a i ka nana ‘ana mai i kāu mau wīkio! Na pomaika’i ia’oe a me kou ‘ohana!
Ha!ha! Pretend I can speak Hawaiian
Haha it'll come bit by bit
Makemake no au i keia wikio. Aka, aole hiki iau ke hai aku i ka'u manao maloko o ka olelo Hawaii, nolaila, pono o au e hai aku ma ka namu haole.
This is, honestly, discouraging, if our goal is to start generation zero of the first language speakers of the Hawaiian language outside of the very few enclaves. And I can accept that. We have to accept that, unless Niihauans are willing to basically adopt other people's babies to raise them completely ma ka olelo Niihau, then we will *never* have ka poe olelo kuakahi. Kinda feels like we're doomed as a lahui.
I always imagined that the closest I would get in terms of fluency is the Missionary level. I can live with that. Some people will call me "fluent" and I just have to tell them I am not. Not even close.
I've used Rev. Hyde's Piliolelo Hawaii, Joseph Poepoe's Ka Logika, Alii Letters, whatever speeches I can find made by Alii (if anyone knows where to find transcripts ma ka olelo, PLEASE share 😅), Ka Baibala Hemolele (comparing 2012 and 1839/68 versions) and whatever I can find in Nupepa, and build on that where I am. Aside from the few people at church who are ka poe olelo kuakahi, who I *might* see once a week for an hour two, I have no other resources. No relatives who olelo, no friends outside church, just your videos, the old lipine, and Manaleo program.
I suppose I have to wonder whether my endeavors are contributing to this dilution of the true olelo. If my desire to send my children to immersion schools are in vain. That olelo outside the few enclaves that exist is just a fake make-believe revival. I can live with it. Like classical vs medieval latin, are we living through a transitional period where olelo kahiko becomes displaced by the olelo hou?
Poina iau! Mahalo piha iaoe! Nui kau hana.
eō e ʻolua. maikaʻi nō pēlā. aʻole wau he kanaka ʻolelo kuakahi,he kanaka ʻolelo hemahema wau paha no ka mea he kanaka paʻa i kēia ola o Hawaiʻi nei i kēia manawa a hele i ke kula o amelika. he mea iki, hemahema koʻu "olelo i kēia manawa aka, mamake wau e aʻo ka ʻolelo Hawaiʻi e like me o nā kūpuna Hawaiʻi aka, aʻohe wau. Loaʻa i nā puke ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi wale nō ame kuʻu mau keiki i hele ai i ke kula kaiapuni. kekahi manawa e lohe wau i ka līpine o Clinton Kanahele me nā kanaka Hawaiʻi i ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi. eō, mahalo piha e kumu Keao no kou ʻike a me palala no kēia vīkio. mālama pono? aʻale hiki pēlā. a hui hou.aloha.
@@kaleokeliikoa4156 Aloha no! Aole hiki iau ke ao i ka olelo like me ke ano o ko'u kupuna. Ua make no ko'u mau kupuna mamua o ko'u hanau ana. Nolaila, pono o au e mahui mai i ka poe olelo kuakahi. Aole hiki ia lakou ke ao mai iau, no ka mea, aole au i ike ma ko lakou kahi.
E holomua wale no ana au, ina paha aole ke ano "pono". A pono na poe apau e holomua pu, i ka'u manao.
I wrote comments minutes ago with the same sentiment. I have 3 mo’opuna in Kaiapuni, so what pull them out-poho?
It would be impossible to recover bc no qualified instructors and people who speak the old language to interact with.
Thanks for the thought of using the Bible to further my language endeavor. 😊