Ebook: Hawaiian grammar

Honolulu: The University Press of Hawai'i, 1979. - 193 p.The "Notes on Hawaiian Grammar" included in the first three editions of the Hawaiian-English Dictionary have in this volume been revised and expanded. The original notes were written during the early 1950s, and since that time the number of students of Polynesian languages has increased considerably, with resulting increase in knowledge of these languages.This new Grammar, therefore, presents an approach rather different from the previous one; however, it is not couched in the most recent linguistic terminology, partly because the authors belong to a different generation, and partly because it is hoped that this volume will be of value to all students and teachers of the Hawaiian language, whether or not they are trained in contemporary linguistics. The approach is data-oriented and structural, and most attention is devoted to the sound system and to the structure of words and phrases, with less concentration on complex sentences. Nevertheless, an attempt is made to cover the major features of the language; the result is probably the most comprehensive treatment ever made of Hawaiian grammar.The analysis is based on the Hawaiian language as found in texts, in ordinary conversation, and in Kawena Pukui's memories. Only in discussion of certain particles and affixes has the structure of other Polynesian languages been considered, as in the hypothesis advanced in section 6.6.4 for the island name, Kaua'i.The principal texts used in this study were Elbert's Selections from Fornander's Hawaiian Antiquities and Folk-lore; Moses Nakuina's polished retelling in the early 1900s of the legend of Pāka'a and his son, Kū-a-Pāka'a; and a collection of essays by Kahekina Kelekona (John G. M. Sheldon) lamenting the passing of old Hawai'i, together with a tearful recounting of the story of Ko'olau the leper. Kelekona's writing is Victorian, almost Dickensian, with a vocabulary of astonishing richness and complexity.Texts, and particularly chants, are often hard to read. Many of them contain words no longer used and dialectal expressions and poetic sayings completely unintelligible without explanation. Further, glottal stops and macrons indicative of long vowels are not shown, word division is often erratic, and misprints frequent. In quotations from these sources errors have been corrected, glottal stops and macrons added, and capitalizetion and word division have been altered to accord with the re commendations in this Grammar.The English translations of illustrative sentences may in some instances seem awkward, but close translations are helpful to students. Not every possible translation of an illustrative sentence is given. For example, ia, meaning both 'he' and 'she', is usually translated 'he' to avoid the awkward 'he/she' and 'him/her'. Since Hawaiian is mainly tenseless and English is decidedly not, translations perforce included tense, but the alternative tenses are not given for every Hawaiian perfective aspect.Reading of the Grammar will be aided if the Hawaiian Dictionary is at hand, but intelligibility does not depend on access to that volume. However, the Grammar is by no means a substitute for the Dictionary. Meanings in the examples in the Grammar are in some instances ad hoc glosses; usually many more meanings and examples are given in the Dictionary.Early Hawaiian grammars by Adelbert von Chamisso and W. D. Alexander, student papers, and the writings of Bruce Biggs, Patrick Hohepa, and Andrew Pawley concerning other Polynesian languages have been helpful in the years of preparation of this volume. Emily A. Hawkins' doctoral dissertation and William H. Wilson's masters' thesis, both at the University of Hawai'i, have aided materially in the present analysis; their work provided numerous examples of grammatical points, for example, Wilson's classification of verbs and his repeated caveats about w-glides. Term papers by Hawkins' students, especially Haunani Apoliona, John Dupont, Kehau Lee, and Makanani Lee, provided information incorporated into the Grammar. Alfons Korn read an early version and commented helpfully on the quality of the English. Albert J. Schütz read much of the manuscript and gave all-important advice, especially concerning the treatment of stress, loan words, and possessives. The versatile Edgar C. Knowlton, Jr., listed loan words in Chinese, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Greek, Latin, and Hebrew. The Reverend Kenneth L. Smith with great care prepared the lists for the section on loan words in the Hawaiian Bible. Robert L. Cheng provided information on loans from Chinese. Andrew Pawley patiently endured questioning on numerous matters, especially the difficult-to-recognize derivations containing the thematic consonants (section 6.6). Robert Hsu prepared a computerized count of sound frequencies. Nikiaus R. Schweizer added information about Chamisso, the first Hawaiian grammarian. Four persons read the entire manuscript: Elizabeth K. Bushnell, John Charlot, Dorothy M. Kahananui, and William H. Wilson. They deserve medals for endurance. In addition, the authors thank Holcombe M. Austin for sharp-eyed proofreading, and the generous contributors, who remain anonymous, who insured publication of the book.Most of all, Samuel Elbert wishes to thank his mother, Mrs. Ethelind Swire Beer, for her years of patience while he was far away and absorbed in Pacific studies, and for her encouragement for so many decades.The Hawaiian language is anything but easy. The more one works on it, the more complicated it seems to get—new quirks, idioms, constructions, and vocabulary items turn up, as well as apparent exceptions to laboriously drafted rules. The authors know that this Grammar is but a beginning. They are confident that future students will continue exploration.May a short personal note be injected here? The Grammar is a result of two longish spans of years dedicated to Oceanic languages. Kawena Pukui, at her birth in 1895, was given by her haole father to his own Hawaiian mother-in-law. Kawena's mother, Pa'ahana, mildly protested."But haoles don't give their children to others!""Your mother has only a few more years. Let her have this child!" was the rejoinder.The grandmother knew no English and was wise in her ancestors' lore; though a devout Christian, she made silent little prayers to her ancestors' gods. Kawena had the opportunity to master Hawaiian and to learn something of the old culture, and she has been ever thankful for her father's generosity and tolerance. Elbert was born in Iowa in 1907, but has been in the Pacific area since 1934. His share of the book has been accumulating forty years—Kawena's, eighty!