Hawaiian - german

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Hawaiian dictionary guide

The use of our "Hawaiian dictionary": The fastest way to reach your goal is to enter the word in the "Search" field. It doesn't matter whether it's the German or the Hawaiian word.

If you want to go through the words, you will find a possibility to scroll back and forth in the Hawaiian dictionary with "next" and "back" at the end of the page.

We wish you much joy 🙂

Ōlelo Hawaiʻi | Hawaiian

Hawaiian is one of the oldest still existing languages in the world. In German it is called "Hawaiisch", in English it is called "Hawaiian", in French "Hawaiien" and in Italian "Hawaiano". The locals call their own language ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi.
Hawaiian is one of the Polynesian languages spoken in the Central Pacific and can be considered a dialect of Polynesian. There is a triangle of islands in this area: Hawaii in the north, New Zealand in the southwest, and the Easter Islands in the southeast. Hawaiian belongs to the same family as Tonga, Maori, Samoan and Tahitian.

The Hawaiian language has an eventful past behind it. It was widely expected that Hawaiian would be extinct by the end of the 20th century. In the last 40 years, however, Hawaiian has undergone a "renaissance" that has seen the popularity of the language grow. Nowadays, many people are interested in learning Hawaiian; some schools even offer courses in it. It is even possible to get a master in Hawaiian at the University of Hawaii. Despite all efforts, only 0.1 % of all Hawaii residents speak the native language.

The history of the Hawaiian language

Before Captain Cook arrived in Hawaii on the Waimea River with Dr William Anderson on the 21st of January 1778, Hawaiian was the only spoken language. Dr William Anderson and Cook were the first to ever record the language, making a list of 250 words and phrases. They discovered that Hawaiian was similar to Maori and Tahitian languages. Over the next 40 years, Spanish (1789), Russian (1804), French (1816), and German (1816) found their way to the Hawaiian Islands through sailors and businessmen.

When the first missionaries reached Hawaii in 1820, a written language was completely unknown to the natives. The New England missionaries introduced a written language alongside spoken Hawaiian to introduce the Bible to the Hawaiians. By 1826, they had managed to create a Hawaiian alphabet from Latin letters, omitting the letters b, d, r, t, and v. The missionaries taught the Hawaiians to read and write and translated the Bible into the Hawaiian language.

The prohibition of the Hawaiian language

After Hawaii's annexation to the U.S. in 1898, Hawaiian was officially bannedfrom schools by the government. The natives were forced to learn English and use it in daily life. The use of the Hawaiian language was even banned in the Kamehameha schools - these consisted of private schools that only children of Hawaiian descent were allowed to attend. In 1902, the last of these schools, of which there were once 150, was closed. All students had to attend schools where only English was spoken instead.

Hawaiian was not completely banned - locals were still allowed to speak Hawaiian at home. Newspapers such as Ke Kumu Hawaii, Ka Nupepa Kuoka and Ka Lama Hawaii and many others also continued to print Hawaiian articles.

The resurrection of the Hawaiian language

In 1957, a Hawaiian-English dictionary was published for the first time, the Hawaiian-English Dictionary. This dictionary is now considered a turning point in the history of Hawaiian. After the publication of the dictionary, more people found interest in learning Hawaiian again until there was finally an amendment in the U.S. Constitution in 1978. This article elevated Hawaiian to the rank of an official language.

In 1978, Hawaiian was recognized as one of the official languages of the state of Hawaii ; the other official language is English. In 1984, public Hawaiian schools were established for the first time, where a child can learn Hawaiian from kindergarten age. Unofficially, a third language is also spoken, known as Pidgin Hawaiian or Hawaiian Creole English .

Today, there are about 1000 native Hawaiian speakers and 8000 people who are fluent in the language. While this is worlds away from the estimated 400,000 - 800,000 people who were native Hawaiian speakers at the time of Captain Cook, it is a good start to reviving an endangered language. There are some kindergartens (Nā Pūnana Leo), schools and universities that teach their students in Hawaiian nowadays. Hawaiian names, especially first names, can be found all over the world, even outside the USA. There are also an increasing number of language courses for adults, which are very popular. Between 2006 and 2008, a census of approximately 24,000 U.S. citizens reported speaking Hawaiian in everyday life and the radio has a "Hawaiian Word of the Day".
If you'd like to learn more about Hawaiian or experience it in real life, contact our team of experts at www.hawaiiurlaub.de!

Hawaiian at a glance - The grammar

The Hawaiian alphabet is as follows:

• Vowels: A, E, I, O, U
• Consonants: H, K, L, M, N, P, W

There are four main ruleswhich must be followed:

1. All words end with a vowel
2. A consonant must always be followed by a vowel
3. Each syllable must end with a vowel
4. A consonant can never be followed by a second consonant, there are no consonant clusters (This means that no two consonants follow each other in a syllable. For example pr, gr, sp or st).

And besides, there are no s-sounds like s, z, ß or sch, which in combination with the rules lead to the fact that harsh or sharp-sounding sounds do not occur at all.

The Hawaiian alphabet consists of 13 letters - five vowels and eight consonants. One of these consonants is the apostrophe 'okina. This counts as a consonant because without 'okina, the meaning of a word can change completely. For example:

kai = sea
but:
kaʻi = (to) lead, (to) carry

If a word contains 'okina, there is a short pause during pronunciation. An example is lanai and lana'i. The word "lanai" without 'okina is pronounced like "la-nei" and means balcony or terrace. For the word "Lana'i" the pronunciation is "La-nah-ih" and refers to the Hawaiian island with that name.

Another example is the name of the island Molokai. If this word is written without the 'okina as Molokai, it is pronounced as "Moh-loh-kai". If it is written with the 'okina as Moloka'i, it is pronounced as "Moh-loh-kah-ih". Both pronunciations are accepted and common, as most Hawaiian residents are not native speakers but it is still important to pay attention to the 'okina because it can completely change the meaning of a word. Probably the most prominent example is "Hawai'i" itself.

The 'okina is only used between two vowels or at the beginning of a word. Native speakers and advocates of traditional Hawaiian use 'okina in their spoken and written Hawaiian. However, on the Internet and in the written word, 'okina is often omitted. In major Hawaiian newspapers and books that revolve around Hawaii, however, 'okina is most often used.

Another grammatical sign in Hawaiian grammar is the kahakō, a character that looks like a line (-), the macronm, and is placed over a vowel. If a word contains a kahakō, it means that it contains a long vowel; the vowel over which the kahakō is placed is elongated a little. This is only a minimal difference that can easily be overlooked. Even though kahakō is not a real letter, omitting it can completely change the meaning of a word. A more prominent example here is "Waikīkī."

Examples are nāna, meaning "belonging to her/him," nanā, meaning (to) provoke and nānā, which can be translated as "(to) look." Other examples are pa'ū, meaning "moisture," pā'ū, referring to the hula skirt, and pa'u, meaning "(to) work hard at something."

Hawaiian vowels are pronounced differently than English vowels:

• A sounds like "ah"
• E sounds like "eh"
• I sounds like "ih"
• O sounds like "oh"
• U sounds like "uh"

The consonant "W" sounds like the English "V" in Hawaiian. When consonants are combined with a vowel, they match the sound of the vowel. As an example, the consonant "H" follows in combination with different vowels.

• Ha sounds like "Hah"
• He sounds like "Heh"
• Hi sounds like "Hih"
• Ho sounds like "Hoh"
• Hu sounds like "Huh"

The Hawaiian word order

The word order in Hawaiian is basically verb - subject - object. To each of these parts of the sentence, articles or other particles may be added to emphasize or mark certain words. Verbs as in German do not exist, instead, words are made into a verb by adding particles. These particles also determine the time in which the sentence happens.

• ua - present perfect, completed action
• e...ana - imperfect, continuing action
• ke...nei - present tense
• e - imperative, command form
• mai - negative imperative

Particles that indicate the direction of a verb are as follows:

• aʻe = up
• aku = away
• iho = down
• may = here

Hawaii Pidgin English

In Hawaii, a third languageis spoken too which is, however, not as well known or widespread. Hawaii Creole English or Hawaii Pidgin English is a creole language based on English that includes loanwords from Hawaiian and several other European and Asian languages.

Hawaii Pidgin English originated when immigrants from many different countries came to the Hawaiian Islands in the 19th century to work on the sugar cane and pineapple plantations. These immigrants had to find a way to communicate with the native plantation workers and so a mixture of English, Hawaiian, Portuguese, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, Tagalog and Korean was created. Since most of the immigrants were from Asia, Asian languages took a particularly large influence on the development of Hawaii Creole English.

This "Pidgin English" almost completely replaced native Hawaiian in the early 20th century, partly because the native Polynesian Hawaiians went almost completely extinct due to introduced diseases.

In 1986, about 600,000 people still spoke Hawaii Pidgin English, although people who grew up in Hawaii usually still know the basics of this dialect and can easily switch between English and Hawaii Creole English. Speakers of standard English, on the other hand, understand Hawaii Pidgin English almost not at all. Although Hawaii Pidgin English is associated with the Hawaiian underclass, it is gaining popularity in educated circles because speaking "pidgin" identifies the speaker as a native. Hawaii Creole English, however, is not considered one of the official languages of Hawaii and was banned from state schools in 1987, after long controversy.

Hawaiian in daily use

When visiting Hawaii as a tourist, you will find brochures, pamphlets and guidebooks everywhere that list important Hawaiian words or a dictionary. In Hawaii, many Hawaiian words have made their way into the English slang that are used quite naturally in daily use by the multinational inhabitants of Hawaii. To keep the overview as a visitor and to understand the comments of the inhabitants, it is worthwhile to browse through dictionaries before the vacation and to learn some Hawaiian words. The locals are happy when tourists do their best and are also happy to offer their help if you don't understand something.

Common Hawaiian words

Some Hawaiian words have made their way into the German usage and they have the same or similar meanings in German. "Wiki", part of Wikipedia, means "fast". Also, "Kanake", which is a swear word for foreigners in Germany, has a Polynesian origin and refers to the Polynesian and Hawaiian natives.

"Aloha" is, of course, commonly known and means one thing above all - Love. Aloha does not only mean "hello" or "goodbye" but also "thanks" or "affection" - Aloha is hard to describe, you have to experience it! Take a look at our travel packages to plan your vacation and experience the Aloha Spirit for yourself.

8 words and 1 phrase you should know when visiting Hawai'i

The following translations of the words are all from the "Hawaiian Dictionary" by Mary Kawena Pukui and Samuel H. Elbert from 1986 and subsequently translated into English.

1. Mahalo

Mahalo means "thank you, gratitude; (to) give thanks" but it also stands for recognition, praise and appreciation. When you are in Hawai'i, you can use this word as you would use "thank you" in English.

2. 'Ohana

'Ohana means "Family, acquaintances, circle of friends; being related". However, 'ohana includes all the people who mean something to you and is not limited to blood relations.

3. Kama'āina

The word kama'āina cannot be translated into English easily at all because there is no proper translation. It is composed of two shorter words:

1. kama - meaning "child"
and
2. 'āina - which means "land".

You could thus translate kama'āina as "Child of the country". Today, all residents of Hawai'i, whether with or without Hawaiian roots, is referred to as kama'āina.

4. Kanaka

On the other hand, kanaka refers only to those people whose ancestors were natives of Hawai'i. Kanaka can also be generally translated as "human, man, individual or person".

5. Haole

If you go to Hawai'i, you are a haole. You are (most likely) not of Hawaiian descent and you are not a citizen of Hawai'i. This term is generally used to describe "white persons" or persons with Caucasian ethnicity . This includes Americans or Englishmen. The explicit mention of Americans and Englishmen may date back to the settlement of Hawai'i by American and European missionaries and businessmen in the early 19th century.

The word is also used to describe something that is foreign and not nativebut was introduced.

6. Mana

Mana doesn't have a clear translation either, it must be explained with a somewhat longer explanation.

With the word mana, a supernatural power or divine power is being described. Therefor it is about energy and not about physical, muscular strength. In Hawaiian religion, it is believed that there is mana in every object and person, and even in some places.

7. Mālama

Mālama can be translated more simply. It means: "(to) take care of, (to) worry about, (to) preserve, (to) protect, (to) save, (to) respect".

You can find this word In some other expressions as well, for example:

• Mālama 'āina - which means "Respect the land."
• Mālama i ke kai - which means "Respect the ocean."
• Mālama i ke kai, a mālama ke kai ia 'o - which means "Take care of the ocean and the ocean will take care of you."

We like this word very much because it represents the foundation of Hawaiian culture: (to) care, concern and feel responsible for others and the environment.

Please act the same way on your Hawaii trip 🙂 .

8. Ua Mau, ke Ea o ka 'Āina i ka Pono

This phrase is the state motto of Hawai'i.

The translation of this sentence was difficult for linguists because many Hawaiian words can be interpreted differently according to the context. However, the following translation is used particularly often: "The life of the country is preserved by righteousness."

In the song "Hawai'i 78" by Isreal Kamakawiwo'ole, he sings this line. The song is about the changes Hawai'i has undergone since Captain James Cook discovered it in 1778.

9. Aloha

You have probably been waiting for this: aloha. It is known worldwide and often used but far too little is lived based on what aloha means. Aloha does not only mean "hello" and "bye." The importance of this ubiquitous term goes far, very far, beyond that.

Aloha can be translated but the real meaning lies in it: (to) feel, live and spread aloha.

Here is the translation as found in the dictionary by Pukui and Elbert mentioned above: "Love, affection, understanding, compassion, forbearance, grace, sympathy; (to) love, (to) be fond of; (to) be kind; Hello! Bye! Take care!"

In fact, there is a law in Hawai'i which proposes to treat yourself and others with respect and love. It is called "Aloha Spirit Law" (Chapter 5, Sections §5-7.5 Hawai'i Revised Statutes since 1986).

In this law, ALOHA is described as an acronym.

• A - akahai: means kindness, expressed through tenderness
• L - lokahi: means togetherness, expressed through harmony
• O - oluolu: means affability, expressed by pleasantness
• H - Haahaa: means modesty, expressed through frugality
• A - Ahonui: means patience, expressed through perseverance

Admittedly, the English translation sounds a bit unwieldy - but we think you understand what is meant 😉 

The Hawaii Spirit Law can be seen as a guide for your life. Imagine what it would be like if everyone lived according to this "law". Then we would live in a world where everyone looks out for everyone else, everyone respects everyone else and does so without expecting anything in return.

We think that is a really good thought 🙂 So carry A-L-O-H-A out into the world and live it!

And when you are in Hawai'i, give something back. Respect nature as well as the culture and try to use some Hawaiian words. You will see: This will bring you even closer to Hawai'i.