Malo'e lelei

[matapule]

Malo'e lelei

Although I am palangi (haole) by birth, I am Tongan at heart. We lived in Vava'u, Tonga for 2 years in the late '60's. We were fortunate to live in Polynesia when it was still the real Polynesia. My wife was a midwife and health worker. I was a school teacher. We are fluent (but rusty) in the Tongan dialect.

I had the great honor of being made matapule (talking chief) of Tongan noble, Fakatulolo, while we lived there. My matapule name is Mui Houma. My name carries recognition in the Tongan community, even in Hawai'i.

We have visited Hawai'i many times and lived for 3 months on the west end of Molokai once upon a time. We are making preparations to retire permanently on O'ahu. We would like to volunteer our time working with the polynesian communities on O'ahu.

We are using this Forum to catch up on the latest in Hawai'i and prepare for our permanent return.

Ofa 'Atu
Mui Houma

[Kaukura]

Malo e lelei.

I've been to the Ha'apai islands, around Lifuka and Uoleva (sp?) island, I thought those parts of the islands were beautiful. I regret not making it up to Vava'u..

[matapule]

Our good friends, Tom and Claudette, lived on Lifuka doing the same thing we were doing back then. We never did make it to that particular island.

In my opinion, Vava'u region is more interesting than Ha'apai region.

Ofa 'Atu
Mui Houma

[akrauth]

Aloha! Pehea 'oe? I wish I knew Tongan...sorry! The only Polynesian language I'm learning is Hawaiian. But anyways, welcome to the board!

[matapule]

Aloha! Pehea 'oe? I wish I knew Tongan...sorry! The only Polynesian language I'm learning is Hawaiian.

Obviously, all the Polynesian languages are very similar....which at times can lead to confusion.

For example mahalo in Hawaiian it means "thank you"
In Tongan it means "perhaps"

But other words are easier, for example "house" in Hawaiian it is "hale"
In Tongan and Samoan it is "fale"

Lani = langi
Mahalo = malo
Aloha = ofa
"Aloha oe" becomes "Ofa 'atu"

It is like Spanish/Portugese/ Italian. They are all Latin based languages and very similar in structure but with variations on particular word definitions and slang.

Here is a trivia question for you.

Name the only Eastern European country that speaks a Latin based language. As I recall, this was a question on Jeopardy.

Ofa 'atu
Mui Houma

[Eric]

One time I was at the beach with this Samoan guy. He told me that he'd seen a lot of amaama in the water and was going to catch some, barehanded. I was confused -- wouldn't you need a net? Or was this some amazing Samoan fishing style I'd never heard of? He got into the water and as I watched him I realized that he wasn't talking about catching ʻamaʻama (mullet), he was talking about catching ʻaʻama (crabs). But he insisted that the crabs were called amaama, and I finally understood that the Samoan and Hawaiian words for crabs weren't the same. Took me a while. :p

[Lei K]

Name the only Eastern European country that speaks a Latin based language. As I recall, this was a question on Jeopardy.

OOOOoooOOOoooo can I answer this? :D

[matapule]

OOOOoooOOOoooo can I answer this? :D

Yes, go for it! How much do you want to wager?

monomanomonouia ("good luck" - I always like to say this word)
Mui Houma

[Lei K]

Yes, go for it! How much do you want to wager?

monomanomonouia ("good luck" - I always like to say this word)
Mui Houma

Is it a daily double? I'd like to wager $2000.

What is Romania?

Am I right? Did I wiiiin? :D

[matapule]

Is it a daily double? I'd like to wager $2000.

What is Romania?

Am I right? Did I wiiiin? :D

Correctomundo! Yep, present day Romania was populated by Roman Crusaders upon return from eradicating the Muslim Infidels from the Holy Land......Mission Accomplished, Hah, Hah, Hah! Their Latin language was adopted by the indigenous population of that region (now called Romania and Moldova) as the national language.

See the sponsors of this website to collect your earnings.

Fiefia (congratulations)
Mui Houma

[Lei K]

That one was easy for me as one of my best friends is Romanian (and lives in Romania). She's fluent in Italian and English (in addition to her native Romanian) and knows quite a bit of Spanish. She has the most incredible accent when she speaks English. She sounds like the actress Monica Bellucci. Bellissima! She blames her outbursts on her hot "latin" blood. :p

Romania and Latin in the same sentence seems to confuse a lot of people.

[matapule]

Yes, I have visited both Romania and Moldova (daughter was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Moldova several years ago). Historically, Moldova was part of the Romanian empire, although ethnically they are from a different stock than the Romanians in the West of the country. Bucharest has beautiful, classic European architecture 100 years and more old. People in that area seem to be multi-lingual. My daughter speaks Russian, Spanish, and some Romanian. She keeps in regular telephone and Internet contact with her adoptive Moldovan family. They communicate primarily in Russian.

Ofa 'atu
Mui Houma