I have started this thread with the intention that it be used for the analyisis of Hawaiian language. I have taken only two semesters of Hawaiian (Haw 101 and Haw 102) in college during the 2004-2005 school year, and I have spent the last year, off and on, studying the language on my own. Because I study it on my own, whenever I encounter something confusing in terms of grammar, I must rely on explanations in written materials: 1) The Hawaiian Dictionary by Elbert and Pūku'i, 2) Hawaiian Grammar, and 3) The online materials for Haw 452 which can be found at http://www.uatuahine.hawaii.edu/papa...5/default.html
The written sources listed above have been a great deal of help, but I am still left with many questions. Right now, I am reading Ke Ka'ao o Lā'ieikawai, and there are some phrases that I found peculiar. I am going to post some of these sentences below with the parts I found confusing in orange letters, as the rest of the paragraph is included so that readers can judge the meaning of the phrases through context. Beneath the phrases, I will write down my opinions about the mechanics of the phrases, and I'd appreciate any help from members familiar with the Hawaiian language.
1) " 'Auhea 'olua. E noho 'olua i ka hale nei. Na 'olua nā mea a pau o loko, 'a'ole kekahi mea e koe o ka hale nei iā 'olua. 'O 'olua ma loko a ma waho o kēia wahi."
- For this phrase, I assumed that the subject ['olua] was placed at the beginning of the sentence for emphasis as an introductory clause being preceded by the nominative marker ['o]. However, the phrase "You two are on the inside and the outside of this place" does not satisfy me. I think that this is an idiom which I'm not familiar with, and I have not been able to find an explanation for it. Through context, it looks like it might mean that the subject ['olua] will have complete access to, or temporary ownership of, everything in the vicinity of the house.
2) Ua makemake au i ke ali'i wahine, no ka mea, ke 'ike le'a nei au i ka 'oi loa o kona maika'i ma mua o ka'u mau wāhine mua nāna i kūmaka 'ia. Akā, ua lohe 'oe i ka'u ho'ohiki pa'a 'ana, 'a'ole au e lawe mai i kekahi wahine o kēia mau moku i wahine na'u."
- In this phrase it looks like the author used an actor emphatic phrase to modify ka'u mau wāhine mua, but what I found awkward about this is that the verb in the actor emphatic phrase is passivised with 'ia. From what I've read, the verb in an actor emphatic sentence is usually a verb transitive. This sentence is an example of one of the exceptions. In another book, He Mo'olelo no Nawahiokalani'opu'u, I found an actor emphatic phrase with a verb intransitive. My problem now is to determine whether or not I can use such exceptions to this pattern when I write and speak Hawaiian.
3) Ho'ohuli a'ela nā mea wa'a i ka wa'a i hope a holo i O'ahu nei. I ia manawa a ka wa'a e ho'i hope nei, ho'ohuoi ihola ka makāula i ka pā
'ana a ka makani ma kona pāpālina, no ka mea, ua maopopo iā ia kahi a ka makani i pā ai i ka holo 'ana mai O'ahu aku nei.
- Right now, I'm having trouble determining the function of nei in mai O'ahu aku nei. I think that it in combination with aku, forming aku nei, it may be a time reference meaning "a little while ago" but I'm having trouble understanding why the phrase would not then read "ka holo 'ana mai nei mai O'ahu aku," where the word nei would follow the directional after the verb, rather than the directional after the place name O'ahu. Could it be possible that the focus of time, "a little while ago," was placed after the place name O'ahu in order to emphasize O'ahu as a place where the characters had been recently, whereas the sentence I wrote may place the emphasis on the the action of sailing having occured recently?
The written sources listed above have been a great deal of help, but I am still left with many questions. Right now, I am reading Ke Ka'ao o Lā'ieikawai, and there are some phrases that I found peculiar. I am going to post some of these sentences below with the parts I found confusing in orange letters, as the rest of the paragraph is included so that readers can judge the meaning of the phrases through context. Beneath the phrases, I will write down my opinions about the mechanics of the phrases, and I'd appreciate any help from members familiar with the Hawaiian language.
1) " 'Auhea 'olua. E noho 'olua i ka hale nei. Na 'olua nā mea a pau o loko, 'a'ole kekahi mea e koe o ka hale nei iā 'olua. 'O 'olua ma loko a ma waho o kēia wahi."
- For this phrase, I assumed that the subject ['olua] was placed at the beginning of the sentence for emphasis as an introductory clause being preceded by the nominative marker ['o]. However, the phrase "You two are on the inside and the outside of this place" does not satisfy me. I think that this is an idiom which I'm not familiar with, and I have not been able to find an explanation for it. Through context, it looks like it might mean that the subject ['olua] will have complete access to, or temporary ownership of, everything in the vicinity of the house.
2) Ua makemake au i ke ali'i wahine, no ka mea, ke 'ike le'a nei au i ka 'oi loa o kona maika'i ma mua o ka'u mau wāhine mua nāna i kūmaka 'ia. Akā, ua lohe 'oe i ka'u ho'ohiki pa'a 'ana, 'a'ole au e lawe mai i kekahi wahine o kēia mau moku i wahine na'u."
- In this phrase it looks like the author used an actor emphatic phrase to modify ka'u mau wāhine mua, but what I found awkward about this is that the verb in the actor emphatic phrase is passivised with 'ia. From what I've read, the verb in an actor emphatic sentence is usually a verb transitive. This sentence is an example of one of the exceptions. In another book, He Mo'olelo no Nawahiokalani'opu'u, I found an actor emphatic phrase with a verb intransitive. My problem now is to determine whether or not I can use such exceptions to this pattern when I write and speak Hawaiian.
3) Ho'ohuli a'ela nā mea wa'a i ka wa'a i hope a holo i O'ahu nei. I ia manawa a ka wa'a e ho'i hope nei, ho'ohuoi ihola ka makāula i ka pā
'ana a ka makani ma kona pāpālina, no ka mea, ua maopopo iā ia kahi a ka makani i pā ai i ka holo 'ana mai O'ahu aku nei.
- Right now, I'm having trouble determining the function of nei in mai O'ahu aku nei. I think that it in combination with aku, forming aku nei, it may be a time reference meaning "a little while ago" but I'm having trouble understanding why the phrase would not then read "ka holo 'ana mai nei mai O'ahu aku," where the word nei would follow the directional after the verb, rather than the directional after the place name O'ahu. Could it be possible that the focus of time, "a little while ago," was placed after the place name O'ahu in order to emphasize O'ahu as a place where the characters had been recently, whereas the sentence I wrote may place the emphasis on the the action of sailing having occured recently?
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