2. ORAL TRADITIONS
• Oral traditions were of the
utmost importance
– Mea oli
– Ho`opa`a hula
– Kūkālā
– Ha`i mo`olelo
– Haku mele/mo`olelo
3. KUMULIPO
• Mele ko`ihonua or
genealogical chant
• Over 2100 lines long
• Echoes the complexities
and details of the Hawaiian
thought process and
perspective
4. HĀLAU/`OHANA
• Hālau and `ohana
helped to preserve the
language by
maintaining traditions
from generation to
generation
5. HAWAIIAN LANGUAGE
TODAY
• Hawaiian language
revitalization movement
• 425,000 Native
Hawaiians
– Of that, approximately
10% claim to speak
Hawaiian
– Approximately 2% claim
to be mānaleo or native
speakers
6. KA PĪ`ĀPĀ
5 vowels:
A E I O U
8 consonants:
H K L M N P W ʻ
He Ke La Mu Nu Pi We ʻokina
7. ʻOKINA
• The `okina is a glottal stop. In other words, it
cuts or separates vowel sounds.
• ʻ is the appropriate mark for the ʻokina (looks
like an open-ended quote). ’ (an apostrophe) is
not acceptable as it serves a different function.
• Listen to the difference in the following pairs
of words:
– hao haʻo
– koe koʻe
– kou koʻu
– mai maʻi
8. KAHAKŌ
• The kahakō (-) elongates the vowel over which
it is placed
• Listen to the difference in the following pairs
of words:
– uliuli `ulī`ulī
– maka māka
– kala kālā
9. IMPORTANCE OF
ʻOKINA AND KAHAKŌ
• Omission or unnecessary inclusion of ʻokina
and/or kahakō can drastically change the
meaning of a word as in the following
examples:
– pau completed; done; finished
– paʻu soot
– paʻū moist; damp
– pā’ū skirt
– kala a type of fish
– kālā money
– ka lā the sun
10. I ka ʻ ōlelo nō ke ola,
I ka ʻ ōlelo nō ka make
Life is in speech;
death is in speech
Editor's Notes
Mai ka waha aku a i ka pepeiao a pa`a ho`i ma ka na`au – From the mouth to the ear and then affixed within the soul. In the days before the written alphabet came to Hawai`i, the history and traditions of the Hawaiian people were handed down by word of mouth. Oral traditions to the lāhui or Hawaiian people were of the utmost importance. It is through the voices of the mea oli (chanter), ho`opa`a hula (musician), kūkālā (announcer), ha`i mo`olelo (story teller) and haku mo`olelo (song composer) that traditions, ceremonies, processes and information were passed down from generation to generation until today.
