Kamakawi Word of the Day

kau

• (adv.) down, downwards
• (adj.) down, lower
• (v.) to go down, to go downwards, to descend

Lalau ia i amo kau!
“Throw it down!”

Notes: Following up on yesterday’s word, here is a very high-frequency Kamakawi word: kau. It kind of shows up everywhere. It can serve as the adverbial part of a number of compound verbs, as well as the elements listed above.

I was a bit surprised when typing up this iku to see that it resides in the ikunoala section of my font. Then I looked at it and said, “Oh.” And I do see what I was thinking; might not have made the same choice were I doing it now, but kau is so much a part of the script that there’s no changing it.

If you take a look at the iku for u, you’ll see that the “W”-looking glyph has three peaks, and that the peaks are connected. That’s basically what this is, except that the connecting line is on the bottom, and the three peaks are all ka. So the shape is purely phonological, and you can look at it and see how it’s pronounced, but its construction is not as straightforward as some of the other ikunoala.

holi

• (n.) sugar cane

A katava ia takeke holi!
“You’re as tall as a sugar cane!”

Notes: Today’s word is also a fairly simple ikunoala composed of ho with the leg forming the little hand of li. It doesn’t look anything like a sugar cane, though. Kind of looks like a dude with a hand growing out of his foot. Heh, heh…

noka

• (v.) to sigh
• (n.) despair
• (adj.) despairing

A kupi lea pe e noka kupae!
“He just sits there sighing!”

Notes: Today’s word is a simple ikunoala composed of no and ka. Of course, the ka could be doing double duty as the “bad” line determinative. I’ll neither confirm nor deny.

noto

• (v.) to be shady
• (adj.) shady, shade-giving
• (n.) shade
• (v.) to be cool (coll.)
• (adj.) cool, awesome

Au noto kaneko!
“Cats are cool!”

Notes: HAPPY CATURDAY!!!

Here’s a picture of Keli greeting Erin’s fingertip:

Today’s word means “shady”, but is used to mean “cool” by Kamakawi youth. I thought it was a pretty cool word for cool. I’d try to start using it in English, but I think it would give the wrong impression.

feta

• (v.) to be quiet
• (adj.) quiet
• (n.) quietness

Feta ia! A olo ei a.
“Quiet! I am sleeping.”

Notes: This is a translation of the first lines of a favorite Smashing Pumpkins’ song of mine.

And now for a real treat. I’d eschewed interlinears on this blog (and others) because they simply don’t format correctly. Well, thanks to Carsten Becker (creator of Ayeri), we now have a WordPress plugin that does it for us! I found this extremely exciting. Here it is in action:

Feta

[ˈfɛ.ɾə

/be quiet

ia!

ˈi.ə

2SG

A

a

NS

olo

ˈɔ.lɔ

sleep

ei

ˈe.i

1SG

a.

a]

PRG/

“Quiet! I am sleeping.”

How about that?! Not bad! Basically what it does is it lines up the first word of each line; the second word of each line; the third, etc. This way you can see how each one is glossed. I totally love it! I’m still messing around with the settings, so this may look different if you look at it a few hours from now, but I couldn’t be more pleased with the way this works!

As for today’s word, the iku may look a bit familiar…or would if I’d done that word yet. Dang! Could’ve sworn I’d done that word. Well. When I do do that word, you’ll see why this iku gets classified as both an iku’ume and an ikunoala.

fune

• (n.) pipiwai (Hawaiian)

Iwe ha ti fune.
“The river is full of pipiwai.”

Notes: The pipiwai is a little shellfish that dwells in rivers. As I have never eaten one, I don’t know if they’re good for eating, and can’t, at this time, recommend them.

The glyph for fune is a combination of fu and ne. It’s always looked a little crowded to me… Eh. It adds flavor.

lama

• (v.) to make (refers to small things)
• (n.) construction, making
• (adj.) made, constructed, built, produced

Mata ei ka lama ia i…toyuku.
“I see that you’ve made…something.”

Notes: HAPPY CATURDAY!!!

Today’s Caturday is bittersweet, as I am, sadly, without cat. I’m off away in the wilds of New Mexico, while Keli is at home with Erin. Before I left, though, I constructed her a little wall of books:

I imagine she’ll stay there for the duration of my absence.

Today’s word, though, really doesn’t apply to something like a wall (and its use in the sentence above is deprecatory). It really applies to something like handicrafts or trinkets—something that you make that can fit in the palm of your hand. I’m still not sure whether it would apply to biscuits… I know this is probably the first thing you thought of (biscuits are usually the first thing I think of when I hear the word “hand”), but the more complex the food, the more likely you’d use lama with it (provided the end result is handheld).

I’ll be returning tomorrow, but if you happen to be in Albuquerque and are reading this, come out to the Hyatt Regency around dinner time. I’ll be giving a talk there and we’ll be screening Episode 6 from last season of Game of Thrones. The cost is $5, but all the money is going to the local branch of the American Cancer Society, which is pretty cool.

Be sure to pet a cat today! The cat will likely appreciate it.

nivu

• (v.) to drink
• (adj.) drinking
• (n.) liquid (archaic)

Oku nivu ei i ipe tou! Ae kavakava lona!
“I can’t drink that! It’s too hot!”

Notes: I’m listening to “Flashdance… What a Feeling” by Irene Cara right now. That means things are awesome. What a song; what a movie.

The iku for nivu is a combination of ni and fu, though it might not look like it at first. The spearhead on the bottom of the stick of ni is ordinarily something you’d expect of la were a part of the word, but it’s used here (in combination with the impromptu open square) to make the fu face of fu.

Common word, this one. It’s a wonder I haven’t really used it here…

leke

• (n.) olona, hemp (used to make fabric, rope, etc.)
• (adj.) made from olona

Li ia i ipe levu leke e nevi i’i.
“Give me that olona rag.”

Notes: This is, basically, hemp that’s used to make stuff. I always get a kick out of this iku, though. I call it “Old Tooth-Head”. Also kind of reminds me of those things that pump oil. When I was a kid, I would call them army ants.

I’ve made my piece with the Patriots winning this Super Bowl. I’m prepared to approach with a zen-like calm. Instead, I will focus my attention on replays of the Puppy Bowl. Nothing warms the heart (or the feet, come to think of it) more than adorable puppies. I shall think on them while enduring an awful Patriots victory.

nina

• (v.) to be sweet-smelling, to be fragrant
• (n.) fragrance (only pleasant)
• (adj.) fragrant

Itilili heka! E nina!
“The air is sweet! And fragrant!”

Notes: A quote from one of my all time favorite movies. Today’s iku doesn’t look too bad for an ikunoala. I’m actually surprised I don’t use this word more.

Today I was having a discussion about terms for “smell” (in English). For me, to say something “smells” is almost always bad (unless it’s followed immediately by a “like” phrase), and the word “stink” is always bad. This isn’t the case, I guess, for a lot of people. For example, lots of people say that garlic “stinks”—people that eat garlic. To me, that’s like saying that a rose is flashy—or even that a rose stinks. The description just doesn’t make the slightest bit of sense. If something stinks, you do not eat it. PERIOD. Not only that, no one could possibly eat it. It’s not a matter of taste. Garlic has an aroma that carries and is distinctive, but so do jasmines. And if you say one stinks, then so does the other.

I swear, people be crazy!