Kamakawi Word of the Day

leti

• (v.) to be rusty, to be rust-covered
• (adj.) rusty, rusted, rust-covered

Leti ei!
“I’m rusty!”

Notes: Heh, heh. That’s a little play on a song from The Venture Bros.

Today’s word is an instantiation of a very old (and no longer productive) pattern. The word derives directly from late, the word for “rust”, and the iku also derives from the iku for late. Basically, a few lines have been added, making it look like this poor, upside-down metal bird is shining with rustiness. Ha. Love it.

late

• (v.) to rust
• (n.) rust
• (n.) rusting

Late ia, he Paleti! Late!
“Rust, Brady! Rust!”

Notes: Well, it wasn’t a great game, but it was a pretty good game—and it had the right outcome! There were a couple of outstanding plays and it was a close game the whole way, but in the end, the Patriots fell to the Giants: 21-17. Nothing makes me happier than to see Tom Brady and Bill Belichick suffer.

Today’s word isn’t related at all to the word for “metal” (moka), but the iku is. Check it out. Late, which means “rust”, is the iku for moka turned on its head (to indicate that something bad has happened to it). As metal in its natural state isn’t rusty, rusted metal is the “bad” version of it—hence, the iku.

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.

tako

• (n.) vein

Mata ei iu tako e’i epelu o ia tou.
“I can see the veins under your skin.”

Notes: This is only for the types of veins that are in your body, not something like a vein of ore in a rock. The main body of the iku is ko, and there’s a ta inside of it (kind of like the vein is inside the body).

I have always been very, very uncomfortable imagining, talking about, or thinking about veins. Internal organs? No problem. Veins? Very troubling. Troubling in the same way as discussing a vasectomy is troubling. (Guys will know what I’m talking about.) Just an icky, icky feeling pulses its way through the entire fiber of my being. Makes me shudder.

So. Let us drop this topic and never speak of it again.

mola

• (n.) rosemary

Havava ei i mola!
“I like rosemary!”

Notes: Got a couple of stray thoughts that I want to tack down here before I forget them.

First, this iku is built off mo, which is one of my favorites. Today my wife told me that a day or two ago she informed me that Portlandia is streaming on Netflix. I’d been wanting to watch it, since I’d heard good things, and was quite pleased with the first two episodes (we’ll have to wait to see the rest). Today’s iku reminded me of the “Put a Bird On It” sketch.

Anyway, then thinking about this post, I thought about how this iku is a part of the mo series. What this means is that it’s one of the iku that’s built off of mo. That’s really how I think of Kamakawi iku (or at least those that are built off other iku), but I have no way of searching them (e.g. if I think of an iku, and know it’s basic shape, I can’t go to my computer and type in, “Search for the one that kind of looks like novu, but upside-down”).

That’s when a thought occurred to me. Once I finish putting up all the foma and retire this blog, I can go back through all the entries and just add tags. I’ll probably want to come up with a native Kamakawi word for “series”, but then I can tag, for example, every foma that’s built off of mo, and, since every iku will be here on the blog, I can search them! Hooray!

This is also what’s stood in the way of encoding Kamakawi’s script in the Conlang Unicode Registry. I’d reserved a block, but then I had to come up with official names for each glyph and decide where it would be assigned. It was only afterwards I realized what a monumental task that would be, given the size of the Kamakawi orthography, and the design.

But! Maybe if I actually get everything up here and get it all tagged, it’ll be easier to do.

Oh, and I also plan to go and do the audio for every example sentence (might as well). Some day…

hoku

• (n.) elephant

Fumi ipe nili ti hoku.
“That field is good for elephants.”

Notes: You know what? I just decided one day that the Kamakawi Islands would have elephants. Native elephant populations, at that. How would a series of tiny islands support a population of elephants (even little miniature elephants, as the Kamakawi elephants are)? I have no idea. And despite all, I don’t care. I liked the idea of elephants wandering through the jungles and even splashing around in the waves on the beaches. I like to picture Kamakawi children riding on little baby elephants. It’d be adorable. And that was justification enough, way back when I came up with the Kamakawi elephant. And then I came up with this kickass iku to go with it.

So, there you have it. Elephants that exist on tiny little islands. Many elephants. Trumpeting and crashing and splashing about. Miniature elephants, by our standards (perhaps no bigger than a horse, at the biggest). So it was, and so it shall be. Forever.

The end.

Edit: As you may have read in my last post, the Kamakawi Word of the Day took a one-day hiatus to protest SOPA. Unfortunately, if you tuned in during the first hour or so of the 24 hours of the 18th, you wouldn’t have noticed anything different, since I made a counting error (something I do often). Eh. It’s the thought that counts…?

hupe

• (n.) marine toad
• (n.) any kind of toad

Fuleke ia ti’i, he hupe.
“I miss you, toad.”

Notes: The toad is a peculiar animal. They’ve always looked to me like little rocks. When I was in kindergarten, I tried to capture and domesticate a toad. It didn’t go well. I wasn’t sure what he ate, so I gave him little pieces of hot dog. I’m not sure if he knew they were supposed to be food. The toad died in a relatively short amount of time. I feel pretty awful about now. I didn’t know what I was doing, but, crucially, didn’t know that I didn’t know. I assumed I could take care of it. I believe television led me to believe this. Nevertheless, I shall bear the terrible burden for the rest of my days. I apologize, Mr. Toad (for that was, indeed, the name that I gave him). I did wrong by you, but I never made the same mistake again, and have done what little I could to ensure that the mistake isn’t replicated by others (and that includes this blog post). It’s nice to know that your troubles are at an end.

ilu

• (n.) liver

Toku ilu o ia oku.
“Your liver’s not strong.”

Notes: No idea what that’s supposed to mean. What’s the liver even do, anyway? I know it’s important, but who ever sees it besides doctors? Such an ugly organ…

According to the Wikipedia, the liver apparently helps in “detoxification”. I guess since I don’t drink alcohol that means I’m set for life! Take that, liver!

The iku for ilu is built off the iku for lu. Where ordinarily there’s a space, the midline extends up to the top to form an i. I’ve kind of associated this iku with the liver in my mind. Coincidentally (or perhaps not?!), it looks like another ugly thing I don’t like to think about. What will that thing be? You’ll have to wait until tomorrow to find out!

teka

• (n.) (sea) salt

Li ia ie teka livu e nevi i’i.
“Pass me the salt.”

Notes: There’s no polite version of “give” here, so nevi serves. (Wait a minute! I’ve never done nevi?! Man oh man!) Salt will come most naturally from the sea to island-dwellers, so the type of salt this refers to is sea salt. It’s been extended to salt that comes from other sources (they both do the trick), but the sea is its true origin.

lope

• (n.) hibiscus arnottianus

A male owa ei i lope i malalele
“I will plant hibiscus in my garden.”

Notes: This particular flower refers to what in Hawaiian is called koki‘o ke‘oke‘o. It’s a white flower which, in typical hibiscus fashion, has a little spout coming out the middle. It’s a gorgeous flower, and it brightens up any garden. For some reason, hibiscuses (hibisci…?) always relax me. They remind me of being in Hawai‘i. As does this particular brand of sunscreen. I should stock up on that…