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Admin
Pupule
USA
4551 Posts |
 Posted - 10/24/2007 : 04:57:07 AM
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I was listening to these two songs on the way to work today, La`ieikawai and Ka Pilina.
La`ieikawai 2nd verse
Kau mai la ke ali`i
I ka `êheu o nâ manu
Ka Pilina 2nd verse
Eia a`e ka wahine
Halihali `ia mai e nä manu
Looking at the translations, is the difference simply "by the birds" and "of the birds"? Looking for some help to my non-existent knowledge of Hawaiian.
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Andy |
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keoladonaghy
Lokahi
257 Posts |
Posted - 10/24/2007 : 07:26:10 AM
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| Yes. o na manu - of the birds, e na manu, by the birds. |
Edited by - keoladonaghy on 10/24/2007 07:26:35 AM |
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Sarah
`Olu`olu
571 Posts |
Posted - 10/24/2007 : 07:37:29 AM
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In the two verses you have two quite different constructions. One is a possessive, "the wings of the birds", where something belongs to someone (or something) else, and the other is a passive construction "the woman transported by the birds", where an action is performed upon the woman by the birds.
Since o and e (as well as many other little words) can have different meanings and grammatical functions, the context they appear in is key to understanding what they mean.
Here the o is a possessive, "of". The o forms of the possessive are used for body parts (among other things.) There are many forms of the possessive depending on who and how many possess what and how many, and on the relationship between two (big topic). Samuel Elbert's book "Spoken Hawaiian" has a quite useful explanation of the a and o possessives.
Here the e means "by." That is its meaning when it is preceded by 'ia, where 'ia is a particle indicating the passive, an action done to something. In this function, e is called an agentive particle. One can, by the way, use 'ia quite well without ever following up with an agent. Example: Aloha 'ia no 'o Maui (song title); No Puna ke 'ala i hali 'ia mai (line from Hi'ilawe).
Hope that helps!
aloha,
Sarah
edit: clarified point about possessives |
Edited by - Sarah on 10/24/2007 11:20:41 AM |
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Admin
Pupule
USA
4551 Posts |
Posted - 10/24/2007 : 08:09:44 AM
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Thanks Keola and Sarah.
Sarah, this is really helpful. One, a better understanding of the lyrics makes for easier memorization.
Two, the quick lesson here is invaluable since I have the desire to learn but not really the time. Thank you! |
Andy |
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keoladonaghy
Lokahi
257 Posts |
Posted - 10/24/2007 : 08:14:30 AM
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| Podcasts #15 and #16 in the podcast series I pointed to a few days ago talks about the possessives in depth. I don't think 'ia and e are covered until the second book, which we don't have any podcasts for yet. |
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Admin
Pupule
USA
4551 Posts |
Posted - 10/24/2007 : 08:23:51 AM
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Keola,
Without a doubt Podcast #1 will help me! Thanks again for sharing that with us. |
Andy |
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