Hawaiian word definition

[Royall]

Watching an old rerun of Hawaii 5-0 and in the beginning there is a power boat pulling away from the dock. The name of the vessel was Kaimanu. I tried google the name but could only come up with one business and a canoe club but now real definition. Any answers for me? Thanks

[rainyjim]

Hi,

In Hawaiian kai means ocean and manu means shark.

Hope this helps.

Alohas

[Royall]

Just that simple? Didn't think to break it down like that. Thank Jim.

[opihikao]

E kala mai, "kai" is ocean/sea or water, and "Manu" means bird. "Mano"
is the shark.

Nice name for a boat! Have a lovely evening, all.

JMO.

P.S. An excellent resource for Hawaiian words, utilizing the Puku'i Hawaiian Dictionary at the link below:

http://wehewehe.org/

[rainyjim]

Hmm, thanks for sharing Opihikao, I had been told by my friend Manu that his name means shark ! Thanks for clarifying the distinction.

[bystander]

quote:

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Originally posted by rainyjim

Hmm, thanks for sharing Opihikao, I had been told by my friend Manu that his name means shark ! Thanks for clarifying the distinction.

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Your friend probably is one of those "practitioners".

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

I've heard of a Land Shark:
https://screen.yahoo.com/land-shark-jaws...09387.html

But a Manu Mano, or Air Shark is a new one to me.

[pahoated]

That is about the best translator around, and there are others that are really bad. On Kauai, the word for shark is mako. What are essentially the last remaining authentic native Hawaiians are on Niihau and people from Kauai say they often don't understand their dialect completely. Everything we see as Hawaiian, even by native Hawaiians, is all contaminated. Since the Hawaiians didn't have a written language, it took a missionary to translate the phonics to text. He heard the phonic 't' as 'k' and there it is. Kapu was actually Tapu, which the word taboo comes from, the Tongan. Kamehameha is actually Tamehameha, Wakea is Watea, and so on. Not long after, the missionaries started schools and banned anything Hawaiian, even the language. This left the keiki to speak the original language at home but going to a school that instructed them how to enunciate "properly" according to the missionary translation. In a way it's very good the Robinson's are keeping Niihau like a zoo, it is the only authentic native Hawaiian culture left in these islands.

"Aloha also means goodbye. Aloha!"

[opihikao]

quote:

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Originally posted by bystander

quote:

---

Originally posted by rainyjim

Hmm, thanks for sharing Opihikao, I had been told by my friend Manu that his name means shark ! Thanks for clarifying the distinction.

---

Your friend probably is one of those "practitioners".

---

bystander, so am I. (A "practitioner") []

HOTPE, lol!

rainyjim, hopefully, he didn't just "take" the name and use it. Usually, a name is given by Kupuna or Kahu, to make sure it's befitting the person, as some names can be "kapu", and cause problems.

Pahoated, agreed, for the most part. The ones who "olelo" today, not all words are the same as what my kupuna spoke. Different terms are used, for example, "okole" (rear end) was "elemu" (more proper).

Enjoy the day, all!

JMO.

ETA: Clarify

[2liveque]

No such thing as "last, authentic." In the old days, as it is today, there were much variance in language, Hula, cultural practices, etc. In other words, one can't justifiably say that Ni'ihau dialect is more authentic than Ka'u dialect. Diversity was as alive back then as it is today.