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- "boy"
"boy"
Translation:keiki kāne
25 Comments
That's like saying "child" can also mean "boy" and that "bird" can also mean "pigeon".
That’s English. This is Hawaiian. From the Hawaiian Dictionary:
keiki 1. nvi. Child, offspring, descendant, progeny, boy, youngster, son, lad, nephew, son of a dear friend; calf, colt, kid, cub; worker; shoot or sucker, as of taro; to have or obtain a child; to be or become a child.
It’s not necessary to modify “keiki” with “Kāne”.
Exactly. Similarly to how languages like Spanish have implied gender, Hawaiian often has an implied male leaning unless otherwise specified like with kaikamahine. Mahalo!
Really? I thought keiki meant child. I'm getting confused. So when it asks for "boy" do I say "keiki" or "keiki kane"?
I need to know why "boy" needs to have keiki in front of it. I know that kāne means man, so is boy literally "child man"? Also, why doesn't this apply to kaikamahine?
It does. Kaikamahine comes from "keiki"+"wahine". There are a couple of sound changes that take place there for which I donʻt have any particular explanation. Itʻs worth pointing out that a similar thing happens with words for parents:
"makua" = parent
"makua kāne" = father
"makuahine" = mother
The ā is a long vowel like in Latin. This would be similar a father in English. The ah in father is a long vowel. So, instead of saying kane quickly, say the ā longer like in father in English. I hope that helps.
If you just wrote kane it would be man. The keiki meaning child before kane meaning man changes the meaning. It literely translates to child man. So, what is a child man? A boy. Also, if you just put keiki by itself, it would mean child. So keiki and kane are like buddies. If you separate them their meaning changes, and then you will get the question wrong. ;-) Ok? Hope this helped.
Although tecnically keiki by itself COULD just mean boy, Duolingo would not accept it and keiki kane is just more specific.
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My android does not have a Hawaiian language option. I tried a plig in and an app but neither seems to work -I need na kahako
It reminds me of when I used to do Spanish on this app. Niño meant child and boy.
Hi Guys ! Unfortunatly i haven't got a + - special letter on my phone. What should i do ?
