- Forum >
- Topic: Hawaiian >
- "Ke Akua pū."
23 Comments
As an atheist living in a multicultural community, I feel uncomfortable with this greeting (and with Jesus be with you). The Lonely Planet phrasebook to the South Pacific gives "Aloha a hui hou" as a religion-free Goodbye. Elbert's 'Spoken Hawaiian' (sic.) gives just "Aloha". Any thoughts on these? Are they possible alternatives? Could the developers be encouraged to be more inclusive?
most of the languages don't include this so I appreciate it. maybe the developers could just teach both ways of saying these greetings, with the God of the Christians or without.
244
Inclusive would mean more ... Welcoming diversity - not subtracting, but rather adding. Here we could be welcoming of the Hawaiian gods, other Abrahamic relgions (like Judiasm and Islam), Daosim, Budhism, Hinduism, etc... For example, we might say this sentence to some to bring joy to them, but to others who are into a particular Hawaiian god, we could say something else that would tickle their ear, and cause them to smile. Mahalo kākou! :D
Because akua is a "common noun", it usually has a noun marker in front of it. The common way to express "God", with a capital G, in Hawaiian is with "ke Akua" (with a capital A). When referring to other akua, a lower case a is the norm. Iesū is a name, so it doesn't appear with a regular noun marker in front of it.
I have this same question. I have noticed that Duolingo only accepts "Ke Akua pu" when translating "God be with you" from English to Hawaiian. Is there particular significance of "Ke" when you are saying "God be with you" rather than "Jesus be with you"?
Yes, the definite article is necessary if you want to refer to the God in Christianity. (https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/Akua)
I'm not really much into religion, so i would never say this phrase to an english person, but i want to understand...do Hawaiian people usually say that? Did it become colloquial?
Lots of other people on this thread have answered questions similar to this, but I thought I'd give my opinion. I'm not really into religion either so it might not be my place to say this, but I am Hawaiian (I don't know much of the language; I'm using this program for school) and I haven't really heard people use this phrase. That being said, very few people here (at least near where I live) actually speak Hawaiian in common conversation. Traditionally, meaning "this is how it was before Westernization," the people of Hawaiʻi believe(d?) in multiple gods and goddesses. Then there was that whole white people "we claim this land that already belongs to people" thing, and Christianity spread among the islands. Of course, we host religions and cultures of all sorts. This phrase is probably relevant and common in some areas (probably those where people commonly speak Hawaiian and commonly practice Christianity), and I can see it being used as a common formal greeting, but, for the most part, I think it's safest to just remain neutral and just use simpler phrases. Again, though, if you're asking this as a question regarding how to communicate with people here in Hawaiʻi, very few of us speak Hawaiian further than a few casual phrases that we've picked up and the names of food, so you probably won't have to worry about whether or not to use this phrase.
I am quite confused. I am not Hawaiian, never been to Hawaii a dont know any Hawaiians. These lessons have conviced me that these expressions are common greetings in Hawaii and I would not look weird if I use them. How is it then? Can I say this for example to non-christian Hawaiian and will it be ok?
- 163
Actually, 0.1% of Hawaii's population knows/speaks Hawaiian. Most people in Hawaii don't know greetings past "Aloha." There's a most likely chance that saying "Ke Akua pū" will not offend/disturb anyone.
I'm Hawaiian and i know only basic phrases. Truth be told, I dont hear this often. However, in a party setting, a wedding, or something a little more formal than a hang out, I know this is used.
I am Christian though, and these phrases make me extremely happy.
The phrases "Iesū pū" and "Ke Akua pū" are used by Christian Hawaiians when saying farewell to each other. They are very commonly heard among the poʻe Niʻihau.
I honestly don't understand why people in these comment sections often behave in a hateful manner, trying to express the fact that they are more important and that their opinions have to be everyone else's too. I thought these sections were meant to help eachother, not break people down. YOUR opinions don't need to be shoved down others' throats...gettelevy, I am specifically referring to you here
If you haven't taken the time to try to understand what I'm saying... If you haven't read all the comments I've received for pointing out the inaccurate translation or issue here... Than maybe keep my name out of your mouth.
Wow... I really was just asking about how the word SOUNDED because there wasn't a audio bute showing up for a while. I have no problem with the greeting and find it an interesting and important look at the history and development of the language, just like I findit fascinating how Greek has three words for love and German combines smaller words to create a new one. It tells you about the culture and influences. But, again, I was originally having trouble with my audio and just wanted to know what the phonetics were and which syllable I should stress, if any.
How is this polite? Keep your proselytizing to yourself Duolingo. This is a white supremacist colonialist statement and has no place in my language learning. This is inspiration to not upgrade to Pro, for sure. How is there no option to report this offensive comment as offensive?
Ah, proselytizing. Stay classy, Duo. So for the sake of clarification, can I substitute someone other than cranky ol' Yahweh in this sentence? Ke Ka-ahupahau pū? Ke Te-auta pū? Ke Kane’i’kokala pū? Asking for a friend.
Is it possible to add someone saying Akua? I have no idea where the stresses are or if im saying it right
GROSS!!! Why am I forced to go through religious greetings for a god that has nothing to do with hawaiian culture. This shouldn't be in greetings. At the most an optional sub category for christians to visit if they want to learn....our thrown was stolen...some kuleana lands aren't recognized so land has been stolen too...now some bs religious greeting are part of a mandatory lesson on doulingo...throwing it out there... when I take Japanese on doulingo there wasn't "God" greetings. Wtf doulingo?!
