"Aia ka ʻaha mele ma ka lā ʻumi o Ianuali."

Translation:The concert is on January tenth.

December 23, 2018

10 Comments

You may already know this info but ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian language) was once only spoken and not written. Visiting missionaries introduced the English language and created the pīʻāpā (Hawaiian alphabet) to translate the spoken language to a written one and we are learning a modernized version of it now with Duolingo. Hence, the days and months are capitalized in Hawaiian because it is so in English and the modern Hawaiian language often reflects English grammatical rules. Since we are using the Gregorian Calendar we are also learning the designated Hawaiian equivalent or transliteration for months and days of the week (ex. October = ʻOkakopa, Monday = Pōʻakahi [first night], Tuesday = Pōʻalua [second night], Sunday = Lāpule [prayer day], etc.). Historically, Hawaiians followed the lunar calendar, of which you can view examples at http://www.wpcouncil.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Hawaii-FishermenCal2019.pdf and at http://www.wpcouncil.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/HI_LunarCal2019-with-youtube-links-final.pdf

February 9, 2019

oruga_fantasma

Thank you for taking the time to answer my question so fully. Your response is why I love the discussion feature of Duolingo. I now know so much more than could have imagined from one simple question - not just what the answer is, but also why.

As the course develops, I hope the contributors will continue to go beyond "designated Hawaiian equivalent" and teach the culture behind the words. The lunar calendar is beautiful and makes so much more sense than the Gregorian for a people deeply connected to the ocean and its tides.

February 9, 2019