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- "our land"
"our land"
Translation:ka ʻāina o kākou
10 Comments
318
The prompt just says "our land," it does not say "the land of ours."
How do we tell the difference between them?
ka 'āina o kākou
and
ko kākou 'āina?
What is the grammar rule?
There are 8 "correct" translations of "our land": ko kākou ʻāina, ka ʻāina o kākou, ko mākou ʻāina, ka ʻāina o mākou, ko kāua ʻāina, ka ʻāina o kāua, ko māua ʻāina, ka ʻāina o māua. And that's only for O-class. If "we" are in the real estate business and are describing to a client some land we have for sale, there would be 8 more for A-class! And then if you look up "ko" in the dictionaries, you find it commonly spelled with a kahakō (kō). So there's 4 more variations for a grand total of 20 "correct" translations. Wonder how many DL is accepting. lol
Two Classes of Possessives, Kino ʻŌ and Kino ʻĀ
In Hawaiian there are two classes of possessives, (Kino ʻŌ and Kino ʻĀ).
(Kino ʻŌ) items ,in general, are things you do not have control over, in terms of creating them, like your ancestors, parents, siblings, and body parts.
Things that you possess for the purpose of wearing them, or primarily to be situated in, on, under, behind, or in front of are
also (kino ʻŌ), like clothes, shelter, buildings, time, land, and modes of transportation.
All the other items, those that you have the ability to create or choose are (Kino ʻĀ) . Like your spouse, your children, food, your job, and other things you create like songs you write, or art you make.
Start at time segment 5:39. Episode 11 of Ka Leo ʻŌiwi (link) https://youtu.be/fpWk5Yl8H84
- 318
I tried both a kākou and o kākou, and both were accepted as correct. Is 'āina A-class possessive or O-class possessive?
What about the comment from HklaniClee that implies it is also A-class when in the context of real estate?
If I may comment on my own comment (kala mai!), it's the primary purpose of an item that ultimately determines whether it's O-class or A-class, not just the item itself, nor the fact that it's something that has been "acquired" (as I've been seeing in some discussions).
See the following examples for "lei" in the Pukui-Elbert Hawaiian Dictionary:
<pre>Kāna lei, his lei (to give away or sell).
Kona lei, his lei (to wear).
</pre>
The same criteria would also apply to ʻāina (and many other "O-class" words), even though ʻāina IS usually considered to be O-class as it actually is in most situations.
Just don't try to use this special criterion when referring to family members. They're still O-class or A-class as has been taught here in DL. That's a different situation.
Make sense?
