Hawaiian Language | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

Mission_Houses,_Honolulu,_ca._1837._Drawn_by_Wheeler_and_engraved_by-Kalama

May 9, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Timeline Tuesday … 1970s

Today’s ‘Timeline Tuesday’ takes us through the 1970s – first Waikiki Roughwater swim, first Merrie Monarch, Hokule‘a launched and English and Hawaiian are recognized as official State languages.. We look at what was happening in Hawai‘i during this time period and what else was happening around the rest of the world.

A Comparative Timeline illustrates the events with images and short phrases. This helps us to get a better context on what was happening in Hawai‘i versus the rest of the world. I prepared these a few years ago for a planning project. (Ultimately, they never got used for the project, but I thought they might be on interest to others.)

March 11, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Webster’s Way

Noah Webster (1758-1843) was the man of words in early 19th-century America. He compiled a dictionary which became the standard for American English; he also compiled The American Spelling Book, which was the basic textbook for young readers in early 19th-century America.

In the beginning part of his American Spelling Book, several signed a ‘Recommendation,’ stating, “Having examined the first part of the new Grammatical Institute of the English Language, published by Mr. Noah Webster we are of opinion, that it is far preferable, in the plan and execution, to Dilworth’s or any other Spelling Book, which has been introduced into [o]ur schools.”

“In these the entire omission of the rules of pronunciation is a capital defect, which very few of the parents, schoolmasters or mistresses, employed in teaching children the first rudiments have sufficient knowledge to supply.”

“The usual method of throwing together, in the same tables, and without any mark of distinction, words in which the same letters are differently pronounced, and the received rules of dividing syllables, which are wholly arbitrary, and often unnatural, seem calculated to puzzle the learner, and mislead the instructor into a vicious pronunciations.”

“These defects and mistakes are judiciously supplied in the present work, and the various additions are made with such propriety, that we judge this new Spelling Book will be extremely beneficial for the use of schools.”

The Speller’s Preface notes the priority in learning, “The syllables of words are divided as they are pronounced, and for this obvious reason, that children learn the language by the ear. Rules are of no consequence but to printers and adults. In Spelling Books they embarrass children, and double the labour of the teacher.”

“The whole design of dividing words into syllables at all, is to lead the pupil to the true pronunciation: and the easiest method to effect this purpose will forever be the best.” (Webster’s Speller)

And so it was with the American Protestant Missionaries teaching the Hawaiians to read and write their own language.

This exercise, as practiced in Hawai‘i, was described by Andrews, “The teacher takes a Piapa (i.e., speller, primer,) sits down in front of a row or several rows of scholars, from ten to a hundred perhaps in number, all sitting on the ground, furnished perhaps with Piapas, perhaps not.”

“The teacher begins: says A. The scholars all repeat in concert after him, A. The teacher then says E. They repeat all together, as before E, and so on, repeating over and over, after the teacher, until all the alphabet is fixed in the memory, just in the order the letters stand in the book; and all this just as well without a book as with one. The abbs and spelling lesson are taught in the same way.” (Andrews; Schultz)

Just as American schoolchildren spelled aloud by naming the letters that formed the first syllable, and then pronouncing the result: “b, a – ba,” so did Hawaiian learners. (However, back then, Webster used ‘y’ as a vowel; the missionaries did not.)

The Hawaiian version also used the names of the letters and the resultant syllable: bē ā – bā; by 1824, this had become the Hawaiian word for ‘alphabet’. However, after b had been eliminated from the alphabet, p took its place in this new name.

One result of applying this methodology to Hawaiian is that it produced a new word: Pi a pa. From that time on, the word for ‘alphabet’ has been pī‘āpā, first appearing with this spelling (minus the kahakō and ‘okina) in a book title in 1828.

The purpose of all these first exercises was to teach the mechanics of pronouncing words, one by one – syllable by syllable.

This is how Ka‘ahumanu learned … “Being invited to enter the house, we took our seats without the accommodation of chairs, and waited till the game of cards was disposed of, when the wish was expressed to have us seated by her.”

“We gave her ladyship one of the little books (Pi a pa – the speller,) and drew her attention to the alphabet, neatly printed, in large and small Roman characters.”

“Having her eye directed to the first class of letters – the five vowels, she was induced to imitate my voice in their enunciation, a, e, i, o, u.”

“As the vowels could be acquired with great facility, an experiment of ten minutes, well directed, would ensure a considerable advance.”

“She followed me in enunciating the vowels, one by one, two or three times over, in their order, when her skill and accuracy were commended. Her countenance brightened.”

“Looking off from her book upon her familiars, with a tone a little boasting or exulting, and perhaps with a spice of the feeling of the Grecian philosopher, who, in one of his amusements, thought he had discovered the solution of a difficult problem, leaped from the bath, exclaiming “Eureka! I have found,” the queen exclaimed, “Ua loaa iau! I have got it”, or, it is obtained by me.”

“She had passed the threshold, and now unexpectedly found herself entered as a pupil.”

“Dismissing her cards, she accepted and studied the little book, and with her husband, asked for forty more for their attendants.” (Bingham)

The image shows Webster’s way of learning to spell, starting with repeating the consonant ‘b’ with the respective vowels b, a – ba – just as the Hawaiians did as pi, a – pa.

Noah Websters Speller-page 28

Noah_Webster’s_The_American_Spelling_Book-Cover-1800

Noah_Webster_pre-1843

November 13, 2016 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

He Aupuni Palapala Ko‘u

E nā ali‘i a me nā maka‘āinana,
he aupuni palapala ko‘u,
a ‘o ke kanaka pono a na‘auao,
‘o ia ko‘u kanaka.

To all ali‘i and commoners alike,
mine is a literate country,
and the just and intelligent man
is my countryman.
(Kauikeaouli – Kamehameha III;
Nūpepa Kū‘oko‘a (May 23, 1868;) Puette)

Hawaiian was a spoken language but not a written language. Historical accounts were passed down orally, through chants and songs. After western contact and attempts to write about Hawai‘i, early writers tried to spell words based on the sound of the words they heard. People heard words differently, so it was not uncommon for words to be spelled differently, depending on the writer.

The planning for the formal written Hawaiian language in the early part of the nineteenth century was started by the American Protestant missionaries who arrived in Hawaii, starting in 1820. A committee of some of these missionaries (Hiram Bingham, CS Stewart and Levi Chamberlain) worked on the development of the Hawaiian alphabet.

Initially, the missionaries worked out a Hawaiian alphabet of 17-English letters. “On the 7th of January, 1822, a year and eight months from the time of our receiving the governmental permission to enter the field and teach the people …”

“… we commenced printing the language in order to give them letters, libraries, and the living oracles in their own tongue, that the nation might read and understand the wonderful works of God.”

Early on, the Chiefs saw the opportunity and in collaboration with the missionaries, first the chiefs, then the makaʻāinana were taught the alphabet, and how to read and write.

Sybil Moseley Bingham, wife of Hiram Bingham, leader of the Pioneer Company of missionaries of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM,) is said to have started the first school in Hawaiʻi in May 1820. (“… Sybil Moseley Bingham, opened the first school in this city in May, 1820, surely an historic date.” (Hiram Bingham II)

Sybil’s June 20, 1820 journal entry notes, “After neglect of my journal for more than two months in a most interesting part of our history too … Very soon I gathered up 12 or 15 little native girls to come once a day to the house so that as early as possible the business of instruction might be commenced. That was an interesting day to me to lay the foundation of the first school ever assembled in this dark land.”

June 21st. “The most which has interested me to-day has been my little school. To see the little things so ready to learn, and so busy with their needles, is very pleasant. I long to know more of their language, that I might be pouring into their tender minds more instruction than ab.”

Learning to read and write had already been on Liholiho’s mind, well before he travelled to England. In 1820, missionary Lucy Thurston noted in her Journal, Liholiho’s desire to learn.

“The king (Liholiho, Kamehameha II) brought two young men to Mr. Thurston, and said: ‘Teach these, my favorites, (John Papa) Ii and (James) Kahuhu. It will be the same as teaching me. Through them I shall find out what learning is.’”

Betsey Stockton, a former slave and then missionary with the American mission, was on the 2nd Company of missionaries and was sent to Maui. “Mr. Richards and myself have an island with 20,000 inhabitants committed to our spiritual care – a solemn – a most responsible charge!” (Stewart)

“It was there, as (Betsey said,) that she opened a school for the common people which was certainly the first of the kind in Maui and probably the first in all Hawai‘i; for at the beginning the missionaries were chiefly engaged in the instructions of the chiefs and their families.” (Maui News, May 5, 1906)

Stockton has asked the mission to allow her “to create a school for the makaʻāinana (common people.) Stockton learned the Hawaiian Language and established a school in Maui where she taught English, Latin, History and Algebra. (Kealoha)

“It shows that a sincere desire to accomplish a good purpose need not be thwarted by other necessary engagements, however humble or exacting.” (Maui News, May 5, 1906)

Britain’s King George encouraged Hawaiians to read and write, and noted that the American preachers/teachers could help them. “If you wish to have me for your friend, you and your people must all read and write. If you do not attend to instruction, I shall not be your friend.” (King George of England to Boki, 1824)

Boki asked him whether preachers are good men, and the King said, “Yes, and they are men to make others good. I always have some of them by me; for chiefs are not wise like them.”

“We in England were once like the people in your islands; but this kind of teachers came and taught our fathers, and now you see what we are.”

“You and your people must take good heed to the missionaries; for they were sent to enlighten you and do you good. They came not for secular purposes, but by a divine command, to teach you the word of God. The people would therefore all do well to attend to instruction, and to forsake stealing, drunkenness, war, and every thing evil, and to live in peace.” (ABCFM Annual Report, 1826)

On June 6, 1825, Kauikeaouli was proclaimed king of Hawaiʻi. To the people he said, “‘Where are you, chiefs, guardians, commoners? I greet you. Hear what I say! My kingdom I give to God. The righteous chief shall be my chief, the children of the commoners who do you right shall be my people, my kingdom shall be one of letters.’ Kaʻahumanu and Kalanimōku encouraged this attitude of the king and declared to the people their trust in God.” (Ka Nupepa Kuʻokoʻa, February 22, 1868; Kamakau)

On August 23, 1836, 15-Chiefs (Kamehameha III, Nahiʻenaʻena, Hoapili, Na Malia Hoapili, Kuakini, Kīnaʻu, Kekāuluohi, Paki, Liliha, ʻAikanaka, Leleiōhoku, Kekūanāoʻa, Kanaʻina, Kekauōnohi and Keliʻiahonui) sent a letter to the American missionaries, asking that more American teachers be sent to the Islands.

“We hereby take the liberty to express our views as to what is necessary for the prosperity of these Sandwich Islands. Will you please send to us additional teachers to those you have already sent, of such character as you employ in your own country in America?”

“Should you send the above mentioned teachers, we promise to protect them, and afford them all the facilities for carrying on their work, which are in our power.”

Shortly after, the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) sent the largest company of missionaries to the Islands, that included a large number of teachers. The Eighth Company left Boston December 14, 1836 and arrived at Honolulu, April 9, 1837 on the Mary Frasier from Boston.

The missionaries were asked by the King to teach and care for the next generation of the highest ranking chiefs’ children of the realm and secure their positions for Hawaiʻi’s Kingdom.

“We ask Mr. Cooke to be teacher for our royal children. He is the teacher of our royal children and Dr. Judd is the one to take care of the royal children because we two hold Dr. Judd as necessary for the children and also in certain difficulties between us and you all.” (signed by Kamehameha III, Hoapili Wahine and Kekāuluohi)

This resulted in the formation of O‘ahu’s first school, the Chiefs’ Children’s School (The Royal School.) Seven families were eligible under succession laws stated in the 1840 Constitution of the Kingdom of Hawai‘i; Kamehameha III called on seven boys and seven girls to board in the Chiefs’ Children’s School.

By 1831, in just eleven years from the first arrival of the American missionaries, Hawaiians had built over 1,100-schoolhouses. This covered every district throughout the eight major islands and serviced an estimated 53,000-students. (Laimana)

The proliferation of schoolhouses was augmented by the missionaries printing of 140,000-copies of the pī¬ʻāpā (elementary Hawaiian spelling book) by 1829 and the staffing of the schools with 1,000-plus Hawaiian teachers. (Laimana)

Through the collaboration between the Hawaiian Chiefs and the American missionaries, by 1832, the literacy rate of Hawaiians (at the time was 78 percent) had surpassed that of Americans on the continent. The literacy rate of the adult Hawaiian population skyrocketed from near zero in 1820 to a conservative estimate of 91 percent – and perhaps as high as 95 percent – by 1834. (Laimana)

From 1820 to 1832, in which Hawaiian literacy grew by 91 percent, the literacy rate on the US continent grew by only 6 percent and did not exceed the 90 percent level until 1902 – three hundred years after the first settlers landed in Jamestown. By way of comparison, it is significant that overall European literacy rates in 1850 had not risen much above 50 percent. (Laimana)

Hawaiian Alphabet

February 17, 2016 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

ʻŌpūkahaʻia’s Grammar Book

In 1809, ʻŌpūkahaʻia boarded a sailing ship anchored in Kealakekua Bay and sailed to the continent. ʻŌpūkahaʻia latched upon the Christian religion, converted to Christianity in 1815 and studied at the Foreign Mission School in Cornwall, Connecticut (founded in 1817) – he wanted to become a missionary and teach the Christian faith to people back home in Hawaiʻi.

A story of his life was written (“Memoirs of Henry Obookiah” (the spelling of his name prior to establishment of the formal Hawaiian alphabet, based on its sound.)) This book was put together by Edwin Dwight (after ʻŌpūkahaʻia died.) It was an edited collection of ʻŌpūkahaʻia’s letters and journals/diaries.

This book inspired the New England missionaries to volunteer to carry his message to the Sandwich Islands.

On October 23, 1819, the pioneer Company of missionaries from the northeast United States, set sail on the Thaddeus for the Sandwich Islands (now known as Hawai‘i) – they first landed at Kailua-Kona on April 4, 1820. (Unfortunately, ʻŌpūkahaʻia died suddenly (of typhus fever on February 17, 1818) and never made it back to Hawaiʻi.)

It turns out that a manuscript was found among Queen Emma’s private papers (titled, “A Short Elementary Grammar of the Owhihe Language;”) a note written on the manuscript said, “Believed to be Obookiah’s grammar”.

Some believe this manuscript is the first grammar book on the Hawaiian language. However, when reading the document, many of the words are not recognizable. Here’s a sampling of a few of the words: 3-o-le; k3-n3-k3; l8-n3 and; 8-8-k8.

No these aren’t typos, either. … Let’s look a little closer.

In his journal, ʻŌpūkahaʻia first mentions grammar in his account of the summer of 1813: “A part of the time (I) was trying to translate a few verses of the Scriptures into my own language, and in making a kind of spelling-book, taking the English alphabet and giving different names and different sounds. I spent time in making a kind of spelling-book, dictionary, grammar.” (Schutz)

So, where does Noah Webster fit into this picture?

As initially noted, Webster’s works were the standard for American English. References to his “Spelling” book appear in the accounts by folks at the New England mission school.

As you know, English letters have different sounds for the same letter. For instance, the letter “a” has a different sound when used in words like: late, hall and father.

Noah Webster devised a method to help differentiate between the sounds and assigned numbers to various letter sounds – and used these in his Speller. (Webster did not substitute the numbers corresponding to a letter’s sound into words in his spelling or dictionary book; it was used as an explanation of the difference in the sounds of letters.)

The following is a chart for some of the letters related to the numbers assigned, depending on the sound they represent.

Long Vowels in English (Webster)
..1…..2…..3……4…….5……6……..7…….8
..a…..a…..a……e…….i…….o……..o…….u
late, ask, hall, here, sight, note, move, truth

Using ʻŌpūkahaʻia’s odd-looking words mentioned above, we can decipher what they represent by substituting the code and pronounce the words accordingly (for the “3,” substitute with “a” (that sounds like “hall”) and replace the “8” with “u,” (that sounds like “truth”) – so, 3-o-le transforms to ʻaʻole (no;) k3-n3-k3 transforms to kanaka (man;); l8-n3 transforms to luna (upper) and 8-8-k8 transforms to ʻuʻuku (small.)

It seems Henry ʻŌpūkahaʻia used Webster’s Speller in his writings and substituted the numbers assigned to the various sounds and incorporated them into the words of his grammar book (essentially putting the corresponding number into the spelling of the word.)

“Once we know how the vowel letters and numbers were used, ʻŌpūkahaʻia’s short grammar becomes more than just a curiosity; it is a serious work that is probably the first example of the Hawaiian language recorded in a systematic way. Its alphabet is a good deal more consistent than those used by any of the explorers who attempted to record Hawaiian words.” (Schutz)

“It might be said that the first formal writing system for the Hawaiian language, meaning alphabet, spelling rules and grammar, was created in Connecticut by a Hawaiian named Henry ʻŌpūkahaʻia. He began work as early as 1814 and left much unfinished at his death in 1818.” (Rumford)

“His work served as the basis for the foreign language materials prepared by American and Hawaiian students at the Foreign Mission School in Cornwall, Connecticut, in the months prior to the departure of the first company of missionaries to Hawai’i in October 1819.” (Rumford)

It is believed ʻŌpūkahaʻia classmates (and future missionaries,) Samuel Ruggles and James Ely, after ʻŌpūkahaʻia’s death, went over his papers and began to prepare material on the Hawaiian language to be taken to Hawaiʻi and used in missionary work (the work was written by Ruggles and assembled into a book – by Herman Daggett, principal of the Foreign Mission School – and credit for the work goes to ʻŌpūkahaʻia.)

Lots of information here from Rumford (Hawaiian Historical Society) and Schutz (Honolulu and The Voices of Eden: A History of Hawaiian Language Studies.)

I encourage you to review the images in the album; I had the opportunity to review and photograph the several pages of ʻŌpūkahaʻia’s grammar book. (Special thanks to the Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives and the Hawaiian Historical Society.)