Images of Old Hawaiʻi

  • Home
  • About
  • Categories
    • Ali’i / Chiefs / Governance
    • American Protestant Mission
    • Buildings
    • Collections
    • Economy
    • Missionaries / Churches / Religious Buildings
    • General
    • Hawaiian Traditions
    • Other Summaries
    • Mayflower Summaries
    • Mayflower Full Summaries
    • Military
    • Place Names
    • Prominent People
    • Schools
    • Sailing, Shipping & Shipwrecks
    • Voyage of the Thaddeus
  • Collections
  • Contact
  • Follow

March 3, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Pī ʻā pā

“We are happy to announce to you that, on the first Monday of January (1822), we commenced printing, and, with great satisfaction, have put the first eight pages of the Owhyhee spelling book into the hands of our pupils”. (Joint letter of the missionaries, February 1, 1822)

Native Hawaiians immediately perceived the importance of “palapala” – document, to write or send a message. “Makai” – “good” – exclaimed Chief Ke‘eaumoku, to thus begin the torrent of print communications that we have today. (HHS)

“On January 7, 1822, on the mission press set up in the (Levi) Chamberlains’ thatched house 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. … Most of the printing done at the islands has been done by native hands.” (Bingham)

The first printing was pages of the pī ‘ā pā; the name of the first little primer or spelling book printed in the Hawaiian language. It included the alphabet, numerals, punctuation marks, lists of words, verses of scriptures and a few short poems.

In the initial instruction, the missionaries taught by first teaching syllables – adding consonants to vowels, just as Noah Webster noted in his speller.

“As far back as one can trace the history of reading methodology, children were taught to spell words out, in syllables, in order to pronounce them.” Webster wrote.

“The teacher begins with vowels: 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”. (ABCFM 1834)

The classroom exercise of spelling aloud also focused on syllables: Pupils first pronounced each letter of the syllable, and then put the sounds together and pronounced the syllable.

This practice of spelling aloud gave the Hawaiian alphabet its name. Just as American schoolchildren taught with Webster’s speller began their recitation by naming the letters that formed the first syllable, and then pronouncing the result: “B, A – BA,” so did Hawaiian learners.

The early missionary teacher said to his pupil, b, a – ba; the Hawaiian would repeat, pronouncing “b” like “p” and said “pī ʻā pā; hence the word that is now known as the Hawaiian alphabet and the name of the book. (Schutz)

Then, on July 14, 1826, the missionaries established a 12-letter alphabet for the written Hawaiian language, using five vowels (a, e, i, o, and u) and seven consonants (h, k, l, m, n, p and w) in their “Report of the committee of health on the state of the Hawaiian language.” The report was signed by Bingham and Chamberlain. The alphabet continues in use today.

“To one unacquainted with the language it would be impossible to distinguish the words in a spoken sentence, for in the mouth of a native, a sentence appeared like an ancient Hebrew or Greek manuscript-all one word.”

“It was found that every word and every syllable in the language ends with a vowel; the final vowel of a word or syllable, however, is often made so nearly to coalesce or combine with the sound of the succeeding vowel, as to form a dipthongal sound, apparently uniting two distinct words.”

“There are, on the other hand, abrupt separations or short and sudden breaks between two vowels m the same word. The language, moreover, is crowded with a class of particles unknown In the languages with which we had any acquaintance.”

“There were also frequent reduplications of the same vowel sound, so rapid, that by most foreigners the two were taken for one.”

“In the oft recurring names of the principal island, the largest village, and of the king of the leeward islands, ” Owhyhee,” ” Hanaroorah,” and” Tamoree,” scarcely the sound of a single syllable was correctly expressed, either in writing or speaking, by voyagers or foreign residents.”

“Had we, therefore, followed the orthography of voyagers, or in adopting an alphabet made a single vowel stand for as many sounds as in English, and several different vowels for the same sound, and given the consonants the ambiguity of our c, s, t, ch, gh, &c., …”

“… it would have been extremely difficult, if not impracticable to induce the nation to become readers, in the course of a whole generation, even if we had been furnished with ample funds to sustain in boarding-schools, all who would devote their time and labor to study.” (Bingham)

“The power of the vowels may be thus represented: – a, as a in the English words art, father; e, as a in pale, or ey in they; i, as ee or in machine; o, as o in no; u, as oo in too. They are called so as to express their power by their names – Ah, A, Ee, O, Oo.”

“The consonants are in like manner called by such simple names as to suggest their power, thus, following the sound of the vowels as above – He, Ke, La, Mu, Xu, Pi, We.” (Bingham)

“There were some difficulties to be encountered in distinguishing several consonant sounds, and to determine which of two characters in the Roman or English alphabet to adopt for certain sounds that appeared somewhat variable in the mouths of the natives.”

“The following appeared sometimes to be interchangeable: b and p, k and t, I and r, v and w, and even the sound of d, it was thought by some, was used in some cases where others used k, l, r or t. For purely native words, however, k, I, p and w were preferred.”

“The opening to them of this source of light never known to their ancestors remote or near, occurred while many thousands of the friends of the heathen were on the monthly concert, unitedly praying that the Gospel might have free course and he glorified.”

“It was like laying a corner stone of an important edifice for the nation.”

“A considerable number was present, and among those particularly interested was Ke‘eaumoku, who, after a little instruction from Mr. Loomis, applied the strength of his athletic arm to the lever of a Ramage press, pleased thus to assist in working off a few impressions of the first lessons. These lessons were caught at with eagerness by those who had learned to read by manuscript.”

“Kamāmalu applied herself also with renewed vigor to learn, both in English and in her own language, and exerted an influence, on the whole, favorable to the cause of instruction, and soon had a school-house built for the benefit of her people.”

“Liholiho requested a hundred copies of the spelling-book in his language to be furnished for his friends and attendants who were unsupplied, while he would not have the instruction of the people, in general, come in the way of their cutting sandalwood to pay his debts.” (Bingham)

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook 

Follow Peter T Young on Google+ 

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn  

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger

© 2018 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Pi-a-pa-01
Pi-a-pa-01
Pi-a-pa-02-03
Pi-a-pa-02-03
Pi-a-pa-04-05
Pi-a-pa-04-05
Pi-a-pa-06-07
Pi-a-pa-06-07
Pi-a-pa-08-09
Pi-a-pa-08-09
Pi-a-pa-10-11
Pi-a-pa-10-11
Pi-a-pa-12-13
Pi-a-pa-12-13
Pi-a-pa-14-15
Pi-a-pa-14-15
Pi-a-pa-16
Pi-a-pa-16
Noah_Webster's_The_American_Spelling_Book-Cover-1800
Noah Websters Speller-page 28
Noah Websters Speller-page 28
Noah_Webster_pre-1843
Noah_Webster_pre-1843

Filed Under: Economy, General, Ali'i / Chiefs / Governance, Missionaries / Churches / Religious Buildings Tagged With: Hawaii, Noah Webster, Pi-a-pa, Speller

February 16, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

‘How you spell?’

“I began to think about leaving that country, to go to some other part of the globe. I did not care where I shall go to. I thought to myself that if I should get away, and go to some other country, probably I may find some comfort, more than to live there, without father and mother.” (ʻŌpūkahaʻia)

In about 1807, a young Hawaiian man, ʻŌpūkahaʻia, swam out to the ‘Triumph’, a China-bound seal skin trading ship anchored in Kealakekua Bay. Both of ʻŌpūkahaʻia’s parents and his younger brother had been slain during the battles on the island.

He arrived in the Northeast US. The coming of Henry ʻŌpūkahaʻia and other young Hawaiians to the continent had awakened a deep Christian sympathy in the churches and moved the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) to establish a Foreign Mission School and a mission to the Hawaiian Islands.

“In his disposition he was amiable and affectionate. His temper was mild. Passion was not easily excited, nor long retained Revenge, or resentment, it if presumed, was never known to be cherished in his heart.”

“He loved his friends, and was grateful for the favours which he received from them. In his journal and letters are found frequent expressions of affection and gratitude to those who had been his benefactors.”

“To families in which he had lived, or to individuals who had been his particular patrons, he felt an ardent attachment. One of the latter, who had been separated from him for a considerable time, he met with great delight …”

“… and after the first customary salutations, said to him, ‘I want to see you great while: you don’t know how you seem to me: you seem like father, mother, brother, all.’”

“In his understanding, Obookiah excelled ordinary young men. His mind was not of a common cast. It was such, that, with proper culture, it might have become a mind of the first order.”

“Its distinguishing traits were sound common sense, keen discernment, and an inquisitiveness or enterprise which disposed him to look as far as his mind could reach into every subject that was presented to his attention.”

“By his good sense he was accustomed to view subjects of every kind in their proper light; to see things as they are. He seldom misconceived or misjudged.” (Memoirs)

“Said Mrs. Abbot to a friend, ‘He was always pleasant. I never saw him angry. He used to come into my chamber and kneel down by me and pray. Mr. Mills did not think he was a Christian at that time, but he appeared to be thinking of nothing else but religion. He afterwards told me that there was a time when he wanted to get religion into his head more than into his heart.’”

“In an absence of a month or two from the family, he wrote a letter to Mrs. Abbot, from which the following is an extract.”

“‘I sometimes think about my poor soul, and that which God hath done. I will cry unto God – ‘What shall I do to be saved?’ I know that God is able to take away blind eyes and wicked heart, we must be born again and have a new spirit before we die.’”

“‘As soon as we shall be dead, all we must stand before the judgement-seat of Christ. Friend, perhaps you have not done any thing wicked, so that God can punish you. I hope you have not. But if we are not his friends and followers he will cast us into hell, and we shall be there for ever and ever. I hope you will think upon all these things. Friend to you, Henry Obookiah.’” (Memoirs)

“His inquisitive mind was not satisfied with pursuing the usual round of study, but he was disposed to understand critically every
branch of knowledge to which he attended. For this reason, his progress in his studies was not rapid – but as a scholar he was industrious, ingenious and thorough.”

“His mind was also inventive. After having acquired some slight knowledge of the English language in its grammatical construction, he entered upon the project of reducing to system his own native language.”

“When he began to read in words of one or two syllables in the spelling-book, there were certain sounds which he found it very difficult to articulate.”

“This was true especially of syllables that contained the letter R – a letter which occasioned him more trouble than all others. In pronouncing it, he uniformly gave it the sound of L. At every different reading an attempt was made to correct the pronunciation.”

“ʻŌpūkahaʻia was also taught by others in his rounds of various families, and in this way ‘he soon acquired a knowledge of the spelling-book, and in a few months was able to read in the Testament. By this time he had also made considerable proficiency in writing’”.

“In one of the first letters he wrote (March 2, 1810), he mentioned: ‘I spell four syllables now.’ Mr Abbot, steward of the Theological Institution at Andover, told of his desire to know both the sight and sound of a word:”

“‘When he heard a word … which he did not understand or could not speak, it was his constant habit to ask me, ‘How you spell? how you spell?’ When I told him he never forgot.’”

“In the fall of 1813, ʻŌpūkahaʻia attended a public grammar school at Litchfield, and there he began to study English grammar, along with geography and arithmetic.”

“ʻŌpūkahaʻia’s connection with the eventual mission to Hawai’i came through his conversion to Christianity in 1815. By that time, he had not only learned English and studied the usual curriculum of the period …”

“… but had also experienced some of the fervor of the prevailing general religious revival and the awakening of a mission spirit (called the Second Great Awakening of the New Light Theology) among the Protestant churches of New England”

“ʻŌpūkahaʻia and others from the Sandwich Islands, as well as other Polynesians and Native Americans, requested the training that would prepare them to return home and share the Gospel with their own people.”

“The presence of those islanders and Native Americans, especially ʻŌpūkahaʻia, along with their evangelistic zeal, inspired the founding of the Foreign Mission School in 1816, where ʻŌpūkahaʻia was one of the first students.” (Schutz)

“After having acquired some slight knowledge of the English language in its grammatical construction, he entered upon the project of reducing to system his own native tongue.”

“As it was not a written language, but lay in its chaotic state, every thing was to be done. With some assistance he had made considerable progress towards completing a Grammar, a Dictionary, and a Spelling-book.”

“In ʻŌpūkahaʻia’s own words: ‘At this time [summer 1814], Mr. Mills wished me to go and live with the Rev. Mr. Harvey, of Goshen. This was pleasing to me, and I went to live with him and studied geography and mathematics …”

“… and a part of the time 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—(for this language was not written language.) I spent some time in making a kind of spelling-book, dictionary, grammar.”

“He mentioned the grammar again on 4 June 1815. In a letter from Goshen, Connecticut, to the Reverend Eleazar T. Fitch at New Haven, he wrote:”

“‘I want to see you about our Grammar: I want to get through with it. I have been translating a few chapters of the Bible into the Hawaiian language. I found I could do it very correctly.’” (Schutz)

Go here for further explanation: https://wp.me/p5GnMi-2yo

Saturday, February 17, 2018 marks the Bicentennial of ʻŌpūkahaʻia’s death.

Hawaiian Mission Houses will be hosting a Free Open House that afternoon.

  • 10 am (HST), February 17, 2018 State-wide bell ringing;
  • 10 am, Feb 17, Haili Church, Kawaiaha’o Church & Hawaiian Mission Houses;
  • 10:15 am, Feb 17, Mokuaikaua Church, Henry ‘Ōpūkaha’ia Memorial Concert;
  • 3 pm (Eastern) Feb 17, Remembrance at original ʻŌpūkahaʻia’s gravesite at Cornwall, CT;
  • 9:30 am, February 18, 2018, commemoration services at Kahikolu Church;
  • 9 am & 11 am, Feb 18, Mokuaikaua Church Services, Speaker to discuss Life of ‘Ōpūkaha’ia;
  • 10 am, Feb 18, service at Henry ‘Ōpūkaha’ia Memorial Chapel/Hokuloa Church, Punalu‘u;
  • 10 am (Eastern), February 18, 2018 Services at UCC Cornwall;
  • 6 pm, February 17, 18, 24, 25 at Kalihi Union Church, a musical drama on life of ʻŌpūkahaʻia.

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook 

Follow Peter T Young on Google+ 

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn  

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger

© 2018 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Opukahaia_Grammar_Book-(HHS)_Spelling
Opukahaia_Grammar_Book-(HHS)_Spelling
Opukahaia
Opukahaia
Noah Wbster
Noah Wbster
Noah_Websters_The_American_Spelling_Book-Cover-1800
Websters_The_American_Spelling_Book-Number_assignment_to_vowel_sounds-page_13-1800
Opukahaia_Grammar_Book-HHS-Articles-1
Opukahaia_Grammar_Book-HHS-Spelling
Opukahaia_Grammar_Book-HHS-some_words
Opukahaia_Grammar_Book-HHS-Adverbs-Spelling
Opukahaia_Grammar_Book-HHS_Spelling
Opukahaia_Grammar_Book-HHS-Title_Page-1

Filed Under: General Tagged With: Hawaii, Noah Webster, Speller, Opukahaia, Grammar Book, Reverend Eleazar T. Fitch

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.

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook 

Follow Peter T Young on Google+ 

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn  

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger

© 2017 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Noah Websters Speller-page 28
Noah Websters Speller-page 28
Noah_Webster's_The_American_Spelling_Book-Cover-1800
Noah_Webster’s_The_American_Spelling_Book-Cover-1800
Noah_Webster_pre-1843
Noah_Webster_pre-1843

Filed Under: Ali'i / Chiefs / Governance, Missionaries / Churches / Religious Buildings, Hawaiian Traditions, Prominent People, Schools Tagged With: Hawaii, Noah Webster, Hawaiian Language, Pi-a-pa, Speller

Images of Old Hawaiʻi

People, places, and events in Hawaiʻi’s past come alive through text and media in “Images of Old Hawaiʻi.” These posts are informal historic summaries presented for personal, non-commercial, and educational purposes.

Info@Hookuleana.com

Connect with Us

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent Posts

  • For the Birds
  • James Otis
  • Raising the United States Flag
  • Kamehameha III’s Secret Agreement of US Annexation
  • Daguerreotype
  • Wahiawā
  • Math’s Life Lessons

Categories

  • General
  • Ali'i / Chiefs / Governance
  • Buildings
  • Missionaries / Churches / Religious Buildings
  • Hawaiian Traditions
  • Military
  • Place Names
  • Prominent People
  • Schools
  • Sailing, Shipping & Shipwrecks
  • Economy
  • Voyage of the Thaddeus
  • Mayflower Summaries
  • American Revolution

Tags

August Hering Charles Sheldon Judd Chief D-Day Dentistry DOE Dredging Ephraim Weston Clark Floating Island Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary Hawaii Invasive Species Council HECO Henry AP Carter Henry Martyn Whitney John Webber Joseph Boyd Poindexter Kalaniopuu Kanaina Ka Wai O Pele Keei Kini Popo Lava Tube Liliuokalani Educational Society Makai Arterial Makanau Makaweli Molokai Oklahoma Paia High School PASH Patricia Jennings Pohaku O Lanai Ponoholo Ranch Puuhonua Richard Boone Robert Boyd St Catherine's St John Vianney Termite Palace Territorial Hospital Waikiki Roughwater Swim Waikolu Yale Yokohama Specie Bank Zephaniah Swift Spalding

Hoʻokuleana LLC

Hoʻokuleana LLC is a Planning and Consulting firm assisting property owners with Land Use Planning efforts, including Environmental Review, Entitlement Process, Permitting, Community Outreach, etc. We are uniquely positioned to assist you in a variety of needs.

Info@Hookuleana.com

Copyright © 2012-2021 Peter T Young, Hoʻokuleana LLC

 

Loading Comments...