Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 22, Number 2, 1 February 2005 — ʻŌlelo debate [ARTICLE]

ʻŌlelo debate

Keanu Wagner's comment in KW()"s December edition about how '"Ta Tahito Orero O Havaii' is not being taught" was an eyesore to read. The fact is no alphabet existed for the Hawaiian language until the American missionaries decided to put the language in writing. The missionaries were not linguists and used certain letters for sounds whieh they heard from various speakers in different areas and islands. The Polynesian languages do not have exact sounds as they do in English, henee the old text we see the use of the b for the p; the g for the k; and the d for the t. The immersion school children and UH students are exposed to mānaleo (native speakers), and some mānaleo have been involved teaching in the immersion schools. So how is that not the true authentic and original language? The Hawaiian language revival has brought on some criticism, but all these critics failed to see the accomplishments that 'Aha Pūnana Leo, Kula Kaiapuni and the UH have done by reintroducing the Hawaiian

language into the school curriculum, and consequently instilling pride in our people. The number of speakers has grown in the last 20 years after it was on its way to extinction. Had it not been for these people, our mo'opuna would be reading books about the language rather than hearing mānaleo. It was our generation, after all, who failed to keep the language alive and perpetuate it, but chose not to. E ola ka 'ōlelo Hawai'i! He mea nui ka 'ōlelo o ka po'e. E ho'ona'auao i nā kānaka a pau e pili ana i ke kumu 'ana o ka 'ōlelo makuahine. Kalani Mondoy Glendale , Calit'ornia