Hawaiian already has a word for history… do you know what it is?

Aloha mai,

The first time I heard the word moaukala I was super confused. I knew the context, but not this one word. Why hadn’t I heard this word before? 

Later, I found this word in the *Mamaka Kaiao dictionary and apparently, the word was created to mean “history.”

Guess what? We already have a word for history. (Surprise!) It’s moolelo. 

Once again, we’re coming across new words that are completely unnecessary. Initially, it may seem that a word with various meanings could be confusing, but over time you will see that context is everything. Additionally, words surrounding a word like moolelo helps specify the intended meaning. For example:

Moolelo Hawaii—Hawaiian History

Moolelo kaao—Legend or myth

Moolelo hoakaaka—Funny story

Ka puke moolelo o kona ola ana—Biography (book of stories about his life)

Help maintain the purity of Hawaiian. Moolelo has been passed down for generations. Moolelo lived on the lips of our Hawaiian ancestors, long before we came around. 

I encourage you to really develop an understanding of words like moolelo (and paani like we talked about in the last email) - this is the only way you can really perpetuate the authenticity of the language.

Please study and learn how to use the word moolelo instead of moaukala. 

If you have questions about how to use it, I would love to help you with that. 

Did you know that moaukala is another newly created word? Have you heard of it? Reply to this email and let me know!

Na’u no,

Malu

Ka-alala.mykajabi.com

*The Hawaiian Lexicon Committee, established in 1987, put out a dictionary called Mamaka Kaiao. Many of its words were modeled after English words and perspective, but what we want is to learn Hawaiian words from a Hawaiian perspective.