Please stop using this "Hawaiian" word…

Auhea ka poe imi naauao,

Okay, are you ready for this one…? Because I’ve been waiting to crack this wide open.

There’s a new Hawaiian word, anila (weather), and people have become very attached to it. 

Please don’t use this word.

The word anila, was made to fit English thinking. There is no one-word equivalent for the word “weather” in Hawaiian so they made a word to match their English perspective.  

When learning Hawaiian, we do not demand that the language conforms to our understanding or our way of thinking. We conform and adapt to Hawaiian thinking. 

Native speakers didn’t create this word, by the way. Most of them don’t know of its existence, therefore, it is intelligible for them when they encounter it. In other words, they will have no idea what you’re talking about if you use it with them.(I’ll get more into creating words next week). 

In general, Hawaiian thinking about weather is very different than English. In English, we have a couple of ways to describe rain (heavy or light), and Hawaiians have dozens of very specific ways to describe rain, wind, ocean conditions, heat, etc…

I recently had a conversation about this on my podcast, and what I want you to know is there are so many ways Hawaiians describe and talk about the weather and we don’t need this new word. 

Pehea keia la—How is today?

Wela ikiiki keia la—It’s a terribly humid day.

Pehea kou aoao—How is (it) on your side?

Ano pouli, a ano ikaika ka makani—It’s a bit cloudy, and windy.

I can’t emphasize it enough - if you really want to learn to express yourself in Hawaiian listen to Native speakers!

Let’s all do our part to perpetuate the language of our ancestors. 

What do you think about this topic? Should we change our language to match English thinking? 

Me paipai aku no,

Malu

Ka-alala.mykajabi.com