Read this article in ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi
Hello, readers of this column. Last month, we looked at prefixes like hoʻo-, haʻa-, hā-, kā, and others. Letʻs look at suffixes this month. These affixes are helpful in understanding and appreciating the Hawaiian language.
One such suffix that is well known by us is -na. This suffix can be found at the end of words like ʻaina (meal), ʻohana (family), pukana (issue), and haʻina (saying, answer). Be careful, there are two uses for -na. One use is to form a noun from a verb; for example, if “piʻi” is the verb for “climb” then “piʻina” is the noun for “ascent.” If “kalai” is to “carve” then kalaina is the noun for “carving.”
Another use of -na is as passive voice. Words such as ʻaina (eaten), kiʻina (fetched), are examples of this use. One can see the passive verb use in this line of a chant, “My lehua flowers eaten by the bird.”This is an old saying from the story of Kawelo. Nowadays, this line would be said instead, “My flowers that are eaten by the bird.” [The difference is evident in the Hawaiian].
There are other suffixes similar to -na, in that it can form a noun from a verb, that is -lana as in kūlana (station, from kū, to stand) and -kana as in palekana (safety, from pale to protect) and pilikana (relation, from pili to relate).
When I was traveling in Aotearoa (New Zealand) visiting Rākaumanga Māori language immersion school, I saw a sign at the doorway. It said “The shoes are removed.” I did some code switching to Hawaiian and got this, “the shoes are removed.” However, it is said this way today, “Removed are the shoes.” [Difference can be seen in Hawaiian]. Although that former saying is not how it is said nowadays, I thought, that is probably how it was said by the ancestors. The elders used the passive voice and the suffixes like -hia (e.g. loʻohia/stressed, hulihia/overturned), -ia, -lia (e.g. kūlia/stood), and -mia (e.g. inumia/drunk, haumia/defiled).
This suffix also has a command function. Therefore, if the motto of Queen Julia Kapiʻolani, “Kūlia i ka nuʻu,” is said then it is a command to just stand, not to strive and reach the summit.
I used to work on a site on Hoʻokanikē street in the ahupuaʻa of Waiau. The -kē in the name has the meaning of a sound (kani) repeatedly sounding. Note how it uses the prefix hoʻo-. Therefore, holoholokē means to go there and here, there and here repeatedly. Turn there, turn here, turn repeatedly, Hoʻolelekē, then, refers to the flying, throwing, and tossing something repeatedly such as the tossing of tī leaves into the pit of Mālama as an offering to Kamohoaliʻi.
If you ever entered a walkathon or marathon, there is a suffix that you are familiar with, that s -thon/-kona. Therefore, a telethon is a kelekona. How would you say talkathon? Kolekona, perhaps. How about the English suffix -aholic. -Aholika, maybe. Therefore, a person completely taken to chocolate is a kokoalika? Alas, I am just playing around. Has this review of the affixes been helpful? If so, go and search for various affixes.
