A Dictionary of the Hawaiian Language [Hardcover]

Lorrin Andrews (Author), Noenoe K. Silva (Introduction), Albert J. Schutz (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 2003

This resourceful dictionary provides a rare and valuable glimpse into mid-nineteenth -century Hawaiian culture and thought.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

The roots of A Dictionary of the Hawaiian Language go back to the late 1820s, when Lorrin Andrews arrived in Hawaii and began a systematic study of Hawaiian, which grew into a love of the language that was to continue for forty years. In 1836, he published a Hawaiian "vocabulary," which eventually quadrupled in size to become the present work, which first appeared in 1865. Although many missionary linguistics compiled dictionaries of Polynesian languages to aid in translating, Andrews had a different motive: to collect "specimens of the language of common life." To this end, he used native speakers, mostly through their writings, as the authorities for defining words. In the 1860s, Hawaiian was indeed the language of common life, for it was used in everyday communication, and in such institutions as the schools, the government, and the church. This, this dictionary provides a rare and valuable glimpse into mid-nineteenth-century Hawaiian culture and thought. This is especially important today, as students and scholars examine the past to help insure that Hawaiian continues as a living language in the present and the future.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 567 pages
• Publisher: Island Heritage Publishing; Bilingual edition (March 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0896103749
• ISBN-13: 978-0896103740
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 6.2 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,381,896 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #27 in Books > Education & Reference > Dictionaries & Thesauruses > Foreign Language > Hawaiian

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential for students of Hawaiian history, September 12, 2010

By 

Makana Risser Chai (Kailua, O'ahu, Hawai'i) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Dictionary of the Hawaiian Language (Hardcover)

Yes, this book was written by a missionary in 1865, but if you want to understand Hawaiian language and history it is essential. All of the Hawaiian language newspapers were written without the use of the kahako and 'okina. Many meanings in this dictionary are not in Pukui & Elbert -- which may mean that Andrews was wrong, or that the language changed by the time Pukui came along two generations later, or perhaps for some other reason. As just one example extremely relevant today, Pukui pronounces the word for foreigner or white person as hao-le while Andrews has it as ha-o-le. We may never know what is "right" but this dictionary gives us more information to begin to understand.

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Good, if it was the year 1865!, April 30, 2009

By 

Frederick (Honolulu, Hawai'i, The Greatest Country in the World) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Dictionary of the Hawaiian Language (Hardcover)

This dictionary is based on the 1865 dictionary by Lorrin Andrews. I don't like this dictionary, because it excludes the kahako' and makes limited, sporadic use of the ''okina. Exclusion of the kahako' and the ''okina was common for early Hawaiian publications, but they are important "elements" of the Hawaiian language. This dictionary is an important historical document, but many of the words are spelled incompletely because they may be missing a kahako' and/or ''okina. It also makes the annoying use of hypens in the Hawaiian words that are listed. Back in 1865, this may have been the best Hawaiian dictionary, but today I would avoid its use.

The idea of an illustrated dictionary is nice, but there are very few illustrations. I would expect to see many, many more illustrations, but more illustrations would in no way make up for the deficiencies in spelling for the missing kahako and 'okina.

I recommend the University of Hawaii Press Hawaiian dictionary by Pukui and Elbert [PE] Hawaiian Dictionary: Hawaiian-English, English-Hawaiian. The PE dictionary is considered THE Hawaiian dictionary. The PE dictionary also comes in a condensed, abridged paperback version called the New Pocket Hawaiian Dictionary, New Pocket Hawaiian Dictionary: With a Concise Grammar and Given Names in Hawaiian.