Customer Reviews

A Dictionary of the Hawaiian Language

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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.

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 This dictionary is an important historical document, but many of the words are spelled incompletely because they may be missing a kahako' and/or ''okina.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.