ENGL-540- Scheibman

MORPHEMES: Hawaiian Morpheme Identification

Below you will find a selection of simple sentences in Hawaiian. Translations are given, yet exclude individual word and morpheme identification. Analyze the data below and compare sample sentences with their translations. Answer the questions at the end of the problem. A solution is also provided. The data is given in standard Hawaiian spelling. In Hawaiian:

“The consonants h, l, m, and n are pronounced about as in English, except that n is dental-alveloar. The consonants w and v are variants of the same sound. Each vowel has a lengthened version. Stressed a suggests at times the sound of a in father. Unstressed a usually suggests the a in sofa.” (Elbert and Pukui 13-14)

1. ‘Ike au. ‘I know.’ 2. Ko‘u hale. ‘My house.’ 3. ‘Ike ‘oia. ‘He/she knows.’ 4. Kō kāua hale. ‘Our (including the addressee) house.’ 5. ‘Ike lāua. ‘They two know.’ 6. Kō māua hale. ‘Our (excluding the addressee) house.’ 7. He kumu au. ‘I’m a teacher.’ 8. ‘Ike kāua. ‘We (you and I) know.’ 9. ‘Ike māua. ‘We (he and I) know.’ 10. He kumu. ‘I’m a teacher.’ 11. Ko‘u keiki. ‘My child.’ 12. Ma‘ane‘i ka hale. ‘The house is here.’ 13. Ka‘u mea. ‘My thing.’ 14. Ko‘u kumu. ‘My teacher.’ 15. Ka‘u ka mea li‘ili‘i. ‘The little thing is mine.’

16. Na‘u ka mea li‘ili‘i. ‘Give me the little thing.’ 17. He keiki ka‘u. ‘I have a child.’ 18. He keiki na‘u. ‘A child for me.’ 19. Ua ‘ike? ‘Do you know?’ 20. ‘Ike. ‘ I know.’ A. Isolate and identify all the morphemes in the data, grouping them into categories

(nouns, pronouns, etc.) and stating the meaning or function of each one. Note that two different morphemes in the data set have two forms and one morpheme is neutral. Hint: Look at the translations carefully.

B. Which two morphemes have two forms? Based on this limited data, what would be your hypothesis as to when each form is used? Hint: There is only one set that has a specific function.

C. Based on this data, are subject pronouns optional or obligatory in Hawaiian? Explain.

Discussion and Solutions

A. To begin solving the problem, it is best to look for similar sentences that differ only in one element. This will start the process of determining the meaning of each morpheme in the sentence. For example, by comparing sentences 1 and 3, you can conclude that au means ‘I’ and ‘oia means ‘he/she’.

Solutions Nouns Personal Pronouns Possession hale ‘house au ‘I’ ko‘u ‘my/mine’ kumu ‘teacher’ ‘oia* ‘he/she’ ka‘u ‘my/mine’ keiki ‘child’ lāua ‘they’ kō ‘neutral,signals poss.’ mea ‘thing’ māua ‘we (he and I)’ na‘u ‘for me’ kāua ‘we (you and I) ua ‘you’ *Note: The personal pronoun for ‘he/she’ in Hawaiian is ia, however “the clitic

subject marker ‘o is commonly written joined to ia.” (107) This data set does not show that, so I wanted it to be clear.

Others li‘ili‘i ‘little’ ma‘ane‘i ‘here’ ka ‘the’ (definite article) he ‘a’ (indefinite article) ike ‘know’ B. There are two morphemes that have two forms. The first you might notice from

the data is the difference between the possessive ko‘u and ka‘u. In the data given, it appears as though these two morphemes are used interchangeably to mean ‘my’ or ‘mine’. Another interesting morpheme is that of ‘we’. From the data set, you can see that Hawaiian makes a distinction between ‘we’ inclusive and ‘we’ exclusive. The pronoun māua is used exclusively, meaning the addressee is excluded from the meaning of ‘we’. For example sentence 6: Kō māua hale. ‘Our (excluding the addressee) house.’ The pronoun kāua is used inclusively to include the addressee. For example sentence 8: ‘Ike kāua. ‘We

(you and I) know.’ The morpheme kō is neutral and simply signals possession, though this may have been difficult to conclude from the limited data. Solution ko‘u and ka‘u are used interchangeably to mean ‘my’ or ‘mine’. kāua is used when ‘we’ includes the addressee. māua is used when ‘we’ excludes the addressee.

C. The limited data does allow you to form the following hypothesis about subject

pronouns in Hawaiian. Solution Subject pronouns are optional in Hawaiian. According to Elbert and Pukui, “Pronouns are frequently omitted unless there is ambiguity.” (108) In comparing sentences 1 and 20, it is clear that ‘Ike and ‘Ike au both mean ‘I know.’ The pronoun au is unnecessary. Sentences 7 and 10 also illustrate this point with He kumu au and He kumu both meaning ‘I am a teacher.’

References: Elbert, Samuel, and Mary Pukui. Hawaiian grammar. Honolulu: University of Hawaii, 1979.