词汇大师(Wordmaster)--Hawaiian Language, Part 1

Today on Wordmaster, Rosanne Skirble travels a long distance in the United States for a lesson in an endangered language.

RS: Hawaii is far from home: A 12-hour plane ride from Washington, D.C., to Honolulu across six time zones. I was greeted at the airport with the Hawaiian word aloha and given a special flower garland called a lei.

It took a lot longer for the islands鈥?original settlers to get here. Those Polynesian mariners¹ sailed their double-hulled canoes from the South Pacific to these ancient volcanic² islands hundreds of years before the Europeans arrived.

Hawaiian was strictly³ an oral language when Captain James Cook landed here in 1778. Subsequent waves of missionaries⁴ brought the printing press and wrote down the language.

Native monarchs⁵ ruled Hawaii until it was annexed⁶ by the United States in 1898. Afterward⁷, English named the official language for school and government.

Today scarcely 1 percent of Hawaiians, or approximately 1,000 people, speak Hawaiian as their first language. But a cultural renaissance⁸ which began in the 1970s has promoted change. Public schools, community colleges and the university now teach Hawaiian. Leilani Basham is the coordinator⁹ of the Hawaiian language program at the University of Hawaii, where nearly 1,400 students are taking Hawaiian language courses.

Ms. Basham, for whom Hawaiian is a second language, points out that Hawaiian has a really tiny alphabet, just 12 letters: five vowels¹⁰, seven consonants¹² and a backwards¹³ apostrophe called an okina that works as a consonant¹¹.

I asked her why the words are so long.

LEILANI BASHAM: 鈥淎ctually they are not that long, but what you find is that there is a combination of several words, which make a long word. I am sure driving around, street names, that鈥檚 a very obvious one. For instance, when I gave you directions to come here, the street name Kapiolani is long. How many -鈥?1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10 letters, I think, if you include the okina, which often doesn鈥檛 get included in there. But it is really comprised of three words: ka meaning 鈥榯he,鈥?and a 鈥榩io鈥?is an arching symbol, the arch of a rainbow, and 鈥榣ani鈥?means heaven and it is also a reference to royalty¹⁴. Kapiolani is the name of one of our queens."

Leilani Basham says English as spoken in Hawaii has adopted many native words. The most common is aloha.

LEILANI BASHAM: 鈥淎ctually the word aloha is a description of affection, love, respect for another person. But when I first see someone for the day, and I say aloha, I am saying I have love, respect and affection for you. It鈥檚 not the equivalent of the English word hello.鈥?

What are some other words I need to get along in Hawaiian?

LEILANI BASHAM: "Another one is mahalo. Mahalo means thank you, but it is actually an expression of admiration¹⁵ for someone. So there is aloha, mahalo and then pau. And pau means that something's finished, that you're done with it.鈥?

SKIRBLE: 鈥淗ow do you spell it?鈥?

LEILANI BASHAM: 鈥淧-A-U, pau."

SKIRBLE: 鈥淚n the context of?鈥?

LEILANI BASHAM: 鈥淎re you pau? Are you finished eating? Are we pau with this interview? Are you pau with your homework? Are you pau with your telephone conversation?鈥?

Leilani Basham says Hawaiian courses are gaining enrollment¹⁶. But I ask - with just 1,000 native speakers 鈥?and most of them elderly 鈥?what can she reasonably expect from her students?

LEILANI BASHAM: 鈥淢y real hope would be able to live in my native homeland, in Hawaii, and go to different places -- any place really -- and have people there who speak Hawaiian 鈥?enough of a percentage (that) you can go to a restaurant and there are people there who speak Hawaiian. When I first started taking Hawaiian (lessons), people used to ask me -- in Hawaii -- what language I was speaking, which is an indication that people don鈥檛 hear Hawaiian spoken and don鈥檛 recognize it. It鈥檚 not like a normal part of their day. I haven¹⁷鈥檛 been asked that question in quite a bit of time."

SKIRBLE: 鈥淪o today, what value do people place on the Hawaiian language?鈥?

LEILANI BASHAM: 鈥淚t's essential for our life and the life of our people, and we recognize that this generation -- my generation and younger generations -- that language and knowledge of language is a core factor. It is not just about living in the past. It is about creating these things and bringing them into our present and our future. That body of knowledge is still there, and we need to try to reclaim¹⁸ it and revive it and make it live again.鈥?

Leilani Basham coordinates¹⁹ the Hawaiian Language Program in the Department of Pacific Languages and Literature at the University of Hawaii. Next week on Wordmaster we visit a school where children are immersed in the language and culture of Hawaii.

Until then, you can brush up on your American English by logging on to the Wordmaster archive at。。。。。。。。。。。or jot²⁰ us an e-mail to。。。。。。。。。。。thanks for listening. I'm Rosanne Skirble.

 

1 mariners   

海员，水手（mariner的复数形式）

参考例句：

• Mariners were also able to fix their latitude by using an instrument called astrolabe. 海员们还可使用星盘这种仪器确定纬度。
• The ancient mariners traversed the sea. 古代的海员漂洋过海。

2 volcanic   

adj.火山的；象火山的；由火山引起的

参考例句：

• There have been several volcanic eruptions this year.今年火山爆发了好几次。
• Volcanic activity has created thermal springs and boiling mud pools.火山活动产生了温泉和沸腾的泥浆池。

3 strictly   

adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地

参考例句：

• His doctor is dieting him strictly.他的医生严格规定他的饮食。
• The guests were seated strictly in order of precedence.客人严格按照地位高低就座。

4 missionaries   

n.传教士( missionary的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Some missionaries came from England in the Qing Dynasty. 清朝时，从英国来了一些传教士。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The missionaries rebuked the natives for worshipping images. 传教士指责当地人崇拜偶像。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 monarchs   

君主，帝王( monarch的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Monarchs ruled England for centuries. 世袭君主统治英格兰有许多世纪。
• Serving six monarchs of his native Great Britain, he has served all men's freedom and dignity. 他在大不列颠本国为六位君王服务，也为全人类的自由和尊严服务。 来自演讲部分

6 annexed   

[法] 附加的，附属的

参考例句：

• Germany annexed Austria in 1938. 1938年德国吞并了奥地利。
• The outlying villages were formally annexed by the town last year. 那些偏远的村庄于去年正式被并入该镇。

7 afterward   

adv.后来；以后

参考例句：

• Let's go to the theatre first and eat afterward. 让我们先去看戏，然后吃饭。
• Afterward,the boy became a very famous artist.后来，这男孩成为一个很有名的艺术家。

8 renaissance   

n.复活，复兴，文艺复兴

参考例句：

• The Renaissance was an epoch of unparalleled cultural achievement.文艺复兴是一个文化上取得空前成就的时代。
• The theme of the conference is renaissance Europe.大会的主题是文艺复兴时期的欧洲。

9 coordinator   

n.协调人

参考例句：

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。
• How am I supposed to find the client-relations coordinator? 我怎么才能找到客户关系协调员的办公室？

10 vowels   

n.元音，元音字母( vowel的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Vowels possess greater sonority than consonants. 元音比辅音响亮。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Note the various sounds of vowels followed by r. 注意r跟随的各种元音的发音。 来自超越目标英语 第3册

11 consonant   

n.辅音；adj.[音]符合的

参考例句：

• The quality of this suit isn't quite consonant with its price.这套衣服的质量和价钱不相称。
• These are common consonant clusters at the beginning of words.这些单词的开头有相同辅音组合。

12 consonants   

n.辅音，子音( consonant的名词复数 )；辅音字母

参考例句：

• Consonants are frequently assimilated to neighboring consonants. 辅音往往被其邻近的辅音同化。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Vowels possess greater sonority than consonants. 元音比辅音响亮。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

13 backwards   

adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地

参考例句：

• He turned on the light and began to pace backwards and forwards.他打开电灯并开始走来走去。
• All the girls fell over backwards to get the party ready.姑娘们迫不及待地为聚会做准备。

14 royalty   

n.皇家，皇族

参考例句：

• She claims to be descended from royalty.她声称她是皇室后裔。
• I waited on tables，and even catered to royalty at the Royal Albert Hall.我做过服务生， 甚至在皇家阿伯特大厅侍奉过皇室的人。

15 admiration   

n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕

参考例句：

• He was lost in admiration of the beauty of the scene.他对风景之美赞不绝口。
• We have a great admiration for the gold medalists.我们对金牌获得者极为敬佩。

16 enrollment   

n.注册或登记的人数；登记

参考例句：

• You will be given a reading list at enrollment.注册时你会收到一份阅读书目。
• I just got the enrollment notice from Fudan University.我刚刚接到复旦大学的入学通知书。

17 haven   

n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所

参考例句：

• It's a real haven at the end of a busy working day.忙碌了一整天后，这真是一个安乐窝。
• The school library is a little haven of peace and quiet.学校的图书馆是一个和平且安静的小避风港。

18 reclaim   

v.要求归还，收回；开垦

参考例句：

• I have tried to reclaim my money without success.我没能把钱取回来。
• You must present this ticket when you reclaim your luggage.当你要取回行李时，必须出示这张票子。

19 coordinates   

n.相配之衣物；坐标( coordinate的名词复数 )；（颜色协调的）配套服装；[复数]女套服；同等重要的人（或物）v.使协调，使调和( coordinate的第三人称单数 )；协调；协同；成为同等

参考例句：

• The town coordinates on this map are 695037. 该镇在这幅地图上的坐标是695037。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。 来自《简明英汉词典》

20 jot   

n.少量；vi.草草记下；vt.匆匆写下

参考例句：

• I'll jot down their address before I forget it.我得赶快把他们的地址写下来，免得忘了。
• There is not a jot of evidence to say it does them any good.没有丝毫的证据显示这对他们有任何好处。