ʻŌlelo Noʻeau are Hawaiian proverbs that often offer wisdom for a person to live by. The theme for this year is Aloha - the Hawaiian term for Love. These monthly posts will show you aloha in action, in the Hawaiian context. *For some reason, June's ʻŌlelo Noʻeau failed to post, so here it is! July's will be posted mid-month to account for this. Mahalo!*
- E + [verb] forms the Hawaiian Imperative (i.e. a command)
- Lei = Lei, flower necklace [n]; To wear a lei [v] (read more about this usage here)
- Kau = Season; here, "Summer" (here, as an Adjective to lei)
- Hoʻoilo = Winter (here, as an Adjective to lei)
- Aloha = Love
All together:
Wear love like a summer lei, wear love like a winter lei.
Wear love like a lei in the summer, wear love like a lei in the winter.
Note:
E lei is a command, where lei is a transitive verb using i ke aloha as a Direct Object. The speaker is saying to wear (as a lei) love. Because of Hawaiʻi's tropical climate, there are only two major seasons: summer and winter. So, the Hawaiian language originally had only two words: kau and hoʻoilo. Now, to include Spring and Autumn, modern Hawaiian uses kau to mean "season" and kau wela, kau hāʻulelau, kau hoʻoilo, and kau kupulau to mean Summer, Fall, Winter, Spring.