ʻŌlelo Noʻeau are Hawaiian proverbs that often offer wisdom for a person to live by. The ones chosen are intended to apply particularly to your learning of the Hawaiian language in hopes to keep up your motivation.
This month's proverb is reminiscent of last month's because it uses similar vocab and a Locative. I'll provide a breakdown for your understanding below!
- E = Command marker
- Hana = To make, create, do
- Mua = First, before, in the front
- A = [in this case] Until; a shortened form of a hiki i = until
- Paʻa = Solid, firm, stuck, memorized
- Kahua = Foundation, base, site, field
- Mamua o (now written as three words: ma mua o) = Same as mua above, but as a Locative
- Aʻo ʻana = Teaching, learning, instruction; Learn more about the function of ʻana here.
- Aku = Directional meaning "away from" the speaker; adding it to the end of aʻo creates the meaning "To teach" (as apposed to aʻo mai = To learn)
- iā = Object marker (here, and Indirect Object) for Pronouns and Names
- Haʻi = Someone else, another person, others; this word uses the Pronoun/Name object marker instead of i, used for general nouns
All together:
Make first until firm the foundation before teaching someone else.
First make the foundation firm before teaching someone else.
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