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VOCAB: Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving! Here, you'll find terms related to this holiday, but they can prove useful to remember for the rest of the year too. 

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Please note that Thanksgiving is culturally an American/mainland holiday, as are many of its activities and associations, so Hawaiian (among other languages, Western and non) will often simply translate literally or transcribe these words ("Hawaiianize").

Before jumping straight into the vocab list, let's first look at how to say the greeting "Happy Thanksgiving!" You have two options to choose from:

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Hauʻoli Lā Hoʻomaikaʻi!

 Here is a breakdown of the word:

Hoʻo = "to make [adj]" (common prefix)

Maikaʻi = nice, good, fine; blessed [adj]         

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Put these morphemes together, and you get: Hoʻomaikaʻi = To give nice/good/fine-ness, To bless; In other words: To thank/give thanks (for your food, for your family/situation. To bless these things). Therefore: Lā Hoʻomaikaʻi = Day of Giving Thanks!

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Side note: Lā Hoālohaloha i ke Akua (shortened to Lā Hoālohaloha - notice the double aloha in there?) is another term for Thanksgiving (as it is another term for To bless), and was the term used for decades after the holiday was officially instituted. Eventually, it started to become Lā Hoālohaloha a Hoʻomaikaʻi i ke Akua, then Lā Hoʻomaikaʻi eventually became the more common term to this day. Though less frequent, you'll still occasionally see Lā Hoālohaloha!

 

Our house uses this full term, that is, Lā Hoālohaloha i ke Akua. It's what's seen the most in nūpepa, which we read often for this holiday. That's why you'll see our provided haʻawina kamaliʻi use this term!

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If you want some fun, math activities that are
Thanksgiving-themed,
check out the Haʻawina Kamaliʻi page
after you finish this vocab!

Set #1

"Dinner" and Verbs

There are three ways to say dinner:​

  • Dinner = ʻ​aina ahiahi

    • ​Distinguishes itself from breakfast and lunch

  • Dinner = Pāʻ​ina​​

    • More than one person eating together

    • Implying a small get-together, including going with family to a restaurant

    • Small dinner party

    • Party that includes food

    • *To eat in this way (verb)

  • Dinner = ʻ​ahaʻ​aina

    • Large dinner party​

    • Feast, banquet

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  • To feast, give a feast = Hōʻ​ahaʻ​aina

    • Note that this is the same as the Noun above, with an added prefix!​

  • To cook = Kuke / Hoʻ​omoʻ​a

    • Kuke is the Hawaiianization of "Cook"​

    • Ho'omo'a is the Adjective mo'a = cooked with our usual prefix

  • To prepare = Hoʻ​omākaukau

    • Mākaukau = prepared, ready [yourself, or food]​

  • To carve [meat] = ʻ​okiʻ​oki

We'll use this last one, ʻ​ahaʻ​aina, to refer to a Thanksgiving Dinner

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"E hoʻomaikaʻi kākou no kēia ʻahaʻaina nui loa!"

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Hoʻomākaukau ʻo Chichi i ka mea ʻai, a hōʻahaʻaina ʻo Goku

Feast 2.png

Hoʻomākaukau lākou

i ke pākaukau ʻahaʻaina Lā Hoʻomaikaʻi

Set #2

Foods

  • Turkey [animal and food] = Pelehū

  • Gravy, sauce = Kai

    • ipukai (ipu + kai) is the dish you put your gravy in - the gravy boat!​

  • Stuffing = Mea hoʻ​opihapiha

    • Piha means full, so this word literally means "thing that makes [one's stomach] full"​

  • Sweet potato = ʻ​​​​uala

    • This is a staple food in Hawaii, and are often purple as well as orange!​

  • Potato = ʻ​uala kahiki

  • Mashed potatoes = ʻ​uala kahiki hoʻ​owali ʻ​ia​

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  • Pumpkin pie = Pai palaʻ​ai (also pai pū because pū is another term for "pumpkin"!)

  • Apple pie = Pai ʻ​āpala

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  • Cider = Wai ʻ​ōhiʻ​a or Wai pipiʻi or Kaika/Saida

    • Pipiʻi refers to the rising bubbles (whether or not the drink contains alcohol)

    • Kaika / Saida are Hawaiianizations of "cider"​

  • Soda = Koloaka

    • A Hawaiianization of "soda water"​

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ʻO ka pelehū kēia. ʻO Lance kona inoa.

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" ʻAʻole ʻo ia makemake i ka ʻuala?" " ʻAʻole i nā ʻuala apau!"

" ʻAe, hoʻokae nō au, hoʻopaʻa nō ka ʻuala."

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KOTH sniff.png

"Maikaʻi kou lauoho. Like me ka mea hoʻopihapiha."

*Honi*

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"Maikaʻ​i loa kēia saida."

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"He champagne paha kēnā."

Set #3

Useful Phrases

  • Hungry = Pōloli

  • Thirsty = Makewai

  • To eat = ʻAi

  • To eat a lot = ʻAi hoʻonuʻu or just hoʻonuʻu

  • Full [from food] = Māʻ​ona or Piha

    • Māʻ​ona means "satisfied," "satiated," from eating.

    • ​Piha is also used for "full," yourself or your stomach.

    • Neither hint at overeating.​

  • Quenched [thirst] = Kena

  • My mouth is watering! = Moni ka hāʻ​ae!

  • Eat until satisfied, drink until quenched! = E ʻai a māʻona, e inu a kena!

  • Done eating! = Pau ka ʻ​ai!

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"Pōloli, makewai, manakā!"

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"Hū, māʻona au, piha ka ʻōpū."

"Eia nā kuki hou!"

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Makewai ke kāne.

Inu ʻo ia i ka wai.

Kena ʻo ia.

Prompt ~

1. On Discord, tell us how you celebrate Thanksgiving! What foods do you and your family eat, or not eat? Whose house do you go to? Who usually prepares the turkey? What do you personally like to prepare?

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2. What are you thankful for? Be detailed!

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3. Take a picture of your Thanksgiving table, or any/all foods that were prepared this year. Label the picture with as much vocab from this list as possible!

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