Short alphabet = many syllables
Hawaiian words seem so long and complicated. Yesterday I mentioned king Hamehameha. His name is short. Check out the name of the state fish… Humuhumunukunukuapua’a (pronounced…who moo who moo new coo new coo ah poo ah ah).
It started to make sense when one of the guides pointed out that the native language only has 13 letters in its alphabet. Like in many other cultures, Hawaiian names tend to be very descriptive, but because of the short alphabet, they use the same few sounds over and over.
Land, Air and Sea
Lynn had to buy me a T shirt with the state fish on it. The next day we went on a raft tour of the Kona coast. It turned out that this little raft had 260 horsepower and cruised at 30 miles per hour. We saw many caves carved by the wave action, and we snorkled in wonderfully clear calm waters. We even recognized and chased our favorite fish with the long name.
We were told that ideally we should tour the island by land, air and sea. We did. Today Lynn and I will add outer space to it. We will tour the observatories on the mountain.
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1 comment:
Mauna Kea is great. I think that's where you're going right? It was one of my dreams as a budding astrophysicist to work there. Have a stellar day!
LA
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