Skip to content

Booksellers & Trade Customers: Sign up for online bulk buying at trade.atlanticbooks.com for wholesale discounts

Booksellers: Create Account on our B2B Portal for wholesale discounts

Hawaiian Language: Past, Present, Future

by Albert J. Schütz
Sold out
Current price ₹2,118.00
Original price ₹3,498.00
Original price ₹3,498.00
Original price ₹3,498.00
(-39%)
₹2,118.00
Current price ₹2,118.00

Imported Edition - Ships in 12-14 Days

Free Shipping in India on orders above Rs. 500

Request Bulk Quantity Quote
+91
Book cover type: Paperback
  • ISBN13: 9780824869830
  • Binding: Paperback
  • Subject: N/A
  • Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
  • Publisher Imprint: University of Hawaii Press
  • Publication Date:
  • Pages: 384
  • Original Price: GBP 30.95
  • Language: English
  • Edition: N/A
  • Item Weight: 714 grams
  • BISAC Subject(s): Oceanic & Australian Languages, Oceania, and Linguistics / Historical & Comparative

With color and black-and-white illustrations throughout, Hawaiian Language: Past, Present, Future presents aspects of Hawaiian and its history that are rarely treated in language classes. The major characters in this book make up a diverse cast: Dutch merchants, Captain Cook's naturalist and philologist William Anderson, 'Ōpūkaha'ia (the inspiration for the Hawaiian Mission), the American lexicographer Noah Webster, philologists in New England, missionary-linguists and their Hawaiian consultants, and many minor players.

The account begins in prehistory, placing the probable origins of the ancestor of Polynesian languages in mainland Asia. An evolving family tree reflects the linguistic changes that took place as these people moved east. The current versions are examined from a Hawaiian-centered point of view, comparing the sound system of the language with those of its major relatives in the Polynesian triangle. More recent historical topics begin with the first written samples of a Polynesian language in 1616, which led to the birth of the idea of a widespread language family.

The next topic is how the Hawaiian alphabet was developed. The first efforts suffered from having too many letters, a problem that was solved in 1826 through brilliant reasoning by its framers and their Hawaiian consultants. The opposite problem was that the alphabet didn't have enough letters: analysts either couldn't hear or misinterpreted the glottal stop and long vowels. The end product of the development of the alphabet--literacy--is more complicated than some statistics would have us believe. As for its success or failure, both points of view, from contemporary observers, are presented. Still, it cannot be denied that literacy had a tremendous and lasting effect on Hawaiian culture.

The last part of the book concentrates on the most-used Hawaiian reference works--dictionaries. It describes current projects that combine print and manuscript collections on a searchable website. These projects can include the growing body of manuscript and print material that is being made available through recent and ongoing research. As for the future, a proposed monolingual dictionary would allow users to avoid an English bridge to understanding, and move directly to a definition that includes Hawaiian cultural features and a Hawaiian worldview.

Schütz, Albert J.: - Albert J. Schütz is professor emeritus of linguistics at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa.

Trusted for over 49 years

Family Owned Company

Secure Payment

All Major Credit Cards/Debit Cards/UPI & More Accepted

New & Authentic Products

India's Largest Distributor

Need Support?

Whatsapp Us