Hawaiian determiners and making nouns plural

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Pluralization of nouns

• In English, nouns are often made plural by adding the suffix -s to the end of the noun (ex. book, books). In Hawaiian, most nouns undergo no change in this process, and instead a noun is made plural by modification of the determiner preceding the noun, as follows:

1) Definite article (ke/ka) - When the noun to be made plural is preceded by the definite articles ke or ka, the article is changed to nā.

2) All other singular determiners work to make the noun plural by adding the plural markers mau, po'e, or wahi directly after the determiner. Out of these three plural markers, mau is the one which is used most often to make the noun plural. The article po‘e often refers to people, but can be used with other animate and inanimate objects. The main purpose of the article wahi is not meant to pluralize, although it can result in the noun being pluralized; most often it is used to mean "some, a little, a little bit," hence expressing meekness of the noun, and if the noun is pluralized, then it is both meek and plural.

Note: When made plural, some nouns do change form. Often, this change involves the elongation of a vowel in the noun. The most common of such words are as follows: kupuna (ancestor), kūpuna (ancestors); kahuna (priest), kāhuna (priests); makua (parent), mākua (parents); wahine (woman), wāhine (women); kaikamahine (girl), kaikamāhine (girls); kaikuahine (sister of male), kaikuāhine (sisters of male); kanaka (person), kānaka (people).

3) Sometimes, when the singular definite articles, ke and ka, are used they imply that the noun is plural with neither the article nor the noun undergoing change. The augmentation of determiners to their plural forms shows that the nouns following them are plural and not singular. However, the use of determiners in their singular forms does not prevent the following nouns from being plural. Rather, the plural forms of the determiners work to prevent the possibility of the following nouns from being read as singular (See section 1.4 of Determiners: Articles and Demonstratives by Dr. Emily Hawkins).

Determiners

• Determiners in Hawaiian precede nouns, and any word directly following a determiner is considered a noun, with the exception of the plural markers mau, po‘e, and wahi.

he - indefinite article (a, an).

Ex: He keiki kēia (This is a child), he ihona nihinihi nō ia( it is certainly a steep descent.

ka - singular definite article (the); it is used when the word it precedes begins with the letters: I, U, H, L, M, N, P, W, ‘ (glottal stop).

Ex: Ka wahine (the woman), Ka hale (the house).

ke - singular definite article (the); it is used before words starting with K, E, A, O.

Ex: Ke aloha (the love), Ke keiki (the child).

Note: In some cases, the definite article ke is used before words that begin with letters other than those listed above. In the Hawaiian Dictionary by Elbert and Pukui and in the Māmaka Kaiao, words which are exceptions to the above rule for the article ke are indicated. More commonly, these words begin with the 'okina or the letter p.

Ex: Ke 'ala (the fragrance); Ke panepo'o (the pinnacle).

Note: The definite article ke can also be used before the words "mele" (song), "noi" (request), and "hoa" (friend, companion).

nā - plural of the definite article (the).

Ex: Nā keiki (the children), Nā wāhine (the women).

kekahi - a, some, a certain one.

kahi - a, some, a certain one.

ona - some, a few. This article is commonly followed by the plural particle mau. It is used with things but not human beings.

nāhi - the (plural) meager/humble/modest; it is a combination of the words nā and wahi.

kau - article indicating plural.

kēia - this (near speaker). This demonstrative pronounced also as ke'ia.

kēnā - that (near addressee). This demonstrative can also pejoratively mean "you."

Ex. 'Auhea 'oe e kēnā lapuwale (Listen here you worthless person).

kēlā - that (neither in the area of the speaker nor that of the addressee.

nā - that (near addressee). Do not confuse this with the plural definite article nā. This demonstrative is used pejoratively to mean "you," just as kēnā is used.

neia - this (near speaker).

nēia - this (near speaker, same as neia).

ne'ia- this (near speaker, same as neia).

nei - this (near speaker, used to denote affection).

ia - article denoting that the noun is aforementioned.

ua _____ nei - this aforementioned.

ua _____ lā/ala. - that aforementioned.

ko'u - my (preposed o class possessive).

ka'u - my (preposed a class possessive).

ku'u - my afectionate/dear/beloved (preposed possessive, neutral to "a class" and "o
class" possessives, and this has no k-less possessive form).

kou - your (preposed o class possessive).

kāu - your (preposed a class possessive).

kō - your affectionate/dear/beloved (preposed possessive, neutral to "a class" and "o class" possessives, and has no k-less possessive form).

kona - his,her (preposed o class possessive).

kāna - his, her (preposed a class possessive).

ko ia nei/la/ala - his, her (preposed o class possessive).

kā ia nei/la/ala - his, her (preposed a class possessive).

ko ha'i - someone else's (preposed o class possessive).

kā ha'i - someone else's (preposed a class possessive).

ko kāua - our (dual inclusive, preposed o class possessive).

kā kāua - our (dual inclusive, preposed a class possssive).

ko kākou - our (plural inclusive, preposed o class possessive).

kā kākou - our (plural inclusive, preposed a class possessive).

ko māua - our (dual exclusive, preposed o class possessive).

kā māua - our (dual exclusive, preposed a class possessive).

ko mākou - our (plural exclusive, preposed o class possessive).

kā mākou - our (plural exclusive, preposed a class possessive).

ko 'olua - your (dual, preposed o class possessive).

kā 'olua - your (dual, preposed a class possessive).

ko 'oukou - your (plural, preposed o class possessive).

kā 'oukou - your (plural, preposed a class possessive).

ko lāua - their (dual, preposed o class possessive).

kā lāua - their (dual, preposed a class possessive).

ko lākou - their (plural, preposed o class possessive).

kā lākou - their (plural, preposed a class possessive).

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