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TRANSLATIONS
The reason for including
Heyerdahl's suggestion that Hawaii = Hawai-iki (meaning
the volcano Hawai) is
first of all because of its general importance for understanding
the Polynesians.
Iki is - he
says - not 'little' but 'raging' (volcano). And it would be
'senseless' to read
the old Polynesian words
Hawaii-loa and Hawaii-nui (with Hawaii =
Hawa-iki ) as 'Little-Great Hawa'.
But iki (little) -
as in Rapa Iti - marks a new location with the same name
as the old location (Rapa Nui).
A familiar name in
new surroundings does not mean that the suffix iki should
be understood as literally 'little'. I therefore guess that
Hawai-iki has both the meaning of ‘little’ (similar to ‘new’
in e.g. New York) and ‘furious’ (volcanic).
Hakai Strait would
consequently be regarded as Hawai-nui (in contrast to
Hawaii-nui).
Secondarily, I have included
Heyerdahl's text because there is a sequel bearing - I guess -
on Thursday:
"There are still
traces to-day of some ancient habitation on the coast of the
Hakai Strait, although in historic times it has only served the
surrounding tribes as a dependable fishing-ground and source of
food.
It may be worth
while to note that in the dialect of the Marquesan islanders
hakai means 'to feed'. In Easter Island the word reappears
as hagai, which means 'to feed, to nourish'; and at
Mangareva as agai, 'to give food to'.
In the Marquesas
kai and kai-kai means to 'eat'; and on the Northwest
Coast kaik (Tsimsyan) and ka-aia (Tlingit) means
'belly'; and ka-ta (Haida) means to 'eat'.
We have ample reason
to suspect that the particular Hawai or Hapai Strait alluded to
in the symbolic name of the Hawaiian discoverer is the Hakai
Strait, the direct geographical link between the tribes driven
away from prehistoric Bella Coola and those driven ashore in
prehistoric Hawaii.
It is well worth
noticing that in historic times it is among the surrounding
Kwakiutl and not among the Bella Coola intruders, that we find
the main bulk of Maori-Polynesian analogies; also that the
Kwakiutl, according to Drucker's survey, represent the purest -
and together with the Nootka perhaps also the oldest -
aboriginal coast-dwellers in the present Northwest Indian
habitat."
We had better look again at
hapai and
hâgai :
| Hapai 1.
To handle delicately, carefully; he hapai i te poki, to pick up,
a baby; ka hapai mai i te kai nei, pass me this food here
(wrapped in banana leaves). 2. To lift (one's feet when running): he
hapai te va'e. Vanaga.
To lift, to raise, to elevate, to embark, to carry, to
transport, to offer, to accept, to transmit; hapai ki ruga, to
load, to raise, to extract, to exhaust; hapai koona ke, to
transfer, to remove; hapai rogo, to announce; hapaiaga,
elevation, to raise; hapaihaga, burden, offering, assumption;
hapaihakahoua, to report; hapaitari, to import. P Pau:
hapai, to lift up, to raise. Mgv.: apai, apapai,
aapai, to carry, to bear. Mq.: hapai, to lift, to raise, to
take away, to displace. Ta.: apai, to bring; hapoi,
hopoi, to transport. Churchill. |
| Hâgai
To feed. Poki hâgai, adopted
child. Vanaga.
To feed, to nourish,
forster-parent (agai); hagai ei u, to
suckle. P Pau.: fagai, to feed, to maintain,
to support. Mgv.: agai, to nurse, to nurture,
to give food to, an adoptive or foster father;
akaagai, to feed. Mq.: hakai, to feed.
Ta.: faaai, to nourish, a foster-parent.
Churchill. |
I cannot notice any similarity in
meaning between hapai and hâgai.
But from hâgai Heyerdahl
connects to kai and these two words clearly are similar in
meaning:
| Kai
1. Ina kai; verbal negation
(but not used with the imperative); ina kai kai
matou, we have not eaten. 2. To eat; meal. 3.
Fruits or produces of the land, vegetables, edible
plants. 4. Figuratively: he-kai ite rogorogo,
to recite the inscriptions kohau rogorogo (as
spiritual food). 5. Eclipse: ku-kai-á te raá, te
mahina, the sun, the moon has been eaten
(eclipsed). Vanaga.
1. Negative; kai rogo, to
fast; kai oho, to forego; kai maa, to
be ignorant, to doubt; vave kai kohe,
inaccessible... 2. To undergo, to suffer. 3. Sharp,
cutting. [Possibly a 'typographical error' a
misprint for koi Churchill says, but cfr
ka'ika'i.] 4. To eat, to feed, to feast; food,
meat, a meal, repast; kai nui, provision,
intemperate, voracious; kai no iti, sober,
temperate; hue ki te kai, to victual; kai
taria te kai, abundance, to abound; hakapee
no kai hoao, abundance, to abound. Kaia,
eaten. Hakakai, to take, to attack.
Kaihaga, to abstain from. Kaihue, a heap
of food. Kaikino, selfish, avaricious,
faithless, ingrate, miserly, rascal. Kaipurua,
issue, outlet, egress. Kaitagata, cannibal.
Kaiu, nursling, suckling. Churchill. |
| Kaiga
1. Action of eating; meal;
nourishment (katiga was the ancient
word). 2. Ground; country; island. 3. Womb,
uterus (also matakao). Vanaga.
Land, country, place, region,
estate, soil. Churchill. |
Even kaikai may be included
(because of the meaning 'eat heavily'):
| Kaikai, ka'ika'i
Kaikai.
Cat's cradle, in which patterns are made by moving a
thread through the fingers of both hands, and are
accompanied by the recitation of verses (one of the
main pastimes of yore). Vanaga. Mastication, to eat
heavily. Churchill.
Ka'ika'i.
Sharp: also "to sharpen" used instead of
hakaka'ika'i. Vanaga. Sharp, cutting, edge of a
sword, point of a lance; moa tara kaikai,
cock with long spurs. Churchill. |
And then I would suggest - in
parallel with Vakai = vaka-î - that kai =
ká-î.
'... The final
-i cannot be a preposition, therefore the probable
explanation is that we should read -î, the meaning of
which is explained by Vanaga as:
Full; ku-î-á te
kete i te kumara, the bag is full of sweet potatoes. 2. To
abound, to be plentiful; ki î te îka i uta, as there are
lots of fish on the beach. 3. To start crying (of a baby):
i-ûi-era te ma-tu'a ku-î-á te poki mo tagi, he-ma'u kihaho,
when a mother saw that her baby was starting to cry she would
take it outside.
Vakai
then becomes the 'canoe' which is
full
(of life) - like Noah's ark ...'
| Ka, ká
Ka. Particle of the affirmative
imperative, of cardinal numerals, of independent
ordinal numerals, and of emphatic exclamation, e.g.
ka-maitaki! how nice! Vanaga.
Ká. 1. To light a fire in
order to cook in the earth oven (see umu): he-ká
i te umu, he-ká i te kai. 2. Figuratively: to
fire up the soul. To put oneself in a fury (with
manava): ku-ká-á toona manava he has become
furious. Vanaga.
1. Of T. 2. Imperative sign; ka
oho, ka tere, ka ea, begone!;
ka ko iha, a greeting T; ka mou, hush;
ka oho, goodbye. 3. Infinitive sign; mea
meitaki ka rava, a thing good to take; ka
harai kia mea, to accompany. 4. A prefix which
forms ordinals from cardinals. 5. The dawning of the
day. 6. Different (? ke). Churchill. |
The figurative
meaning of ká as 'fire up the soul' is close to
iki = volcano ('raging'). To get a meal after starving
certainly makes one return to life.
However, ká
is not the cooking but the phase before - to light the 'fire'.
Thursday may be the day for that, as we can see how full (î)
Thursday is with GD52 (kai) glyphs:
In
Churchill 2 I find a word related to ká:
aso, to burn, to be scorched. Samoa: 'a'asa,
glowing hot. Tonga, Uvea: kakaha, hot, fiery,
painful. Futuna: kakā,
fiery, reddened by fire. Niuē: kakā,
hot, red-hot ...
But
kaiga once was katiga, at least when the
meaning was 'nourishment':
kaiga 1. Action of eating; meal;
nourishment (katiga was the ancient
word). 2. Ground; country; island. 3. Womb,
uterus (also matakao). Vanaga.
The
kati concept has nothing to do with fire:
| Katikati
1. To rehearse (songs). 2. To fabricate false news: he-katikati i te
vânaga reoreo. 3. To waste something by neglecting it. Vanaga.
To scratch, to claw. P Pau.: kakati, to bite.
Ta.: ati, to bite, to sting. Churchill.
Futuna: katikati, to gnaw off the bark of sugar
cane with the teeth; kakati, to corrode, to pierce, to eat in.
Niuē: kakati,
to bite, to chew. Maori: kakati,
to eat into, to gnaw through, to corrode; katikati,
to nibble. Rarotonga: kati,
kakati, to bite. Paumotu:
kakati, id. Nukuoro:
kati, id. Rapanui:
katikati, to scratch. Samoa:
'ati, to eat in, to corrode;
'a'ati, to eat in, to corrode, to gnaw
off, to pierce (as the teeth of a dog); 'atimotu,
to bite through. Tahiti: ati,
to bite; aati, to bite, to
gnaw, to tear with the teeth. Hawaii: aki,
aaki, akiaki,
to bite, to nibble. Churchill 2. |
The
Haida language had ka-ta for 'to eat', while Tsimsyan
and Tlingit had other words expressing the effects of a good
meal, viz. a full belly (like the sun at noon):
'In the Marquesas
kai and kai-kai means to 'eat'; and on the Northwest
Coast kaik (Tsimsyan) and ka-aia (Tlingit) means
'belly'; and ka-ta (Haida) means to 'eat'.'
With a full belly there will be a happy mood:
| Kata, katakata
To laugh; laughter. Vanaga.
Kata. To laugh, to smile; kakata: tae
kakata, dourness. P Pau., Mgv.: ata, to laugh, to be happy,
joyful. Mq.: kata, to laugh, to joke. Ta.: ata, to laugh,
to smile. Churchill. |
I
guess that Metoro may have had kata in mind
when he said ka takata at Aa2-85, a kind of smile is
there:
'... Aa1-49--90 covers 42 glyphs
and then we have the double 42 in line a2. The extra glyph in line a2 certainly,
then, must be the last glyph in the line, viz. Aa2-85:
The triple 'feathers' are here
standing at the top of the outstreched (and broken?) 'wing'.
Notice that there are 4 'feathers' in Aa2-85 - the 4th is 'inside' the 'knee' of
the 'wing' ...'
But the cycle is in a way complete,
too:
'... Metoro
said ka takata at Aa2-85 and he may have
understood
the glyph as marking a point where there is a break at the end of a cycle:
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Haga
1. Bay, fishing
spot. (Figuratively) he haga o te ákuáku, it is the [evil]
spirit's fishing spot, i.e. a place where they hide waiting for
people to fall under their power. 2. To want, to love. Ku haga á
i te vai, I want water, I am thirsty. Vanaga.
1. Bay, strait,
anchorage, strand, beach. 2. Work, labor, employment, act, affair,
creation, design, state, maker, fashion, manufacture, occupation,
profession; to do, to make, to construct, to employ, to form, to
manufacture, to fashion, to found, to be busy with; haga rakerake,
crime; tagata haga ei mea, mercenary; haga no iti, to
plot mischief; haga ke, to act contrary; haga
takataka, to disjoin; haga
nui, difficulty, fatigue, to weary; tuhi ki te haga, to
give employment; haga hakahou, to make over, to renew,
recovery; haga koroiti, to deal prudently; haga nuinui ke,
to overburden. 3. Agreement, conduct, liking, intention, desire,
will; to resolve, to permit, to endeavor, to tolerate, to be
willing, to wish, to approve; haga ihoiho, fixed desire;
haga mai, haga no mai, to agree, to hearken favorably;
tae haga, despite, involuntary, to refuse, to renounce; noho
hakahaga, apathy. 4. =
haka. Churchill. |
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Taka
Taka,
takataka. Circle; to
form circles, to gather, to get together (of people). Vanaga.
1. A dredge. P Mgv.:
akataka, to fish all day or all night with the line, to throw
the fishing line here and there. This can only apply to some sort of
net used in fishing. We find in Samoa ta'ā a small fishing
line, Tonga taka the short line attached to fish hooks,
Futuna taka-taka a fishing party of women in the reef pools
(net), Maori takā the thread by which the fishhook is
fastened to the line, Hawaii kaa in the same sense, Marquesas
takako a badly spun thread, Mangareva takara a thread
for fastening the bait on the hook. 2. Ruddy. 3. Wheel, arch;
takataka, ball, spherical,
round, circle, oval, to roll in a circle, wheel, circular piece of
wood, around; miro takataka, bush; haga takataka, to
disjoin; hakatakataka, to round, to concentrate. P Pau.:
fakatakataka, to whirl around. Mq.: taka, to gird. Ta.:
taa, circular piece which connects the frame of a house.
Churchill.
Takai,
a curl, to tie; takaikai, to lace up; takaitakai, to
coil. P Pau.: takai, a ball, to tie. Mgv.: takai, a
circle, ring, hoop, to go around a thing. Mq.: takai, to
voyage around. Ta.: taai, to make into a ball, to attach.
Churchill. |
After the consumption (consummation) there is a new
life 'onboard': Vakaî.
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