Translating: Not as Simple as You Think

Aloha mai kakou,

Idiom: an expression in the usage of a language that has a meaning that cannot be understood from the combined meanings of its elements. Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Keep that definition in mind as you read this one.

I heard my wife calling me from the living room and when I walked in she said to my daughter, "E hai i kou papa no kau kamailio ana me kela kumu" (Tell your father about your conversation with that teacher). Apparently her teacher told the class that "i la maikai" is how you say "have a good day" in Hawaiian. Here we go again 🤦‍♂️

My daughter, being one who will speak up, said, "We don't say that at home." The teacher asked, "Well, how do you say have a nice day in Hawaiian?" This sparked a long discussion with my daughter, who is eight years old by the way.

I told her that you cannot simply translate a phrase from English to Hawaiian. Translation is more complicated than that.

To show her, I asked her to translate this Hawaiian phrase into English: "Ua hala e ka Puulena. Aia no i Hilo." The word for word translation is "The Puulena breeze is gone to Hilo." Pretty straightforward right? Not quite.

Her first answer was "You missed it," which is 100% right! The phrase can mean "you missed it," "you're too late," or "the time has passed." But none of that is apparent from the words themselves. That is the nature of an idiom.

Then I asked her to translate some English phrases like "she's too big for her britches" and "it's up in the air." She could not figure either one out. Partly because she did not know what britches were, and partly because she had never heard the second phrase. Again, she is eight. Plus, we do not speak English to her at home. She picks that up from school, friends, and family. I’m not surprised that “britches” are no longer in style since they were already dated when I was a kid and I don’t think anyone from Hawaii uses that term. 

I am sharing this conversation because I hope it sheds some light on translation. When you are learning a new language, you cannot help but translate your inner thoughts from your primary language as you try to express them in Hawaiian. As you can see with idioms, word for word translation loses the meaning entirely.

Idioms are born from the language and the society that uses them. Translating "have a good day" as "i la maikai" does not mean the meaning has also been translated. That remains in the English world. Likewise, "Hala e ka Puulena, aia no i Hilo" will not land for your average English speaker.

I hope this was clear. I would hate for my words to be "lost in translation" — another English idiom, by the way.

Hui hou aku no, 

Maluhia