Vowels in the island chain

Two fishes in the chain of islands of Hawaii are the Humuhumunukunukuapua’a, the State fish, and another, the Lau Wiliwilinukunukuoioi. There’s a joke that the spelling of the State fish is longer than the size of the fish itself! In a language that has five full vowels and only seven (or eight on another list) consonants, pronouncing every vowel have words swaying like the waves of the Pacific crashing on the hula hip, and gracefully mirrored in the hands and the fingers.

To be sure, we still like to chuckle over Likelike Highway, and we certainly will not refuse the offer of pū-pū, which is a relish, appetizer, canapé, or hors d’oeuvre, that was surely affirmed by the Catonese buobuo, of small precious treasures. My children loved to pooh-pooh the pū-pū because it sounded too much like the poo-poo, but no matter. The alliteration is just too good to pass up.

Along with the Hawaiian uoiauai, the longest vowel-only word (seven letters) denoting a lava type, Pea Eye calls a particular stream an ouenouaou. Our Austro-Polynesian pot of memes resonates from distant and ancient traditions. We are people of the vowel sounds.

Something about the softness of the vowels against the rough edges of the gutturals and the shrill of the labials keeps our ears tuned to the islanders’ ways, more so now that the world clamors for models on how to sustain a global society whose make-up is taking on the rainbow coloration.

Though Mark Twain thought the islands are the “loveliest fleets of islands that lies anchored in any ocean,” Hawaii is no honky-dory haven for neighborliness and social camaraderie. Not too long ago, a comedian recalls his growing up discriminated in swimming pools by the sign No Flipping. “Flips” referred to Filipinos as “Chinks” served wonton soup with their jiao zi (dumplings). The monarchy was an oligarchy, even as the American usurpers were also status conscious and hierarchically structured.

Nor is Hawaii the only group of islands in the world mirroring a globalized population. We are, in fact, reverting to the World Island (contiguous Europe, Africa and Asia) image as national boundaries does not contain homogenous societies. Still, Hawaii is the most integrated State in the Union, the only one where Americans of European-descent do not predominate.

To be sure, everyone’s DNA points to a single source in West Africa. It is not, however, the chromosomal packaging that interests us but the behavior patterns and structures created to bring serenity and tranquility in our relationships. We began by noticing the vowels and their dominant role in the Hawaiian language compared to the consonants, perhaps influencing behavior as well. Or so we thought, until we remember that we also have in the complex worldwide glossarial Britannica, 12 vowel sounds, 7 diphthongs, and 24 consonants.

To paraphrase the ain’t the meat, it’s the motion phrase, it is not the “sound but the singing” that makes a difference, which is to say, language focus is on use rather than calcified substance. That’s why singing is an integral part of our English pedagogy!

Hawaii in my imagination is singing, lulling, and languidly languishing under the swaying palm trees casting eerie shadows from the quarter moon. That’s before Ko’olina in Kapolei brought the Disney touch close to the Makaha shores. When one does the singing by buying consonants rather than vowels as one does on “The Price is Right,” then it takes some doing to extricate one’s self from this isles in the Pacific. One gets swallowed by the vowels.

We exited on hard and rough consonants. We said Aloha again to la familia, and with various types of dysfunctionality amongst kin where one would think we had every reason to cling to each other for affection, if not support, we wallowed in recrimination and remorse instead.

Then there was the security at the Honolulu International Airport that was all impersonal cold technology and straight poker faced functionality. There was hardly any poetry either in speaking tones or in motion, so we hummed quietly with the wafting chorus of angels in the deep recesses of the ocean’s soul, or echoes of wahine voices from Ala Wai.

When was it that we in America decided to dehumanize what used to be ambience of ukulele strums, now processing a polyglot of humans like pieces of meat suspected of carrying either toxic chemicals or explosive metals, just so we can feel safe? We certainly missed a few Asian and Pacific amity beats in the process. The sights and sounds were patently and strictly gruff, full of consonants.

We are skipping the Hafa’adai at the Ada International Airport this term. GovCNMI has yet to release our rebate check so we have no reason nor the means to stop by, but we did light a candle for NMPASI’s Tom, AS-CNMI’s Bobbi and the folks at the Saturday Autism Awareness Nite, if only to remind us that in a world seemingly gone crazy with nothing but consonants, vowels much more abound!

We didn’t fish for the Humuhumunukunukuapua’a, or the Lau Wiliwilinukunukuoioi. But we kept the vowels.

So once more with feelings, we inhale and exhale, Aloha wau ia ‘oe. OM!