BOOK MARK
The Hawaiian tongue evolves

MAMAKA KAIAO: A Modern Hawaiian Vocabulary, Komike Hua'olelo, Hale Kuamo'o, 'Aha Punana Leo; University of Hawai'i Press, $42, cloth, $15.95 paper

By Wanda Adams
Advertiser Books Editor

This is a book as necessary to any serious student of the Hawaiian language as the all-important Pukui-Elbert Hawaiian Dictionary. This one collects the many words that do not appear in that dictionary, or whose meaning has changed or been added to since that work was codified (huka — hook in Pukui-Elbert — today also means zipper). Also included are a large body of words that have been created to describe modern things or concepts (i.e. kamepiula, computer).

The list is compiled in a formal and scholarly fashion by a group called in English the Lexicon Committee, which meets four to six times a year. Curriculum experts serve as ad-hoc members when discussing particular specialty areas.