Ho'ihi no Ka'ai?

pulelehua

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I've got 8 of my 10 ukulele etudes done. The decision early on to have Hawaiian titles has got me into as much trouble as the music itself! Do any native speakers out there know if I've written this correctly? The etude itself is a bit of an homage to Ernest Ka'ai.

"Ho'ihi no Ka'ai" means, I believe "respect for Ka'ai" or "tribute to Ka'ai". If this isn't how the statement would/should be made, any corrections would be both humbly and gratefully accepted.

Thanks in advance.
 
what are you trying to acomplish in your composition?

ho`ihi means respect along the lines as ho`ihi i kou kupuna, respect your elders. listen, obey, etc

hanohano means glorify, but all the mele i know of use hanohano to honor places and things.

typically to honor people it's two ways:

aloha no ka`ai

or he mele inoa no ka`ai.

the latter is more `oli/chant is more formal (it's a name mele). the latter is less.


I wrote this piece after learning a handful of pieces by Ernest Ka'ai. In English, it would be "Ode to Ernest Ka'ai" or maybe even more simply "For Ernest Ka'ai". The piece itself is loosely in his style, and I certainly never would have written it without learning some of his works. So, it's an homage, or a thanks.

So, this is the less formal:

he mele inoa no ka`ai

Yes?

Thanks for your help! I love languages, and how they say similar things in such different ways.
 
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