HE MOMI E LEI AI, a pearl to wear as a lei, was created years ago by Kumu Liana Iaea Honda. In this case, the pearl is a metaphor for a Hawaiian word. Much like the precious nature of a pearl, the hope is that by learning a little bit, just a little bit about a Hawaiian word, every weekday, you will be able to sew many pearls together into a beautiful lei that you can keep close to your poli, your bosom. “He Momi” is for the new language learner. While many Hawaiian words have several meanings, you won’t be delving too deeply into all the meanings of one “pearl”. A small morsel of manaʻo (thoughts) will be shared daily, Monday through Friday, just enough to get your brain engaged, conjure up some memories or cause you to want to pursue the Hawaiian language even further. E nanea — Enjoy.
I am so glad that I found your site again!! I am Lani Bowman’s sister who lives in Colorado. I really miss learning about the language. I recently began taking hula here and am trying to share our culture with my fellow hula dancers. You do such a wonderful job with the words explaining the meaning so that I “get it”. Is there a charge for your site? There should be because you put a lot of time and thought into what you write. Please let me know.
Mahalo,
Maile Kane
Aloha Maile! What a stroke of luck that I would see Lani for the first time in years at the Waimea Farmers Market! I am so glad to have you join me again in learning Hawaiian words, one day at a time! Welcome back!
Aloha e ʻAnakē! May I have your permission to post He Momi to my Facebook Page, Hālau ʻŌlelo: Hawaiian Language Worldwide? My intention is to offer other resources to help my online students to develop and strengthen their written, oral and cultural language proficiencies in Hawaiian. Mahalo kou mau manaʻo hoʻoulu, He Momi nō. Naʻu, Kainoa
ʻAe! E ola ka ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi!
Mahalo nui loa nō! Manaʻolana aia nō ke laua aʻela kāu ʻohana a pau a me nā hana a ʻoukou. Me ke aloha mai ka hikina mai, Kainoa
I would love to get more information on He Momi. I live in the mainland and so miss connecting with our language. Liana does such a great job defining the word AND the goes on to connect it to the culture. Maile Kane
Aloha e Maile – Just subscribe to “He Momi” and you will receive an email whenever a new post is put up on the blog. MAHALO! – Liana