Friday, December 08, 2006
Humu language
I suppose I should consider writing up a lexicon.
All languages need pronouns so I think it is time for the humu language to have them as well.
Hu = me
Ha = the 2nd or 3rd person, with the context to be determined by the usage. For instance if you say Ha humu pua'a to someone you don't know well, it is obvious that you are complimenting them. So if someone were to go up to a woman in a bar and say Ha humu pua'a, it is pretty clear that it is a second person adjective, and even more clear that he is hitting on her.
On the other hand if you were talking to a friend and happen to point at someone or something and say Ha humu pua'a, you know that the indicated individual or thing is being identified as good.
Ha serves many linguistic roles, it means he/she/it or it can also mean this/that.
Due to a reduced letter content, substantives and other gramtical reductive sentence structures are also normal.
For instance, the English my humu is a good fish! could both be adaquately expressed as Hu humu. While this reads as My is, or my humu - literally the humu of me or the humu for me, it is obvious that 1) a humu is a fish, 2) a humu is good, it is their very essence. So we manage to avoid an excess of redundancy. To convey the idea that humus are the greatest fish, and perhaps material entity in the world, it is quite sufficient to just say humu. Idiomatically this could be translated as "Great" or "Awesome"
So if someone were to ask "How are you today", "Humu" would be an excellent response. Even in the case that you weren't doing well, and were only answering humu out of politeness, as so many people answer the question as "Fine" anyway whether or not they are doing any where remotely close to fine. Again, social context leads explicitly to understanding.
Obviously if someone says humu at a fish store or in the presence of iconography depicting triggerfish or an actual triggerfish specimen, humu can clearly be interpreted as a mode of addoration, as a compliment, or as an expression of being dumbstruck by humu grandeur.
All languages need pronouns so I think it is time for the humu language to have them as well.
Hu = me
Ha = the 2nd or 3rd person, with the context to be determined by the usage. For instance if you say Ha humu pua'a to someone you don't know well, it is obvious that you are complimenting them. So if someone were to go up to a woman in a bar and say Ha humu pua'a, it is pretty clear that it is a second person adjective, and even more clear that he is hitting on her.
On the other hand if you were talking to a friend and happen to point at someone or something and say Ha humu pua'a, you know that the indicated individual or thing is being identified as good.
Ha serves many linguistic roles, it means he/she/it or it can also mean this/that.
Due to a reduced letter content, substantives and other gramtical reductive sentence structures are also normal.
For instance, the English my humu is a good fish! could both be adaquately expressed as Hu humu. While this reads as My is, or my humu - literally the humu of me or the humu for me, it is obvious that 1) a humu is a fish, 2) a humu is good, it is their very essence. So we manage to avoid an excess of redundancy. To convey the idea that humus are the greatest fish, and perhaps material entity in the world, it is quite sufficient to just say humu. Idiomatically this could be translated as "Great" or "Awesome"
So if someone were to ask "How are you today", "Humu" would be an excellent response. Even in the case that you weren't doing well, and were only answering humu out of politeness, as so many people answer the question as "Fine" anyway whether or not they are doing any where remotely close to fine. Again, social context leads explicitly to understanding.
Obviously if someone says humu at a fish store or in the presence of iconography depicting triggerfish or an actual triggerfish specimen, humu can clearly be interpreted as a mode of addoration, as a compliment, or as an expression of being dumbstruck by humu grandeur.
# posted by humuhumu @ 10:01 AM 
