Specific Questions about Hawaiian

[lexkyleo]

Aloha kâkou,

I am Paul, from Kentucky. I have been studying Hawaiian on my own for a little while and I have some questions. I'm not sure if this forum is still active but I thought I would ask some questions and find out.

This question is related to comparison of adjectives.
From the book "Let's Speak Hawaiian: E Kama'ilio Hawai'I Kakou", I have learned that Hawaiian has more levels of comparison than English. These forms are made as follows..

comparative level 1
Iki = a little more

comparative level 2
A’e = more

comparative level 3
Iki a’e = even more

superlative level 1
Loa = very
Maoli = very, very

Examples:
Nui 'o ia. = He is big.
Nui iki 'o ia. = He is a little bigger.
Nui a'e 'o ia.= He is bigger.
Nui iki a'e 'o ia.= He is even bigger.
Nui loa 'o ia.= He is very big.
Nui maoli 'o ia.=He is very big.

My questions are:
How do you say?:
He is the biggest.
He is as fast as a cat.


Also, how do you do comparatives in the other directions as in:
He is less big.
He is the least big.

Thank you in advance for any thoughts you may have about these questions.

 hui hou.
Paul

[Kalani]

According to the Hawaiian Dictionary, there is no Hawaiian equivalent for the superlative ("-est") other than "loa" or "nui loa". What you could say for "He is the biggest", then, would most likely be ʻo ia ka nui loa, using "nui" as a noun. In fact, the translation of the Hawaiian Bible uses this phrase in Matthew 18:4.

You could also say ʻoi loa kona nui, meaning "his bigness is superlative/the very best".

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For "He is as fast as a cat", you need to use a verb sentence. You could use the English verb "like" to rewrite this sentence to read something like "His fastness is like a cat's". Coincidentally, the Hawaiian word for this meaning of the English verb "like" is spelled exactly the same.

We can use this Hawaiian verb "like" to translate the rewritten English sentence: Like kona wikiwiki ʻana me he pōpoki.

Like, of course, is the verb that tells us we're comparing; kona wikiwiki ʻana means "his fastness"; and me he pōpoki means "like a cat".

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I am unsure how to translate the comparatives in the other direction.

[kahihi'o]

My questions are:
How do you say?:
He is the biggest.
He is as fast as a cat.


Also, how do you do comparatives in the other directions as in:
He is less big.
He is the least big.

Thank you in advance for any thoughts you may have about these questions.

 hui hou.
Paul

He is the biggest.
ʻO ia ke kanaka nui loa.

He is as fast as a cat.
Like kona ʻāwīwī me (kō) ka pōpoki.
Me he pōpoki lā ʻo ia ke holo aku.

He is less big.
Emi mai kona nui.

He is the least big (heʻs the smallest).
ʻO ia ke kanaka liʻiliʻi loa.