[Ads-l] "hafu"

Sat May 30 20:43:52 UTC 2015

Hapa Haole music (Hawaiian-influenced melodies with English words) were popular from the 1920's, and, some would say, continue today. Famous examples include 'My Little Grass Shack' and 'Lovely Hula Hands'. The latter is sung by authentic contemporary Hawaiian singers also (the Cazimero Brothers, for example). 

The concept is contested--there are some political forces that don't approve of it. I'll leave that issue to others--I love all Hawaiian music, myself, having lived there during the early flowering of the revival in the seventies. I actually saw Iz before he was famous. 

Geoff 

Geoffrey S. Nathan 
Faculty Liaison, C&IT 
and Professor, Linguistics Program 
http://blogs.wayne.edu/proftech/ 
+1 (313) 577-1259 (C&IT) 

Nobody at Wayne State will EVER ask you for your password. Never send it to anyone in an email, no matter how authentic the email looks. 

----- Original Message -----

> From: "Jonathan Lighter" <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Sent: Saturday, May 30, 2015 4:15:47 PM
> Subject: Re: "hafu"

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster: Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject: Re: "hafu"
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------

> "Hapa haole" appears in Jones's "From Here to Eternity," based of
> course on
> his experiences on Oahu in 1941.

> JL

> On Sat, May 30, 2015 at 4:09 PM, Benjamin Barrett
> <gogaku at ix.netcom.com>
> wrote:

> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > -----------------------
> > Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster: Benjamin Barrett <gogaku at IX.NETCOM.COM>
> > Subject: Re: "hafu"
> >
> > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > The "New Pocket Hawaiian Dictionary" (1992) says "hapa" is of mixed
> > blood and "hapa haole" is part-white. Both definitions are for
> > people as
> > well as things (hapa also meaning portion, fragment). BB
> > > May 30, 2015 at 12:40 PM
> > > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > > -----------------------
> > > Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > > Poster: Jim Parish <jparish at SIUE.EDU>
> > > Subject: Re: "hafu"
> > >
> > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > >
> > > If I recall correctly, when I lived in Hawaii (mid-'60s), as
> > > often as
> > > not the phrase was "hapa haole" - "half white", with the
> > > implication
> > > that the other half was Asian or Pacific Islander.
> > >
> > > Jim Parish
> > >
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >

> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
> truth."

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