– Hawaiian Language Search Test: Ānuenue

Nouns
No ka mea, ʻaʻole maopopo ka ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi ma waena o nā ʻano huaʻōlelo, hiki ke koho ʻia kekahi huaʻōlelo ma mua o ia me ka ʻatikala kikoʻī, akā naʻe, kakaʻikahi a ʻaʻole hoʻohana ʻia kekahi mau huaʻōlelo ma ke ʻano he mau ʻōlelo.[1]: p.37 phrase, adjectives follow the noun (e.g. ka hale liʻiliʻi “the house small”, “the small house”), while possessors precede it (e.g. kou hale “kou hale”). ʻO ka helu ma mua o ka noun inā ʻaʻole i loaʻa ka ʻatikala maopopo, akā e hahai i ka inoa inā ma mua o ka ʻatikala ma mua o ka inoa.[1]: p.31

Nā ʻatikala
ʻO kēlā me kēia inoa ma mua o kahi ʻatikala (kaʻi). ʻO nā mea nui ʻekolu:

ke a me ka – definitive singular – ke no nā huaʻōlelo e hoʻomaka ana me nā huapalapala k, e, a a me o (memorised like me ke ao “the cloud” rule) exceptions with words called nā kūʻēlula “the rule defiers” eg. ke pākaukau “the table”, ke ʻō “the fork” and ke mele “the song”). No nā huaʻōlelo ʻē aʻe a pau ua hoʻohana ʻia ka ka.
ʻo ia – kūʻokoʻa ʻole
nā – plural (definite or indefinite)
Helu
Ma nā huaʻōlelo noun, ʻelua helu (singular a plural) i ʻokoʻa. ʻO nā ʻatikala hoʻokahi ke a me ka a me ka ʻatikala nui nā ʻatikala wale nō e kaha ana i ka helu:

ka puʻu “the hill” vs. nā puʻu “the hills”
Inā ʻaʻole kēia mau ʻatikala, ʻike pinepine ʻia ka plurality ma ka hoʻokomo ʻana i ka pluralizing particle mau ma mua koke o ka noun:

he hale “a house” vs. he mau hale “houses”
koʻu hoaaloha “my friend” vs. koʻu mau hoaaloha “my friends”
ʻAʻole loli ka hapa nui o nā nouns i ka wā i pluralized; akā naʻe, ʻo kekahi mau huaʻōlelo e pili ana i nā kānaka e hōʻike ana i ka vowel lōʻihi ma ke kolu o ka huaʻōlelo mai ka hopena ma ka plural:

he wahine “a woman” vs. he mau wahine “women”
ka ʻelemakule “the old man” vs. nā ʻelemākule “the old men”
ia kahuna “the aforementioned priest” vs. ia mau kāhuna “the aforementioned priests”