Mahalo (word)

Mahalo is a Hawaiian word meaning thanks, gratitude, admiration, praise, esteem, regards, respects. According to the Pukui and Elbert Hawaiian Dictionary, it is derived from the Proto-Polynesian *masalo.^[1]

Some sources support that the meanings 'thanks' and 'gratitude' were appended to the word following contact. While the word mahalo is found in Lorrin Andrews' 1865 dictionary, the English-Hawaiian section does not provide any Hawaiian word intended to mean gratitude or thanks.^[2] Also, early visitors noted that the Hawaiians were generous and grateful people, but had no word to express gratitude or to say "thank you."^[3][4]

References

1. ^ Mary Kawena Pukui, Samuel H. Elbert (1986). Hawaiian dictionary: Hawaiian-English, English-Hawaiian. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 978-0824807030. http://books.google.com/books?id=bHdRhjL9Y9EC&dq. 
2. ^ Lorin Andrews; notes by William de Witt Alexander (1865). A Dictionary of the Hawaiian Language. Originally published by Henry M. Whitney, Honolulu, republished by Island Heritage Publishing 2003. ISBN 0-89610-374-9. http://books.google.com/books?id=JjcOAAAAIAAJ. 
3. ^ John B. Whitman (1979). John Dominis Holt. ed. An Account of the Sandwich Islands: The Hawaiian Journal of John B. Whitman, 1813-1815. Peabody Museum of Salem Topgallant Publishing. ISBN 978-0914916505. http://books.google.com/books?id=PjhEGQAACAAJ. 
4. ^ Six Months in the Sandwich Islands, Isabella Bird, p. 78

See also

• Aloha