''Aloha'' ( , ) is the Hawaiian word for

love Love encompasses a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most sublime virtue or good habit, the deepest Interpersonal relationship, interpersonal affection, to the simplest pleasure. An example of this range of ...

affection Affection or fondness is a "disposition or state of mind or body" that is often associated with a feeling or type of love. It has given rise to a number of branches of philosophy and psychology concerning emotion, disease, influence, and sta ...

peace Peace is a concept of societal friendship and harmony in the absence of hostility and violence. In a social sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (such as war) and freedom from fear of violence between individuals or groups. ...

compassion Compassion motivates people to go out of their way to relieve the physical, mental or emotional pains of others and themselves. Compassion is often regarded as being sensitive to the emotional aspects of the suffering of others. When based on n ...

and mercy, that is commonly used as a simple greeting but has a deeper cultural and spiritual significance to

native Hawaiians Native Hawaiians (also known as Indigenous Hawaiians, Kānaka Maoli, Aboriginal Hawaiians, First Hawaiians, or simply Hawaiians) ( haw, kānaka, , , and ), are the indigenous ethnic group of Polynesian people of the Hawaiian Islands. Hawaii ...

, for whom the term is used to define a force that holds together existence. The word is found in all Polynesian languages and always with the same basic meaning of "love, compassion, sympathy, kindness", although the use in Hawaii has a seriousness lacking in the Tahitian and Samoan meanings. Mary Kawena Pukui wrote that the "first expression" of ''aloha'' was between a parent and child. Lorrin Andrews wrote the first Hawaiian dictionary, called ''A Dictionary of the Hawaiian Language''. In it, he describes ''aloha'' as "A word expressing different feelings: love, affection, gratitude, kindness,

pity Pity is a sympathetic sorrow evoked by the suffering of others, and is used in a comparable sense to '' compassion'', ''condolence'' or ''empathy'' – the word deriving from the Latin ''pietas'' (etymon also of '' piety''). Self-pity is pi ...

, compassion, grief, the modern common salutation at meeting; parting". Mary Kawena Pukui and

Samuel Hoyt Elbert Samuel Hoyt Elbert (8 August 1907 – 14 May 1997) was an American linguist who made major contributions to Hawaiian and Polynesian lexicography and ethnography. Born on a farm in Des Moines, Iowa, to Hugh and Ethelind Elbert, Sam grew up riding h ...

's ''Hawaiian Dictionary: Hawaiian-English, English-Hawaiian'' also contains a similar definition.

Anthropologist An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms and ...

Francis Newton states that "Aloha is a complex and profound sentiment. Such emotions defy definition".

Anna Wierzbicka Anna Wierzbicka (born 10 March 1938 in Warsaw) is a Poles, Polish linguistics, linguist who is Emeritus Professor at the Australian National University, Canberra. Brought up in Poland, she graduated from Warsaw University and emigrated to Austr ...

concludes that the term has "no equivalent in English". The state of Hawaii introduced the Aloha Spirit law in 1986, which mandates that state officials and judges treat the public with Aloha.

Etymology

''Aloha'' was borrowed from the Hawaiian ''aloha'' to English language. The Hawaiian word has evolved from the

Proto-Polynesian Proto-Polynesian (abbreviated PPn) is the hypothetical proto-language from which all the modern Polynesian languages descend. It is a daughter language of the Proto-Austronesian language. Historical linguists have reconstructed the language using ...

greeting '' *qarofa,'' which also meant "love, pity, or compassion". It is further thought to be evolved from

Proto-Oceanic Proto-Oceanic (abbr. ''POc'') is a proto-language that historical linguists since Otto Dempwolff have reconstructed as the hypothetical common ancestor of the Oceanic subgroup of the Austronesian language family. Proto-Oceanic is a descendant ...

root ''*qarop(-i)'' meaning "feel pity, empathy, be sorry for", which in turn descends from

Proto-Malayo-Polynesian Proto-Malayo-Polynesian (PMP) is the reconstructed ancestor of the Malayo-Polynesian languages, which is by far the largest branch (by current speakers) of the Austronesian language family. Proto-Malayo-Polynesian is ancestral to all Austronesi ...

''*harep.''Ross Clark and Simon J. Greenhill, editors (2011), �
QAROFA (A)
��, in POLLEX-Online: The Polynesian Lexicon Project Online ''Aloha'' has numerous cognates in other Polynesian languages, such as '' talofa'' in Samoan, ''ta'alofa'' in Tuvaluan, and '' aro'a'' in

Cook Islands Māori Cook Islands Māori is an Eastern Polynesian language that is the official language of the Cook Islands. Cook Islands Māori is closely related to New Zealand Māori, but is a distinct language in its own right. Cook Islands Māori is simply c ...

. Māori given name Aroha is also descended from the Proto-Polynesian root.

References

{{reflist Hawaiiana Hawaiian words and phrases Greeting words and phrases Parting phrases

Etymology

See also

References