Editing Aloha

{{Short description|Hawaiian word for love, affection, peace, compassion, and mercy}}
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[[File:Flowers arranged to ALOHA, Hilo, Hawaii.JPG|thumb|Flowers arranged to make the word ''aloha'']]
[[File:1991 Hawaii license plate MNG 728.jpg|thumb|A license plate from Hawaii bearing the word ''aloha'']]
'''''Aloha''''' ({{IPAc-en|ə|ˈ|l|oʊ|h|ɑː}} {{Respell|ə|LOH|hah}}, <small>Hawaiian:</small> [[Help:IPA/Hawaiian|[əˈlohə]]]) is the [[Hawaiian language|Hawaiian]] word for [[love]], [[affection]], [[peace]], [[compassion]] and [[mercy]], that is commonly used as a greeting.<ref>{{Cite book|last= Pukui|first= Mary Kawena|year= 1986|title= Hawaiian Dictionary: Hawaiian-English, English-Hawaiian|location= Honolulu|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=bHdRhjL9Y9EC&q=Hawaiian+dictionary+aloha&pg=PA21|publisher=[[University of Hawaii Press]]|isbn= 978-0824807030|oclc= 229095|page=21}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|last= Van Valkenburg|first= June A.|year= 2012|title= Feeling My Way: Finding Purpose|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=_jIbdlS7YboC&pg=PA69|publisher=BalboaPress|isbn= 978-1-4525-5462-4|page=69}}</ref> It has a deeper cultural and spiritual significance to [[native Hawaiians]], for whom the term is used to define a force that holds together existence.<ref>{{cite book |last=Carrol |first=Bret |title=The Routledge Historical Atlas of Religion in America |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QT3i34vGS-cC |publisher=[[Psychology Press]] |year=2000 |page=19|isbn=9780415921312 }}</ref><ref name="Aloha-Hawaii">{{cite web |title= What is the meaning of Aloha? | url=https://www.surfertoday.com/surfing/what-is-the-meaning-of-aloha |access-date=July 14, 2024|date=January 14, 2024|publisher=Surfer Today}}</ref>

The word is found in all [[Polynesian languages]] and always with the same basic meaning of "love, compassion, sympathy, kindness."<ref name="KanaheleKanahele1992" /> Its use in Hawaii has a seriousness lacking in the [[Tahitian language|Tahitian]] and [[Samoan language|Samoan]] meanings.<ref name="Wierzbicka1992" />  [[Mary Kawena Pukui]] wrote that the "first expression" of ''aloha'' was between a parent and child.<ref name="KanaheleKanahele1992">{{cite book|first=George Hu'eu Sanford|last=Kanahele|title=Ku Kanaka Stand Tall: A Search for Hawaiian Values|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ndt4MZQ2kfEC&pg=PA470|year=1992|publisher=University of Hawaii Press|isbn=978-0-8248-1500-4|page=470}}</ref>

[[Lorrin Andrews]] wrote the first Hawaiian dictionary, called ''A Dictionary of the Hawaiian Language''.<ref name="Forbes1998">{{cite book|first=David W.|last=Forbes|title=Hawaiian National Bibliography, Vol 3: 1851–1880|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lB_F9CffeN8C&pg=PA385|year=1998|publisher=University of Hawaii Press|isbn=978-0-8248-2503-4|page=385}}</ref> In it, he describes ''aloha'' as "A word expressing different feelings: love, affection, gratitude, kindness, [[pity]], compassion, grief, the modern common salutation at meeting; parting".<ref>{{cite book|last1=Andrews|first1=Lorrin|last2=Parker|first2=Henry|title=A Dictionary of the Hawaiian Language|url=https://archive.org/details/ofhawadictionary00andrrich|date=1922|page=[https://archive.org/details/ofhawadictionary00andrrich/page/52 52]|publisher=Board of Commissioners of Public Archives of the Territory of Hawaii|location=Honolulu}}</ref> Mary Kawena Pukui and [[Samuel Hoyt Elbert]]'s ''Hawaiian Dictionary: Hawaiian-English, English-Hawaiian'' also contains a similar definition. [[Anthropologist]] Francis Newton states that "Aloha is a complex and profound sentiment. Such emotions defy definition".<ref name="Wierzbicka1992" /> [[Anna Wierzbicka]] concludes that the term has "no equivalent in English".<ref name="Wierzbicka1992">{{cite book|first=Anna |last=Wierzbicka|title=Semantics, Culture, and Cognition: Universal Human Concepts in Culture-Specific Configurations|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6vdbt5bUI78C&pg=PA152|date=1992|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-536091-2|pages=152–155}}</ref>

The word aloha is hard to translate into any other language because it comprises complex ways of being and of interacting with and loving all of creation.  An ethic of care and respect for all people and all elements of the land is wrapped up in aloha; it is a way of showing connection and reverence.  [[Liliʻuokalani|Queen Liliʻuokalani]] is known to have said, "Aloha is to learn what is not said, to see what cannot be seen, and to know the unknowable".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Ching |first1=June |title=Aloha connection--Island tidbits |url=https://www.apa.org/pi/oema/resources/communique/2013/05/island-tidbits |website=American Psychological Association |publisher=American Psycholigical Association |access-date=July 10, 2023}}</ref>  

Another way to interpret ''aloha'' is as an energy exchange — the giving and receiving of positive energy is the spirit of aloha.   As we create positive thoughts and interactions, they ripple out into the world and are merged and multiplied with the actions and energy of others.  Aloha has been described as the coordination of the heart and mind to foster connectivity and peace. <ref>{{cite web |title=The Meaning of Aloha Through Hawaiian Language and History |url=https://www.homeyhawaii.com/blog/culture/aloha-meaning-through-hawaiian-language-and-history/ |website=Homey Hawaii |date=15 March 2023 |access-date=July 10, 2023}}</ref> 

The state of Hawaii introduced the Aloha Spirit law in 1986, which mandates that state officials and judges treat the public with Aloha.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20180422-in-hawaii-being-nice-is-the-law|title=In Hawaii, being nice is the law|first=Breena|last=Kerr|publisher=[[BBC]]|date=April 23, 2018|access-date=July 14, 2019}}</ref><ref>[https://www.hawaii.edu/uhwo/clear/home/lawaloha.html Hawaiʻi Law of The Aloha Spirit]</ref> 

The University of Hawai'i's Center for Labor Education and Research hosts the above statute of the Spirit of Aloha, which breaks down the concept into an acronym using each of the letters of the word:

"'Akahai,' meaning kindness, to be expressed with tenderness;

'Lōkahi,' meaning unity, to be expressed with harmony;

'ʻOluʻolu,' meaning agreeable, to be expressed with pleasantness;

'Haʻahaʻa,' meaning humility, to be expressed with modesty;

'Ahonui,' meaning patience, to be expressed with perseverance."<ref name="Hawaii State Statute Spirit of Aloha">{{cite web |title=Hawai'i Law of the Aloha Spirit |url=https://www.hawaii.edu/uhwo/clear/home/lawaloha.html |website=University of Hawaii CLEAR |publisher=University of Hawaii |access-date=July 10, 2023}}</ref>

== Etymology ==
''Aloha'' was borrowed from the Hawaiian ''aloha'' to the English language. The Hawaiian word has evolved from the [[Proto-Polynesian language|Proto-Polynesian]] greeting ''[[wiktionary:Reconstruction:Proto-Polynesian/qarofa|*qarofa]],''<ref>Ross Clark and Simon J. Greenhill, editors (2011), “[https://pollex.shh.mpg.de/entry/qarofa.b/ QAROFA (B)]”, in POLLEX-Online: The Polynesian Lexicon Project Online</ref> which also meant "love, pity, or compassion". It is further thought to be evolved from [[Proto-Oceanic language|Proto-Oceanic]] root ''*qarop(-i)'' meaning "feel pity, empathy, be sorry for", which in turn descends from [[Proto-Malayo-Polynesian language|Proto-Malayo-Polynesian]] ''*harep.''<ref>Ross Clark and Simon J. Greenhill, editors (2011), “[https://pollex.shh.mpg.de/entry/qarofa.a/ QAROFA (A)]”, in POLLEX-Online: The Polynesian Lexicon Project Online</ref>

''Aloha'' has numerous cognates in other Polynesian languages, such as ''[[talofa]]'' in [[Samoan language|Samoan]], ''ta'alofa'' in [[Tuvaluan language|Tuvaluan]], and ''[[aro'a]]'' in [[Cook Islands Māori]]. The [[Māori language|Māori]] word aroha, with [[Aroha]] being a given name is also descended from the Proto-Polynesian root.

''Aloha'' is derived from Proto-Polynesian roots ''alo,'' meaning 'presence' or 'face' and ''ha,'' meaning 'breath,' making the literal meaning something close to 'the presence of breath.' or 'the face of breath' <ref>{{cite web |last1=Harley |first1=Charlebois |title=Hawaiian Culture Act 2 of HĀ: Breath of Life |url=https://polynesia.com/blog/hawaiian-culture-ha-breath-of-life |website=Polynesian Cultural Center |date=8 February 2023 |access-date=July 10, 2023}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{Portal|Hawaii}}
*[[As-salamu alaykum]], a greeting in Arabic that means "Peace be upon you"
*[[Mahalo]], a Hawaiian word meaning thanks, gratitude, admiration, praise, esteem, regards, or respects
*[[Kia ora]], a Māori greeting
*[[Mabuhay]], a Filipino greeting
*[[Namaste]], a customary Hindu greeting
*[[Ohana|ʻOhana]], a Hawaiian term meaning "family"
*[[Shalom]], a Hebrew word meaning peace, harmony, wholeness, completeness, prosperity, welfare and tranquility
*[[Talofa]], a Samoan greeting

==References==
{{wiktionary}}
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Hawaiiana]]
[[Category:Hawaiian words and phrases]]
[[Category:Greeting words and phrases]]
[[Category:Parting phrases]]
[[Category:Compassion]]