The language of the lei is as rich and complex as that of any other specialized field of endeavor, and as steeped in heritage.
According to National Geographic’s Enduring Voices Project, Every 14 days a language dies. By 2100, more than half of the more than 7,000 languages spoken on Earth—many of them not yet recorded—may disappear, taking with them a wealth of knowledge about history, culture, the natural environment, and the human brain.
According to the institute, “language defines a culture, through the people who speak it and what it allows speakers to say. Words that describe a particular cultural practice or idea may not translate precisely into another language. Many endangered languages have rich oral cultures with stories, songs, and histories passed on to younger generations, but no written forms. With the extinction of a language, an entire culture is lost.”
This is also true of the specialized languages of fields such as the arts. When a word for a technique or concept is lost, the ability to describe it is lost. When one can no longer describe a concept, one can no longer think about it. Imagine trying to describe the concept of “the absence of light in a defined area when a solid body is blocking a light source, such as the sun,” without the ability to say, or even think, “shadow.” In the Hawaiian language, the tongue of a culture with a rich artistic heritage, as fewer practitioners of the various arts retain the specific terms of those arts, the terms, and with them, the techniques they describe, are disappearing.
You can help to preserve and perpetuate the language of the lei through your purchase of Hua ʻŌlelo Lei – A Lei Maker’s Glossary.
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