humuhumunukunukuāpuaʻa
See also: humuhumu-nukunuku-apuaʻa
Hawaiian
editAlternative forms
editEtymology
editCompound of humuhumu (“triggerfish”) + nuku (“snout”) + nuku (“blunt”) + ā (conjunction between two adjectives) + puaʻa (“pig; pig-like”) = “triggerfish with a snout that is blunt and pig-like”.
Pronunciation
editNoun
edithumuhumunukunukuāpuaʻa
- reef triggerfish, humuhumunukunukuapuaa
- 1998, He Moʻolelo No Kamapuaʻa, G.W. Kahiolo, page 15:
- Ko ia nei heleāiʻa akula nō ia ma ke kino humuhumunukunukuapuaʻa a hiki kēia i Molokaʻi.
- He swam away very quickly in his fish form as a reef triggerfish until he finally reached Molokai.
References
edit- Lorrin Andrews (1865) A Dictionary of the Hawaiian language, page 225
- Mary Kawena Pukui, Samuel H. Elbert (1986) Hawaiian Dictionary: Hawaiian-English, English-Hawaiian, →ISBN, page 91