While I was in Hawaii recently, I realized that a language
concept from Mandarin helps you understand what to answer when a Hawaiian says
"Mahalo"
when a Chinese speaker says "Xie,Xie" there is no
phrase for you're welcome. You say "mei wen ti" which means no
problem.
When a Hawaiian says"Mahalo" (thank you), you say
"a ole pilikia" which means no problem. There is no phrase for you're
welcome in Hawaiin.
If you are praised in Chinese you don't say thank you. You
will surprise Mandarin speakers by saying "na li, na li" which is a
nice way to deny the truth of what is being said. They will say "I thought
you Americans always said thank you." It is a large cultural difference,
that comes out of the sense of humility Chinese try to show when being praised.
At the Polynesian cultural Center they say that Polynesians
originated in China and were the progenitors of everyone from the Maori to the
Tahitians (the last immigrants to Hawaii from Polynesia came from Tahiti). Whether
this has anything to do or not with these linguistic concepts; I'm unwilling to
even take a stab. I'm just a" houle" or a "bai ren." Both
phrases mean "white guy," and I think that looking at all the
mistakes whites have made about people from other cultures, I'm going to close
this blog.
