Post #642511 by Limbo Lizard on Mon, Jul 2, 2012 11:16 AM

IANAL (I am not a linguist), but here's my take. The term you are looking to translate is one that means 'the experience of the general condition of our existence as humans (Life) is meaningfully positive (Good)'. You don't simply mean, "life" (being alive) is better than the alternative.

Looking at the Hawaiian dictionary, "ola", alone, has possible meanings of "life, health, well-being, living, livelihood, means of support, salvation; alive, living; curable, spared, recovered; healed; to live; to spare, save, heal, grant life, survive, thrive".

But "Ola 'ana" means "life, existence". (I read elsewhere that "'ana" is a nominalizing particle that turns verbs into nouns describing actions.)

Pending the judgement of a true expert, I'm guessing either "Maika'i Ola 'ana" or "Ola 'ana Maika'i" could be used. According to Wikipedia, on Hawaiian Grammer, "Word order is flexible, and the emphatic word can be placed first in the sentence". So,...

"Ola 'ana Maika'i" = "Life is Good"
"Maika'i Ola 'ana" = "Life is Good!"

[ Edited by: Limbo Lizard 2012-07-02 11:34 ]