“The project aims to develop new programs for Hawaiian immersion education that are academically accessible and community-based, providing opportunities for future growth,” he wrote in messages with Civil Beat.
The group has already created and discussed dozens of signs, but the system is still unofficial and developing. Some signs focus on everyday vocabulary, Hawaiian cultural concepts and ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi grammar structures.
Kaaumoana-Cummings shared that they are still organizing and developing the signs carefully before publicly releasing an official list. However, simple words such as no, yes, house, land and mountain have been established.
In ASL, “house” is signed as though you were to outline the shape of a house with both hands, starting from the tip of the roof down to the sides of the walls. In ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi Kuhi Lima, “hale” is signed with fingertips touching to form the shape of a roof, tapping them together.
