etymology

The Revised edition of PE (Pukui & Elbert'sHawaiian Dictionary) (1986) contains some 2,082 Proto-Polynesian reconstructions… etymological information about the history of Hawaiian words. (The list of reconstructions appearing 30 years earlier in the 1st edition of the Hawaiian-English Dictionary (1957) contained 241 words.see below)

In 2010, Greenhill and Clark posted an online edition of POLLEX, the database of Proto-Polynesian reconstructions (pollex.org.nz). An examination of POLLEX has so far shown over 1,900 reconstructions in which Hawaiian forms are cited. Although this number is close to the number of reconstructions in PE, the two sets are actually rather different. 824of the reconstructions in PE have not been located in POLLEX,and 659 Pollex reconstructions are not noted in PE, resulting in a total of 2,725 reconstructions. As PE contains appx. 27,288 entries (including numerous cross-entries), that suggests that appx. 10% of the listed vocabulary have posited reconstructions.

Click on the *links to view the Pollex reconstruction sets.

Pollex entries indicate that a form has been reconstructed for a subgroup of Polynesia (1), for Proto-Polynesian (2), or for a higher level that can be directly traced to Proto-Polynesian (3), in which case it is still the Proto-Polynesian reconstruction which is shown. These are the codes used...

within Polynesia

Reconstructions in PE

A completely new feature of this dictionary is the incorporation of Proto-Polynesian and Proto-Malayo-Polynesian reconstructions by Ronald R. Brown. An example is the following (which comes at the end of the entry followinglani, 1, sky): (PPNlangi;PMPlangit).This means thatlangiis the hypothetical reconstructed form in the Proto-Polynesian language spoken by the ancestors of the Hawaiians before the separation of the Polynesian peoples; this reconstruction is based largely on the form in use today in Tongan, Uvean, or Futunan, which languages have preserved more archaic features than any other Polynesian languages thus far recognized. Similarly,langitis the hypothetical reconstructed form in the Proto-Malayo-Polynesian language, the ancestor of Proto-Polynesian, spoken much earlier, before the separation of the Polynesian and other peoples from the Indonesians; this form can be reconstructed only when cognates are unmistakably present among Indonesian languages, as Javanese, Malay, Tagalog, or Malagasy. In the present work only those reconstructions are listed of which there can be little doubt, based on the present state of Malayo-Polynesian studies, and only those found in Indonesia as well as in Western Polynesia. A reconstruction is acceptable only if the meanings of the cognate forms in the related languages are similar, and if the sounds of the cognates in the various languages are in accord with certain tables of sound correspondences, as published by Dempwolff, Dyen, and Elbert. The symbols used are those established by Dyen for Proto-Malayo-Polynesian and by Elbert for Proto-Polynesian, except thataherein may be interpreted as Elbert's"a,ore before i" or"a, oro before u." The velar nasal is written"ng." [SeeSupplement, section B.]

from the preface to the 3rd edition of the Hawaiian-English Dictionary (1965):

…The Proto-Polynesian and Proto-Malayo-Polynesian reconstructions following many entries in theDictionary have been re-checked in the light of recent linguistic studies, and the results are given inSection B of the Supplement, although numerous changes have been made in the body of the book. It is recommended that serious students of Hawaiian refer to the third edition of theDictionary, rather than to the first two editions, because of the many alterations which have been made throughout the volume.

from the preface to the Revised edition of the Hawaiian Dictionary (1986):

Reconstructions. In the 1957 edition of the dictionary, the origins of numerous Hawaiian words were traced back three thousand years or so to ancestral Proto Malayo-Polynesian (now called Proto Austronesian). For this new volume, in view of the tremendous advancements during the last three decades in Indonesian studies, we have traced words back only to Proto Polynesian, a hypothetical language spoken at about the time of Christ, probably near Fiji or Tonga, and before the 50 or 60 Polynesian languages known today had developed from it. In the 1957 edition only words known in Proto Austronesian were reconstructed; in this volume we have tried to reconstruct Hawaiian words with cognates anywhere in Polynesia, without consideration of Proto Austronesian.

For the dictionaries consulted, see in the References: Churchward (Tongan), Carroll and Soulik (Nukuoro), Dordillon (Marquesan), Elbert (Rennell and Bellona), Englert (Easter Island), Fuentes (Easter Island), Lemaitre (Tahitian), Lieber and Dikepa (Kapingamarangi), McEwen (Niuean), Milner (Samoan), Pukui and Elbert (Hawaiian), Savage (Rarotongan), Stimson and Marshall (Tuamotuan), Williams (Maori). Also see Biggs 1972, 1978.

Section B of the Supplement to the 1st and 2nd editions,
Section D of the 3rd edition and Hawaiian Dictionary (1981):

Hawaiian reflexes of Proto-Polynesian
and Proto-Malayo-Polynesian

In preparing the third edition of the Dictionary, the proto-Polynesian (PPN) and Proto-Malayo-Polynesian (PMP) reflexes of Hawaiian published in the first and second editions were rechecked, utilizing recent publications. Appreciation is due Bruce Biggs and George W. Grace for their review of the materials (they are not responsible for the contents), and Don Johnson for his assistance. There follows a listing of the Hawaiian entries in the Dictionary that have PPN and PMP forms. (Forms not indicated in the Dictionary follow entries in parentheses in this order: PPN, PMP.)

aʻa, aʻe, aha, ʻaha, ahi, ahiahi, ʻaho, ai (haʻit-, zaqit,copulate, join),'ai, aka, ʻākau, ake, ako, ala, ali, ʻali (kali, Kali,dig),alo, anahulu, ane, ani, ao, aʻo, au, aʻu, auahi (ʻahu, qasu(h)), hā (four, stalk),haʻa, hahu, haka, haku, hala(mistake, pandanus),hale, hamu, hau, hauhili, hia, -hia, hiku, hili, hina, hiʻu, hoe, holahia, hono (fono,pinned, patch),honu, hū (sū, ZuRuq,overflow, wet),hua, huki, huli, hulu, ia, iʻa, ihu, iki, inumia, ipu, iwa, kā, kahi, kai, kala, kalo, kanihia, kanulu, kapa(edge),kau(put, season),kilo, kio, koa, kohi, kolu, koʻo, ku, kuʻi, kukae, kuku, kulaʻi, kuli, kūlia (tu'ulaki, (t)uquD,stand),kulu, kuna, kuni, kunu, kupu, kupuna, lā, lāʻau, lae, laha, lala, lālā, lalo, lama, lani, lau, lī, lia, liha, lihi, liʻi, lima, limu, lono, lua (pit, two),luaʻi, lulu, lūlū, mahana, mahina (maSina, sinaR,moon, light),mai, māino, maka (eye, raw),makani, makaʻu, makaukau, make, makua, malino, mama, manawa, manu, mauli, mimi, momona, muku, -na, nalo, nihi, niu, oki, ʻoki, 'oli, ono, pā, pana, papa, piʻo, popopo, pū, pua (pua, buhaN, pour out),puna, ū, ua, uaua, uhi, uka, uku, ‘uku, ula, ulu, uluhia, ʻumiʻumi, unahi, unuhi, ʻūʻū, wā, waʻa, waha (fafa, babaq,outside),waho, wahine, wai(water, who?),walu.

Forms with discrepancies entered in the Dictionary may be classified as shown below. Again, only the Hawaiian entry is given here, except that reconstructions not appearing in the Dictionary follow the Hawaiian entry in parentheses.

Hawaiian words with discrepancies in PPN attributable to vowel assimilation:ehu, ʻeli, hō, honua, hou, huʻe, ʻike, ili, kaumaha (mamafa, beRqat,heavy),kūkae, lehu.

Hawaiian words with discrepancies in PPN attributable to vowel dissimilation:hilo (filo, pules,twist),ilo, kanu, kuhi, moe, mokuhia, puʻe.

Hawaiian words with discrepancies in PPN attributable to metathesis:hauhili, ʻiako, mākou.

Hawaiian words with discrepancies in PPN vowel length:ʻaki, ʻalā, hānai, huhū, (fuaʻa, buRu), hūwā (fuaʻa, buRu), māhana, ʻōpū, wāhi.

Hawaiian words with unclassified discrepancies of PPN vowels:akua, aloha, hā(hoarse),hōkū, hoʻo (faka-, paqa,causative marker),'oe, pūnā-welewele.

Hawaiian words with unique nasal replacements in PPN:mala, noho, nunulu, uli.

Hawaiian words with other PPN consonant discrepancies:awa, kaina, lena, loʻu, nalu, niho, nuku (ngutu, ngu(s)u(h),mouth, lip),ʻōlena, -u (-u, -mu,your [singular]).

Hawaiian words with discrepancies in PPN vowels and consonants: aliʻi,hālau, hī (sī, cirit,diarrhea, semen, squirt),kiki, kākou, kō, pia, pō, puhi (pusi, qembus,blow),uila.

Hawaiian words with discrepancies in Proto-East Polynesian:hāpai, hohonu, nalo, uluna.

Hawaiian words with discrepancies in meanings:aka(shadow, visible),ila(birthmark, disgrace),kapa (tapa, tambang,cloth, other side),koko (toto, cencen,blood, thick),Koʻolau(windward, sea),lulu(sheltered, residence),mahiki(jump, fast),pū(conch, break wind, blow),uhi (ʻusi, ujin,cover, dark, charcoal).

Hawaiian words with discrepancies in the Hawaiian:ʻākaha, hānā, hela (fela, belaq,spread, partially open, split),-hoku-, kahe(cut, pierce),kīhā(swerve, hobble),poni(purple of morning, night),pulu(coconut husk or mulch, paste).