Emily

@Shrike Yes, especially when the word is in an Indigenous language … insisting on the legitimacy of the English plural is repeating the same dynamic whereby the lei becomes an accessory for tourists rather than a tradition with a specific history and meaning in Hawai’i. A little more care would be well placed here.

@Steve L The difference is context—Italian isn’t currently the object of revitalization efforts; Hawaiian is, because it was almost wiped out after colonization and laws that forbid it to be taught in schools. The claiming and circulation of Hawaiian words and concepts (like aloha, hula, or lei) in ways divorced from their actual use and meaning is also part of that ongoing colonial history.