What does NALU mean in Hawaiian?

 

One of the reasons we all love Hawaii is the beaches. Being close to the water and sand. The simple sounds of the waves, or NALU [pronounced nah-loo] in Hawaiian, are one of the things we crave most about being in Hawaii.

We use NALU to describe the cyclical nature of an event or feeling: the NALU of financial markets or the NALU of grief. The up and down nature of the ocean can be mesmerizing to watch and can provide a sense of calm. Studies have shown that hearing and watching NALU at the beach has positive health benefits.

Yet while NALU can have a soothing effect on us, there is the other side of NALU: the ferocity, the strength, the destruction that NALU can create. Tsunamis have caused catastrophic damage in Hawaii. NALU has a force and a power that is in a class of its own. We are told as we land in Hawaii to respect the ocean and the NALU, for its power can easily sweep you away.

NALU carries more poetic, less obvious meanings, however. In keeping with the concept of water and liquid, NALU is the amniotic fluid that surrounds and protects an unborn child.

To NALU is to mediate, ponder, contemplate. For some reason, the water imagery personally works well with this word, such as the tranquility created by the repetitive flow of waves. Or it’s the antithesis of  the idea of waves itself,  water free of waves, so calm and still that we can contemplate what is below… or a mind free of the waves of thought and mental disturbance.

[Hawaiian Dictionary (Hawaiian)]

nalu 1.  Wave, surf; full of waves; to form waves; wavy, as wood grain. Ke nalu nei ka moana, the ocean is full of waves. hoʻo.nalu To form waves. 2.  To ponder, meditate, reflect, mull over, speculate.  Nalu wale ihola nō ʻo Keawenui-a-ʻUmi i ka hope o kēia keiki, Keawenui-a-ʻUmi pondered about the fate of this child. 3. n. Amnion, amniotic fluid.