Etymology

hala

H4A1L1A1

Today it means: Pandanus tectorius, a screw pine native to Malesia, eastern Australia, and the Pacific Islands. Full definition →

Hawaiian hala ← Proto-Polynesian *fara ← Proto-Oceanic *padran
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The story

  1. Proto-Austronesian*paŋudaN
  2. Proto-Malayo-Polynesian*paŋdan
  3. Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian*padan
  4. Proto-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian*padan
  5. Proto-Oceanic*padran
  6. Proto-Polynesian*fara
  7. Hawaiianhala
  8. English todayhala

Borrowed from Hawaiian hala, ultimately from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *paŋdan. Doublet of pandan via Malay.

Words from the same roots

Proto-Malayo-Polynesian*paŋdan all →

pandan

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.