A Faka-Explanation

I am certain that my choice in naming my blog has caused some confusion back home. Faka is a prefix in the Tongan language that denotes likeness, causation, supplying, and having. Over 22 out of 112 pages of my Tongan dictionary are devoted to faka-words, 848 faka words in total - yes, I counted. There are faka words I frequently use such as fakamolemole (sorry), fakakatape (just joking), fakahela (tiring or exhausting- this is what most children are called before they are hit) and fakapikopiko (lazy). There are many faka words that are not particularly commonplace within the Tongan language but I find them and their definitions extremely comical so I have created a list of my top ten favorite faka words for your enjoyment:

Top Ten Faka Words

1. fakasiosio - to peep, look around for, see if one can find (Often used to describe the Peeping Tom types)
2. fakamimi - to cause a baby to urinate (How one goes about this I am not quite sure)
3. fakafanau - one’s wife’s child begotten by a former husband born after one’s marriage to the woman and regarded as ones own (Catch all that?)
4. fakasapa - pertaining to supper, to provide with supper (Much more straightforward of a definition than #3, isn’t it?)
5. faka-Suva - in a manner characteristic of Suva, the capitol of Fiji, living as husband and wife though not legally married (apparently there is a little bit of a Tongan-Fijian rivalry)
6. faka-Ha’amoa – Samoan, in a Samoan way, to be bare from the waist up (Evidently the missionaries made sure Tongans were clothed before they made their way to Samoa)
7. fakaifo - to make tasty (ifo, meaning delicious, is one Tongan word I know I will use in my vocabulary post-Tonga)
8. fakatevolo – as or like pertaining to devils, demons, or ghosts (Tongans take all things "tevolo" very seriously)
9. fakauha - to go out in the rain (Tongans will often stand in the pouring rain with a bar of soap a “fakauha” shower)
10. fakape - to come out of ones hiding place and yell “Pe!” (It is only a matter of time before I fakape someone)