Lexical Distinction between the Staple Food and the Other Food in Hawaiian and Japanese

要旨:A traditional Hawaiian meal, as well as a typical Japanese meal, consists of the staple food and the food other than the staple food. Both Hawaiian and Japanese distinguish them lexically. Many other languages, such as English, do not have a clear lexical distinction between the staple food and the food other than the staple food. The word for the staple food is gohan in Japanese and 'ai in Hawaiian, respectively. Those two words are similar in that they can also mean the whole meal including the staple food and the food other than the staple food. The word for the food other than the staple food is okazu in Japanese and i'a in Hawaiian, respectively. Both in Japan and in Hawaii, many kinds of food, such as fish, meat, and vegetables, are eaten together with the staple food. Both okazu and i'a denote any food eaten together with the staple food, whether it is fish, meat or a vegetable.