# Hawak kamay - why not hawak mga kamay?



## tagadoug

Hi,

My understanding is that the phrase "hawak kamay" (as in, e.g., the song of the same name) means "hold hands". However, if it is translated literally I would have thought it meant "hold hand (singular)".

Can anyone explain why "hold hands" is "hawak kamay" and not "hawak mga kamay"?

Thanks


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## 082486

Hi and welcome! 

I'll leave the explanation to the experts...


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## DotterKat

You have to think of it as a complete grammatical unit, like a phrasal modifier. In a sentence like _Sila ay hawak-kamay sa pagpapalaki ng kanilang mga anak_ (ultimately meaning, after you have worked through the literal imagery, that the parents are in close accord on issues pertaining to child rearing), hawak-kamay is an adverbial phrase. 

As to why it is hawak-kamay and not hawak mga kamay, this is mainly done for literary effect. Sometimes, brevity intensifies style as in other compound words like tigas ulo, patay gutom or sulat kamay. It is not "tigas ng ulo" (although there are instances in which this would be applicable), "patay sa gutom" or "sulat ng kamay" because the marker _ng_ or preposition _sa_ dilutes the impact of the compound word. Indeed, if you included the extra words --- mga, ng or sa --- it is no longer a compound word but simply a phrase. In the case of a poem or song in which meter is important, these shortcuts can be crucial for artistic reasons. As I said, brevity is style.


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## mataripis

my tagalog version for that title is "Kapit kamay".   hawak is just touching but using the word "kapit" implies  holding one another.


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## niernier

Trust what DotterKat said. It's uncommon to say "hawak mga kamay" so the first time I heard it, I was imagining somebody holding both hands of the other person.


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## tagadoug

Thanks for the explanations everyone


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## Perictione

To me "hawak kamay" would mean I holding a hand of the person, as my hand would logically hold another. "Hawak mga kamay" would mean my two hands holding another pair. It's a bit of awkward to say "hawak mga kamay" as well, but it would make sense if I were in a group and everybody has to hold hands together.


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## karmllean

Hawak-kamay is an adjective and should be written the way it is - as a hyphenated compound. In this form, no need to indicate number, e.g., plural form.


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## sugarglidernames

Hawak-kamay means It is just like grasping our hands together. Love and Respect.


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## biankita

I always saw "hawak-kamay" as a figure of speech, especially since it's from a song. And even with DotterKat's example of "_Sila ay hawak-kamay sa pagpapalaki ng kanilang mga anak."
_ 
If you are talking about a literal joining of hands, hawak-kamay is definitely not how to say it. The most common time I can think of where people are literally asked to join hands is during Roman Catholic mass during the Our Father. (Sorry, I am Roman Catholic so I don't know if this is done in other religions or other types of Christianity.) The priest does not say "Tayo'y maghawak-kamay." ("Let's join hands." as implied). He says, "Tayo'y maghawak-hawak ng ating mga kamay." It still means "Let's join (our) hands."


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## lostinmanila

"hawak-kamay" is a tagalog phrase, a figure of speech. if you used it in a sentence or other phrases, it will be have several meanings... let's take yeng's song as an example.. "hawak-kamay, di kita iiwan sa paglakbay"... you need to translate it considering the whole phrase... and it should sound like... by your side, i'll be with you through this journey..... and to translate "hawak-kamay" literally as holding hands is not correct because "HAWAK-KAMAY" is a single unit... the correct translation for "holding hands" is "kapit kamay"..


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