Hawaiian Pidgin: Difference between revisions

'''Hawaiian Pidgin''' (alternately, '''Hawaiʻi Creole English''' or '''HCE''', known locally as '''Pidgin''') is an [[English language|English]]-based [[creole language]] spoken in [[Hawaii|Hawaiʻi]]. An estimated 600,000 residents of Hawai{{okina}}i speak Hawaiian Pidgin natively and 400,000 speak it as a second language.<ref name="Sasaoka 2019">{{Cite web |last=Sasaoka |first=Kyle |date=2019 |title=Toward a writing system for Hawaiʻi Creole |url=https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/25a8f799-25da-4f99-985e-3e7ec71118cf/content |journal=}}</ref><ref name=":14Velupillai 2013">{{Citecite book |last=Velupillai |first=Viveka |date=2013|titlechapter=Hawaiʻi Creole |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?{{GBurl |id=NZkeAAAAQBAJ&dq=Velupillai%2C+Viveka.+2013.+%22Hawai%E2%80%99i+Creole&|pg=PA252}} |journaleditor-last=Michaelis |editor-first=Susanne Maria |editor-link=Susanne Maria Michaelis |title=The Survey of Pidgin and Creole Languages |pagesvolume=252–2611: English-based and Dutch-based languages |publisher=Oxford University Press |publication-place=Oxford |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-19-969140-1 |oclc=813856184 |pages=252–261 |via=Google Books partial preview }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.ethnologue.com/language/hwc|title=Hawaii Pidgin|work=Ethnologue|access-date=2018-06-25|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|last=Velupillai|first=Viveka|title=Hawaiʻi Creole structure dataset|date=2013|url=https://apics-online.info/contributions/26|work=Atlas of Pidgin and Creole Language Structures Online|place=Leipzig|publisher=Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology|access-date=2021-08-20}}</ref> Although English and [[Hawaiian language|Hawaiian]] are the two [[official languages]] of the state of Hawaiʻi,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hawaii.gov/lrb/con/conart15.html|title=Hawaii State Constitution|access-date=2 October 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070705235552/http://www.hawaii.gov/lrb/con/conart15.html|archive-date=5 July 2007}}</ref> Hawaiian Pidgin is spoken by many residents of Hawaiʻi in everyday conversation and is often used in advertising targeted toward locals in Hawaiʻi. In the Hawaiian language, it is called '''{{okina}}ōlelo pa{{okina}}i {{okina}}ai''' – "hard taro language".<ref name="pukui">{{Cite book |last1=Pukui |first1=Mary Kawena |last2=Elbert |first2=Samuel H. |date=1991 |title=New pocket Hawaiian dictionary: with a concise grammar and given names in Hawaiian |language=English |location=Honolulu |publisher=University of Hawaii press |isbn=978-0-8248-1392-5 }}</ref> Hawaiian Pidgin was first recognized as a language by the U.S. Census Bureau in 2015. However, Hawaiian Pidgin is still thought of as lower status than the Hawaiian and English languages.<ref name="Sasaoka 2019"/>

Hawaiian Pidgin originated on [[sugarcane]] [[Sugar plantations in Hawaii|plantation]]s in 1835 as a form of communication used between Hawaiian speaking [[Native Hawaiian]] residents, English speaking residents, and foreign immigrants.<ref name="nō ka ʻoi">{{cite web |url=http://www.mauinokaoimag.com/Maui-Magazine/January-February-2008/Da-Muddah-Tongue/ |title=Da Muddah Tongue |first=Kathy |last=Collins |work=www.mauinokaoimag.com – Maui nō ka ʻoi Magazine |date=January–February 2008 |oclc=226379163 |location=Wailuku, HI, USA |access-date=October 18, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130605130329/http://www.mauinokaoimag.com/Maui-Magazine/January-February-2008/Da-Muddah-Tongue/ |archive-date=June 5, 2013 }}</ref><ref name=":14Velupillai 2013"/> It supplanted, and was influenced by, the existing [[pidgin]] that Native Hawaiians already used on plantations and elsewhere in Hawaiʻi. Since such sugarcane plantations often hired workers from many different countries, a [[trade language|common language]] was needed in order for the plantation workers to communicate effectively with each other and their supervisors.<ref name="langnet">{{cite web|url=http://www.hawaii.edu/satocenter/langnet/definitions/hce.html#bkgd-hce|title=Hawai'i Creole English|access-date=20 November 2014}}</ref> Hawaiian Pidgin has been influenced by many different languages, including [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]], [[Hawaiian language|Hawaiian]], [[American English]], and [[Cantonese language|Cantonese]].{{Citation needed|date=January 2022}} As people of other backgrounds were brought in to work on the plantations, Hawaiian Pidgin acquired even more words from languages such as [[Japanese language|Japanese]], [[Ilocano language|Ilocano]], [[Okinawan language|Okinawan]] and [[Korean language|Korean]].

In the last few decades, many residents of Hawaiʻi have moved to the US mainland due to economic issues.<ref>{{cite web|last=kamamaluula|title=Where the Other Half Live: The Hawaiian Diaspora in the US [Part 1] {{!}} Kamamaluula News|url=https://kamamaluula.com/where-the-other-half-live-part-one/3732/|access-date=2020-09-29|language=en-US|archive-date=2020-10-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201016200403/https://kamamaluula.com/where-the-other-half-live-part-one/3732/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|date=2020-02-21|title=Hawaii Isn't The Only Place Where Local-Born People Are Leaving In Droves|url=https://www.civilbeat.org/2020/02/hawaii-isnt-the-only-place-where-local-born-people-are-leaving-in-droves/|access-date=2020-09-29|website=Honolulu Civil Beat|language=en}}</ref> As a result, thousands of Pidgin speakers can be found in the other 49 states.<ref>{{cite web|title=Hawaiian Creole Language - Dialects & Structure - MustGo|url=https://www.mustgo.com/worldlanguages/hawaiian-creole/|access-date=2020-09-29|website=MustGo.com|language=en-US}}</ref>

Another example is [[shave ice]] being “ice shave” on the [[Big Island (Hawaii)|Big Island]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Laitinen |first1=Denise |title=The great Big Island ice shave crawl |url=https://www.honolulumagazine.com/the-great-big-island-ice-shave-crawl/ |access-date=8 July 2024 |work=Frolic Hawaii |publisher=Honolulu Magazine |date=May 8, 2019}}</ref>