Hawaiian Pidgin
Hawai‘i Pidgin English,
Hawai‘i Creole English,
HCE, or simply
Pidgin, is a
creole language based in part on
English sometimes used by residents of
Hawai‘i ("Hawaiian Pidgin English" is considered an inaccurate label). Although English and
Hawaiian are the co-
official languages of the State of Hawai‘i, Pidgin is used by many locals in everyday conversation and is often used in advertising toward Hawaii residents. The new
ISO/DIS 639-3 language code for Hawai‘i Pidgin (Hawai‘i Creole English) is HWC.[
1]
Pidgin English originated as a form of communication used between native and non-native English speakers in Hawai'i. It supplanted the
pidgin Hawaiian used on the plantations and elsewhere in Hawai'i. It has been influenced by many languages, including
Portuguese, Hawaiian, and
Cantonese, one of the
Chinese languages. As people of other nationalities were brought in to work in the plantations, such as
Japanese,
Filipinos, and
Koreans, Pidgin English acquired words from these languages.
Japanese loanwords in Hawaii lists some of those words originally from Japanese. It has also been influenced to a lesser degree by
Spanish spoken by
Mexican and
Puerto Rican settlers in Hawaii.
Even today, Pidgin English retains some influences from these languages. For example, the word
stay in Pidgin has the same meaning as the Portuguese verb "ficar", meaning "to stay" when referring to a temporary state or location. Sometimes the structure of the language is like that of Portuguese grammar. For instance, "you like one knife?" means "would you like a knife?". The reason the word "one" is used instead of "a" is because the word "um" in Portuguese has two meanings: "um" translates to "one" and "a" in English. The way people use the phrase "no can" is Portuguese grammar. In Portuguese, the phrase "Você não pode fazer isto!" comes out in Pidgin as "You no can do dat!", and in English as "You cannot do that!".
Portuguese nasal vowels are seen in pidgin also. It's seen in the Idiom "never mind" and pronounced in pidgin "nevamine". And also the word "kind" and pronounced in pidgin "kine". Words like "dis", "dat", "da" and "den" mean "this", "that", "the" and "then", respectively; are accents of Portuguese/Spanish origin. In Portuguese it is very common to see words ending in "da". You may also hear "da" at the end of pidgin words. As seen in pidgin words like "quada" and "brada", which means "quarter" and "brother.".
Pidgin words derived from Cantonese are also seen in other parts of America. For example, the word "haa?" is also used by Chinese Americans outside of Hawaii. The meaning is "excuse me?" or "what did you say?". Another word is
chop suey, a popular dish throughout America. In Hawaii, it can mean that someone has a variety of different racial groups.
The Hawaiian language is often used together with pidgin and there are also a few Hawaiian pidgin words such as "alohas" and "mahalos" which is "aloha" and "mahalo".
In the
19th century and
20th century, Pidgin started to be used outside the plantation between ethnic groups. Public school children learned Pidgin from their classmates, and eventually it became the primary language of most people in Hawai‘i, replacing the original languages. For this reason,
linguists generally consider Hawaiian Pidgin to be a
creole language.
Today, most people raised in Hawai‘i can speak and understand Pidgin to some extent. At the same time, many people who know Pidgin can
code-switch between standard American English and Pidgin depending on the situation. Knowledge of Pidgin is considered by many to be an important part of being considered "local," regardless of racial and socioeconomic background. For example, the Hawaii-born CEO of one of the largest banks in the state said of the Mainland-born CEO of a competing bank, "Anytime he wants to
debate in pidgin on 'local,' I'm available." [
2]
While most linguists agree that Hawaii Pidgin is a full-fledged language with its own grammar, pronunciation, intonation, and domains of use, it is viewed by some to be "substandard," or as a "corrupted" form of English, or even as broken English. As a result, it is widely believed that use of "standard" English is a key to career and educational success, and that use of Pidgin is a sign of lower socioeconomic status. Its role in the schools of Hawai‘i has been a subject of controversy, as critics of Pidgin blame its widespread use for poor results in standardized national tests in reading and writing. In 1987, the state Board of Education implemented a policy allowing only standard English (most particularly
General American English) in the schools; this sparked an intense debate. There have been similar debates since then.
Pidgin has distinct pronunciation differences from standard American English (SAE). Some key differences include the following:
* Pidgin's general rhythm is
syllable-timed, meaning syllables take up roughly the same amount of time with roughly the same amount of stress. Standard American English is
stress-timed, meaning that only stressed syllables are evenly timed. Many
Western languages are stress-timed, while many
East Asian languages are syllable timed. Many pronunciation features are shared with other colloquial language forms or
pidgins/creoles from other parts of the world.
* The
voiced and
unvoiced th sounds are replaced by
d or
t respectively--that is, changed from a fricative to an occlusive (stop). For instance,
that (voiced
th) becomes
dat, and
think (unvoiced
th) becomes
tink.
* The sound
l at the end of a word is often pronounced
o or
ol. For instance,
mental is often pronounced
mento;
people is pronounced
peepo.
* Pidgin is
non-rhotic. That is,
r after a vowel is often omitted, similar to many dialects, such as
Northeastern
New England,
Australian English, and
English English variants. For instance,
car is often pronounced
cah, and
letter is pronounced
letta.
Intrusive r is also used. A number of Hawaiian Pidgin speakers with rhotic English has also been increasing.
*
Falling intonation is used at the end of questions. This feature appears to be from
Hawaiian, and is shared with some other languages, including
Fijian.
Pidgin also has distinct grammatical forms not found in SAE, but some of which are shared with other dialectal forms of English or may derive from other linguistic influences.
Forms used for SAE "to be":
*Generally, forms of English "to be" (i.e. the
copula) are omitted when referring to inherent qualities of an object or person, forming in essence a
stative verb form. Additionally, inverted sentence order may be used for emphasis. (Many
East Asian languages use stative verbs instead of the copula-
adjective construction of English and other Western languages.):
Da baby cute. (or)
Cute, da baby.: The baby is cute.
*When the verb "to be" refers to a temporary state or location, the word
stay is used (see above).:
Da book stay on top da table.: The book is on the table.
Da water stay cold.: The water is cold.
For
tense-marking of
verb,
auxiliary verbs are employed:
* To express past tense, Pidgin uses
wen (went) in front of the verb.:
Jesus wen cry. (DJB, John 11:35): Jesus cried.
* To express future tense, Pidgin uses
goin (going) in front of the verb, a
declaratory word or
verbum dicendi, common in many forms of
slang American English.:
God goin do plenny good kine stuff fo him. (DJB, Mark 11:9): God is going to do a lot of good things for him.
* To express past tense negative, Pidgin uses
neva (never).
Neva can also mean "never" as in normal English usage; context sometimes, but not always, makes the meaning clear.:
He neva like dat.: He didn't want that. (or) He never wanted that.
* Use of
fo (for) in place of the infinitive particle "to". Cf. dialectal form "Going for to carry me home.":
I tryin fo tink.: I'm trying to think.
For more information on grammar, also see Sakoda & Siegel (References, below) and the Pidgin Coup paper (External links, below).
In recent years, writers from Hawai‘i have written poems, short stories, and other works in Pidgin. This list included well-known Hawai'i authors such as
Lois-Ann Yamanaka and
Lee Tonouchi. A Pidgin translation of the
New Testament (called
Da Jesus Book) has also been created.
Several
theater companies in Hawai'i produce plays written and performed in Pidgin. The most notable of these companies is
Kumu Kahua Theater.
Pidgin has its own
sign language, called
Hawaiian Pidgin Sign Language. Most users of Hawaiian Pidgin Sign Language are between the ages of 70 and 90. Ethnologue lists it as "nearly extinct," as most deaf people in Hawai‘i use
American Sign Language with some local signs. [
3]
*
The Charlene Sato Center for Pidgin, Creole and Dialect Studies, a center devoted to pidgin, creole, and dialect studies at the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa, Hawai‘i. Also home of the Pidgin Coup, a group of academics and community members interested in Hawai‘i Pidgin related research and education
*
Position Paper on Pidgin by the "Pidgin Coup"*
Da Hawai‘i Pidgin Bible (see
Da Jesus Book below)
*
Da Kine Dictionary, a project to create a Pidgin dictionary
*
Da Jesus Book (2000). Orlando: Wycliffe Bible Translators. ISBN 0-938978-21-7.
* Sakoda, Kent & Jeff Siegel (2003).
Pidgin Grammar: An Introduction to the Creole Language of Hawai‘i. Honolulu:
Bess Press. ISBN 1-57306-169-7.
* Simonson, Douglas et al. (1981).
Pidgin to da Max. Honolulu:
Bess Press. ISBN 093584841X.
* Tonouchi, Lee (2001).
Da Word. Honolulu: Bamboo Ridge Press. ISBN 0910043612.
