Hawaii Lost Language

Leeward Community College- University of Hawaii

Hawaiian:

A Lost Language

By

Lucas Hema

Hawaiian: A Lost Language

Introduction

Envision that you are the last speaker of your language. Each and every other individual who ever spoke your language has passed away. You no more have anybody to converse with in your own native tongue. Family and companions of your era, with whom you could have talked, have passed on. Your kids never took in your native language and rather utilize the language of outsiders. In shops and daily papers, on TV and radio, everything is in a foreign language, and you have no trust of regularly seeing your language utilized as a part of such circumstances. Furthermore, on the grounds that you never

At this time, it is believed that these settlers brought with them their higher powers or gods, plants, culture and their language. The ‘Olelo Hawai’i (Hawaiian Language) belonged to a chain of languages from the central and eastern Polynesia that includes Tahitian, Rarotongan, Maori and Tumotuan. In the arrival of the famous Captain James Cook in 1778 marked history in major changes for the people of Hawai’i but also their language. Missionaries and westerners that followed Captain Cook to the islands came from New England. These missionaries were determined to teach the Hawaiians including the ability to read and write. In lieu of this, they needed to give the Hawaiian language its written

1 Language Map of Polynesia (source: www.janeresture.com)

Fig. 2 Number of Native Speakers for each Language (Source: www.languagesgulper.com)

The Hawaiian language during the 1800’s became one of the most literate nations in the world with over 90% of the population who were able to read and write. King Kamehameha III proudly declared, “He aupuni palapala ko’u” (“I have a kingdom of education”). In February of 1934, the first editions of Ka Lama Hawaii were the newspaper available and printed west of the Rocky Mountains. Some of those copies are still available today and in over 100 different Hawaiian-language newspapers.

Hawaiian was the original language of our ancient ancestors. It was also the chosen language of the modern kingdom of Hawai’i. During the overthrow of Queen Lili’uokalani and the Hawaiian monarchy, the establishment of the Republic of Hawai’i, and annexation of the Republic to the U.S., in the ended the dominance of the Hawaiian language use in its own homeland.

Fig 3- Hawai’i and its’ “Forbidden Island”. Natives. (Source: