Pidgin: Dialect Of English Spoken On The Hawaiian Islands

459 Words1 Page
bulb-icon

Recommended: Role of language and culture in the formation of identity

Pidgin: Dialect of English Spoken on the Hawaiian Islands

Pidgin is a dialect of English spoken in the Hawaiian Islands. It consists of the shortening of many words commonly used in everyday English speech. Some examples include, da (the), odda (other), Tre (meaning tree and three), bra (anyone you know), da kine (anything you don't know), cus (any friend), and many others. Pidgin has it's social barriers as well. It is primarily spoken in the lower class neighborhoods consisting of the Hawaiians and the Filipinos. The dialect has been associated with the members of these neighborhoods and their problems, such as, alcoholism, illiteracy, and a poor standard of living. I come from a diverse family background, my mother is
Scottish, English, Italian, French, and much more. My father is part Hawaiian and part Scottish. Being such I have to choose which lifestyle is right for me.
There is a tug-a-war between the Hawaiian part of me and the Haole part of me.
The two cultures that I consider myself, Scottish and Hawaiian, are both proud, interesting, and contain their own prescriptions toward behavior. The pidgin dialect is a major part of life in the lower class Hawaiian neighborhoods. For most children in these neighborhoods it is the language spoken at home. The other people of the islands look at this dialect as a sign of a poor education and up-bringing. My mother did not want her son associated with such a group of individuals. When I started school at Maunawili School and began to pick up Pidgin and start to speak it at home she took it upon herself to change me. At this time she was teaching sixth grade at Keolu Elementary. She saw how her kids could not speak proper English, only Pidgin. Many of them also wrote in Pidgin, something I had begun to do. My mother saw this behavior and forced me to change. My parents put me in Punahou School, one of the best private schools in the nation, to facilitate this change. It may seem that she did not want me to grow up proud of my Hawaiian heritage, but that is far from the truth. She taught me to respect the culture for its beautiful aspects, the hula, and the

Show More
Related

  • The Political Journey Of Robert William Kalanihiapo Wilcox: The History Of Wilcox

    3288 Words  | 7 Pages

    Often times, the history that is being told is one of Hawaiian weakness, and defeat. The Bayonet Constitution of 1887, the Overthrow of 1893, and the Annexation of 1898, are all often used as examples of moments of powerlessness in the Hawaiian Kingdom. What about all history prior to, in between, and after, these major dates? Surely, it did not just disappear. In the last few decades, Hawaiian history has changed dramatically due to the works of many Hawaiian historians. The history that was lost has been found, and new discoveries are still being made. Hawaiʻi’s history is a story of resistance, pride, and unity. Included within this history is a man named Robert William Kalanihiapo Wilcox. Wilcox was a revolutionist, and a leader, but he enjoyed being a politician the most. Wilcox was the beacon of hope that helped guide the people of Hawaiʻi through darkness. Wilcox was and still is today a symbolic figure in Hawaiʻi’s political history.

    Read More

  • Effective Use of Pathos and Connotative Language

    925 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Hawaiian culture is known throughout the western world for their extravagant luaus, beautiful islands, and a language that comes nowhere near being pronounceable to anyone but a Hawaiian. Whenever someone wants to “get away” their first thought is to sit on the beach in Hawai’i with a Mai tai in their hand and watch the sun go down. Haunani-Kay Trask is a native Hawaiian educated on the mainland because it was believed to provide a better education. She questioned the stories of her heritage she heard as a child when she began learning of her ancestors in books at school. Confused by which story was correct, she returned to Hawai’i and discovered that the books of the mainland schools had been all wrong and her heritage was correctly told through the language and teachings of her own people. With her use of pathos and connotative language, Trask does a fine job of defending her argument that the western world destroyed her vibrant Hawaiian culture.

    Read More

  • The Hidden Dangers Of Hawaii: Hidden Dangers In The World

    1589 Words  | 4 Pages

    While walking down the beach, the white, warm sand mushes between your toes. The sun’s radiant rays beam off your glowing skin. The sound of waves crashing blocks out the external world. There is no other place like the gorgeous tropical islands of Hawaii. The wide range of flowers, cuisine, and wildlife makes it one of the most picturesque places on Earth. It also leads the United States with the highest racial minority rate making it the most diverse state. However, there are numerous hidden dangers of Hawaii, and not all ethnic groups get along causing sharp tensions across the island.

    Read More

  • Brainology In Brainology, By Carol Dweck

    1966 Words  | 4 Pages

    I have been to a few schools throughout my life and I feel I learned a lot down the road and I feel it made me a better person, a smarter person. When I was a kid I didn’t have my parents, they got pregnant at a young age and couldn’t keep me and my older brother so we split up. My parents ended up giving my brother to my grandmother when he was just a baby, and then I came along and my parents ended up getting a divorce so I went to live with my father first

    Read More

  • Hawaiian Pidgin as an Indicator of Class and Prestige

    1996 Words  | 4 Pages

    Hawaiian “Pidgin” is a simplified version of English formed by Hawaii’s natives, traders, and immigrants from several countries. Originally a language used for trade, Hawaii’s dependence on English-speaking countries transformed pidgin into Creole. Although still called “Pidgin”, it eventually evolved into a Creole dialect, the first of many skewed English words in this dialect. In the words of John Reinecke, a Hawaiian scholar, “Pidgin is the means of communication between traffickers. Creole is imposed upon a dependent, often a servile, class.” (Tokimasa and Reinecke 48) English-speaking haoles’, a Hawaiian word that originally meant “foreigner” but eventually defined long-term resident Caucasians (Grant 142) would send orders through a Telephone Game-esque system. The foremen would use their broken English in Sugar Plantations. Next, the immigrant laborers would further distort and simplify words when they attempted to communicate their necessities to other ethnicities. Eventually, English became an indicator of prestige, class, and education. (Tokimasa and Reinecke 49). Both historically and in Yamanaka’s Behold the Many, standard English is a language of status, while Creole is an instrument of basic survival and laboring business.

    Read More

  • The Colonization of Hawaii and Tourism

    4432 Words  | 9 Pages

    ...e" (Trask xix). This incident beautifully illustrates and signifies tourism's impact in American society. Like most Americans, this woman uses a discourse that has been shaped by tourist advertisements and souvenirs. The woman's statement implies that Trask resembles what the tourist industry projects, as if this image created Hawaiian culture. As Trask asserts, Hawaiian culture existed long before tourism and has been exploited by tourism in the form of advertisements and items such as postcards. Along with the violence, endangered environment, and poverty, this exploitation is what the tourist industry does not want to show. However, this is the Hawai'i Haunani-Kay Trask lives in everyday. "This is Hawai'i, once the most fragile and precious of sacred places, now transformed by the American behemoth into a dying land. Only a whispering spirit remains" (Trask 19).

    Read More

  • Hawaiian History

    910 Words  | 2 Pages

    Hawaiians should have rights to their own land and not let foreigners disrupt their daily habits and life. If a foreigner takes allegiance to Hawai’i they not only have the accessibility of a citizen but also the perks that go with citizenship. Foreigners would be able to marry the women of Hawai’i while they have wives back home in their previous motherland. Foreigners that are aiding to Hawai’i can stay as aliens and be just as effective. There is no need for them to gain citizenship and take an oath of allegiance for their help. If a foreigner wants a piece a land all he needs to do is take an oath of allegiance and he is able to have a piece of land. If too many foreigners enter Hawai’i, their culture will take over. The majority will consist of the foreigners and their government will take over. Too many foreigners will cause much more damage to the native Hawaiian population. The number of full Hawaiians will decrease if foreigners continue to enter the island of Hawai’i.

    Read More

  • The annexation of Hawaii

    1420 Words  | 3 Pages

    20 (1994): 252-271. Kualapai, Lydia. "The Queen Writes Back: Lili'uokalani's Hawaii's Story by Hawaii's Queen. " Studies in American Indian Literature. 17.2 (2005): 32-62.

    Read More

  • An Analysis Of This Is Paradise

    841 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...Hawai`i’s economy is very dependent on tourism, however many locals are possessive of their land, and as they stereotype tourists, many do not accept others as they have a unity for their own. Numerous individuals feel the desideratum to fit the local stereotype because they prefer not to be labeled as a “haole”. It becomes tough and rather intense for an individual, because becoming haole betokens that you forgot and disregarded the local or Hawaiian quality values and ways of routes, as well as the flowing stream of life in the islands. We need to remind ourselves that regardless of where we emanate from, our skin tone, race, physical characteristics, and so forth, everybody ought to acknowledge just for who we/they are and treat one another like 'ohana and show "aloha", and subsequently, we can determinately verbally express "This is it. This is Paradise" (33).

    Read More

  • Hawaiian Sovereignty

    1726 Words  | 4 Pages

    MacKenzie, Melody Kapilialoha. (1991). Native Hawaiian Rights Handbook. Honolulu:      Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation/ Office of Hawaiian Affairs, p. 24.

    Read More

  • The singularly strange story of the English language in Puerto

    1339 Words  | 3 Pages

    Language is a mean of communication in any given society. It represents the ability to evolve and progress through the ongoing process of living with other human beings. Many can perceive this instrument as tool of liberation and transformation but others as an instrument to enslave, manipulate or oppress a group of people. Whichever the case one need to acknowledge that it is necessary and not a waste of time the many different discussions about this ongoing topic regardless of the time period or social context any country might have. In Puerto Rico, there has been an ongoing dilemma about languages; Dr. Alicia Pousada examines on her essay what many might define “the language madness on the island”. Throughout this paper some of her most interesting ideas will be shared and discussed so that this already extended topic might find another page to take place.

    Read More

  • Samoan Language

    700 Words  | 2 Pages

    Samoan is a rich language that remains the principal language of the people of Samoa. The Samoan language is exquisite and quite easy to learn and is similar to other languages in the pacific region. “Samoan is a branch of the Austronesian Language, formerly called Malayo-Polynesian language, one of the word’s largest language families, both in terms of numbers of languages-more than 700-and geographic spread-covering islands and some mainland areas from Madagascar in the west to Easter Island and Hawaii in the east” (Amerika Samoa). “The Austronesian language is divided into two branches: Formosan, the languages spoken by about 200,000 people in Taiwan; and Malayo-Polynesian, comprising the rest of the language in the Austronesian family” (Encarta Online). As a student finishing up his 2nd year of the Hawaiian Language, I was amazed to find several words in Pouliuli having the same meaning in Hawaiian. Therefore, this report will focus on the Samoan language; it’s rules, pronunciation, and the similarities and differences between the Samoan language and the Hawaiian language.

    Read More

  • A Distinct Dialect-Hakka

    1496 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Hakkas are a unique ethnic group of "Han" Chinese. They are thought to be the earliest "Han" settlers in China. One theory states that many of the early Hakkas were affiliated with the "royal bloods." After 17 century, the sailing skill was improved and developed, therefore, about in the early Qing dynasty, a lot of Minnan and Uedong people sailed across the sea to Taiwan. But Hakkas were much fewer than Minnan people. There were two reasons: the first is that during the Kang Xi period, the Hakkas of Chouzhou Fu and Huezhou Fu were banned from sailing across the sea to Taiwan because of the prohibition; the other is supposed to be that most Hakkas living in the mountains were not familiar with watercourses, so they preferred to stay in the mountains. Fortunately, Fujian and Guangdong Hakkas were not limited by the prohibition, so Hakkas from Zhangzhou Fu, Dingzhou Fu, and Guangdong could migrate to Taiwan. As the time going, with the repeal of the prohibition, Hakkas from Chaozhou Fu, Huezhou Fu and also Jiayingzhou Fu came to Taiwan gradually. Besides Taiwan, during the last hundred years or so, Hakkas migrated to South East Asia, East Africa, Europe, South America, Canada and U.S.

    Read More

  • Mother Tongue and Language Use in Family and Society

    1018 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...h the language she and her mother speak is not all standard English, they are still able to understand one another. As for Thomas and Cao, they believe language spoken other than English in a family can be frustrating and confusing. Plus, in order to improve the communication, they believe “It is important to consider the dynamics of this transition as we design English language programs…the process of this language acquisition and much less about language shift and loss” (Thomas and Cao, 69). What they are saying is that language communication is important so they want to improve communication but still don’t want to lose their cultural language as well. In conclusion, language can be special for some families and for other families it can be a headache. But these two different families both believe communication is what can potentially keep them close together.

    Read More

  • Pidgins and Creoles

    1156 Words  | 3 Pages

    Pidgins and Creoles A pidgin language is not the native language of anyone but is used as an auxiliary or supplemental language between two mutually unintelligible speech communities. It is essentially a simplified language derived from two or more languages - a contact language developed and used by people who do not share a common language in a given geographical area. It is characterized by limited vocabulary with a simple grammar enough to satisfy basic communication needs. Since they serve a single simplistic purpose, they usually die out.

    Read More

More about Pidgin: Dialect Of English Spoken On The Hawaiian Islands

Open Document