HS SoSe16: Hawaii Creole

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Hawai’i Creole English (“Hawai’i Pidgin”)

Author: Gabriele Schmid-Hönisch

Basic information on Hawai’i Creole English

Place and Speakers (in 2012):

• Mainly spoken on the islands of Hawai’i by 600.000 native speakers and 400.000 second language speakers,
• another 100.000 native speakers in the United States of America.

Lexifier Languages:
English, Hawaiian, Portuguese, Cantonese, Japanese, Korean

Official Status:
Official Languages on the Hawaiian Islands are only English and Hawaiian. Hawai’i Creole English is mainly used in private daily life conversations between the inhabitants, not in official or more formal situations and not at school.

History:
In 1835 the first sugarcane plantation was established by British companies on the islands of Hawai’i. Laborers from several countries, e.g. Portugal, China, Japan and Korea, came to work on these plantations. All these languages mixed up with English and Hawaiian, spoken by the native inhabitants. In 1920 Hawai’i Creole English was spoken by the majority of the population.

Links to get more information

• https://www.ethnologue.com/language/hwc
• http://www.hawaii.edu/satocenter/langnet/definitions/hce.html
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawaiian_Pidgin

Samples

• Hawaii Pidgin, The voice of Hawaii: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7X9AAeDCr4
• Siri vs Hawaii Pidgin English: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zyplVPJuF4
• The Daily Pidgin Show by Andy Bumatai:
  • #44 Pidgin English Sentence Structure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4g9ZJ3i9UI
  • #55 Pidgin Phrases: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAnd0or250g
  • #58 English Pidgin Words: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cahUadim5pU
  • #75 Tourist Tips: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKgSr6v9edA