Hawai’i Creole English

Hawai’i Creole English

References

Creoles and Minority Dialects in Education: An Update. By: Siegel, Jeff. Language & Education: An International Journal. 2007, Vol. 21 Issue 1, p66-86. 21p. 1 Chart.

Drager, K. (n.d.). Pidgin and Hawai‘i English: an overview . Ethnologue. Retrieved April 4, 2014, from http://www.katiedrager.com/papers/Pidgin%20and%20Hawaii%20English.pdf

Gfurukaw ( 2009, December 23). Ha Kam Wi Tawk Pidgin Yet? (Subtitled) Part 1 of 3. Retrieved April 6, 2014, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v= ZvCvyqMt0sc

Hargrove, E., Sakoda, K., & Siegel, J. (n.d.). Hawai`i Creole English. Hawai`i Creole English. Retrieved April 3, 2014, from http://www.hawaii.edu/satocenter/langnet/definitions/hce.html.

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Pacific Islnders In Communications (2010, December 14). Pidgin: The Voice of Hawai'i. Retrieved April 6, 2014, from https://www.youtube.com

/watch?v=6-FexzpLrG0

Instructional Suggestions

-Read passages of books out loud and compare the difference of how people talk with what they write

-Explain to students the different pronunciation of some consonants and vowels in standard English

-Have students write short plays in the classroom and act them out. They will write the play in their own dialect then rewrite it in standard English. They can perform the play to the class in both forms of English.

-Teach students how to shift from speaking in Hawai'i Creole English to standard English

-Help students to determine what settings are appropriate to speak Hawai'i Creole English and Standard English

-It's important not to put down Hawai'i Creole English because it is part of a students culture and history

School Implications

-Children may have a hard time reading their school textbooks because of the many differences in spelling between Hawai'i Creole English spelling and the spelling in most school textbooks

- Some of the vocabulary in the books will be different words from what these children usually speak in their own dialect

-Teachers may have a hard time understanding what the student is trying to say causing communication problems

-Students may write some wordsfrom their dialect's vocabulary which other people will not understand

-Students may be mocked for the way they speak and have difficulties making friends

Origin

Social Reactions

- Called Hawai'i Creole English because creole languages take the majority of their vocabulary from a different language

-Around the beginning of the 1800s is when people from numerous cultures first came to Hawaii. Although English was the most common used language the way people spoke English was influenced by the other languages spoken by those who just came to the islands

-This dialect takes most of its vocabulary from English but also derives vocabulary from Japanese, Cantonese, and Portuguese

-The combination of English with other language influences became known as Hawai'i Creole English and by 1920 it was the major language used by Hawaiians

Linguistic Characteristics

-Hawai'i Creole English is often referred to as broken English causing it to seem inferior to English

-In 1987 the Board of Education tried to ban the use of Hawai'i Creole in schools but public outrage stopped it from passing through however it was still recommended for teachers to only use English

-The National Weather Service once hired 2 Caucasian meteorologists on the basis that they sounded better than 2 meteorologists that spoke Hawai'i Creole English

-Used to be considered a language for only the working class or lower class citizens which leads to much of the stigma with Hawai'i Creole English

General Characteristics

Examples of Vocabulary

- Spoken on the Hawaiian islands

-Out of the 1.3 million residences in Hawaii 600,000 speak creole

-Often referred to as Pidgin

-Common language of the Hawaiian people being used around neighborhoods and can even be heard on some radio shows and advertisements

-Rarely used in formal settings such as in the legislature or in school classrooms

-Consonant sounds are similar to those of American English

-One consonant difference is saying "t" or "d" instead of "th"

-Use pure vowel sounds instead of stetching and changing the vowel sounds like regular American English

-Intonation pattern is different such as when asking yes or no answer questions American English intonation pattern goes to a higher pitch whereas Hawai'i Creole English has a falling intonation pattern where the last syllable is a lower pitch than the rest of the syllables

-Hawai'i Creole English has its own unique spelling system that is quite different from American English spelling

-Ex. Haed (had) is used for there was/were

Hawaiian Creole to English

-pau means finished

-lanai means verandah

-puka means hole

-akamai means clever

-pilau means filthy

People Speaking Hawai"i Creole English

(You can stop watching once you reach the part of the video with the grandmother & her granddaughter)

Examples Sentences

1. "Da kaet ste in da haus." Translated: The cat's in the house.

2. "Get tu mach turis naudeiz." Translated: There are too many tourists nowadays.

3. "Haed dis ol grin haus." Translated: There was this old green house.

4. "Nau yu da hed maen." Translated: Now you're the head man.

5. "Mai sista skini." Translated: My sister's skinny.

View of Hawaiians on Hawai'i Creole English (Pidgen)