Eh brah, pidgin one language o’ wat? – Is Hawaiian Pidgin a Language?

Howzit, Aunty? Eh, wea you stay? You wen see how big da fish dey wen ketch da odda day? Dats da kine grindz, brah. Cute da bebeh! Eh, keiki, no do em li’ dat; do em li’ dis. Bumbye you learn. We all pau. Lemme show you how fo speak da language.

During class, we often mention how individuals pronounce words differently depending on where they are from or for other idiosyncratic reasons. Born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, I wondered how Hawaiian Pidgin came about and if it was more than just broken English, but its own language due to its set of unique vocabulary, intelligible grammar, and phonetic sounds.

Simply known in Hawaii as pidgin (/pɪdʒɨn/), Hawaiian Pidgin or Hawaiian Creole English is used by some locals in casual, informal conversation. A pidgin is a simplified version of a language that usually develops between two or more communities that do not share a common language. A creole language is any stable, natural language that developed from a pidgin. Hawaiian Pidgin developed in the 1800s and 1900s in the sugarcane fields as a way for English speakers to communicate with non-English speakers. Some immigrants came to Hawaii from Portugal, Korea, and the Philippines in order to earn money by working on the plantations. Other workers, like my ancestors, immigrated from Japan, China, Spain, and Puerto Rico. If you are interested, here is a link to a short documentary about the history of the development of Hawaiian Pidgin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7X9AAeDCr4.

As a result of the multi-cultural interaction in the workplace, slang and colloquial phrases from all of the different languages mixed with some local Hawaiian words to form a special set of vocabulary. One colloquial example is “beef,” which not only refers to cow meat, but also “fight” (e.g. Eh, you like beef wit’ me?). Pidgin also includes words borrowed from other languages. The Hawaiian words puka, pau, akamai, okole, and pilau mean “hole,” “finished,” “smart,” “buttocks,” and “stinky” respectively, and are often dispersed throughout casual conversation. Shi-shi is taken from Japanese and is  equivalent to other colloquial terms for “urinate.” Bumbai or bumbye, which means “later” (often in the context of “Later on, you’ll learn.”), is believed to have a Chinese origin. Many pidgin words can also be found on Urban Dictionary. For more examples, check out this website:

http://www.hawaii.edu/satocenter/langnet/definitions/hce.html

In addition, the non English-speakers attempted to speak in English using their native grammatical and syntactical structures, forming a grammatical structure akin to broken English, but one that is nevertheless comprehensible. For example, because I studied Spanish in high school, I understand that the common pidgin expression “Eh, wea you stay?” (Where are you?) comes from the parallel structure of the Spanish phrase for ¿Dónde estás? Spanish has two verbs for “to be,” ser and estar. Ser is used to describe the intrinsic state of something or someone, while estar is used to describe its changeable status, including one’s location. Understandably, the non-English speakers said, “Where you stay?” in order to mirror the syntax of their native language since “stay” is more equivalent to location. Because this phrase caught on with people working on the plantations, it became more of a prominent addition to casual conversation in Hawaii. Other grammatical substitutions occur when Hawaii people use the past tense. For example, “Jane wen(t) give her report” (Jane gave her report). Furthermore, to express negative ideas such as “don’t” or “didn’t,” pidgin speakers say “no” or “neva” (never). For example, “No touch the stove; too hot.”  –"I neva wen do ‘em.”  Analyzing this structure from the perspective of Spanish language, Spanish does not have a word for “don’t,” but rather uses “no” when referring to negative actions.

In addition to imagining the difficulty of following pre-existing grammar rules, it is difficult to manipulate one’s articulators to produce a phonemic sounds present in a different language. For example, due to the different phonemes of the individual languages, the phonetic sound system of pidgin is more representative of the foreign languages. The most noticeable phonological difference between English and pidgin is the /th/ sound.  Because some languages do not have the [θ] and [ð] sounds, they are pronounced as [t] or [d] respectively, changing from the from the fricatives to plosives, which take much less effort to produce with the articulators.  Also, an “r” after a vowel is not spoken because some languages do not have an “r” sound.  For example, “better” would be pronounce “betta,” and is often heard in the phrase “mo’ betta.”  If you are interested in more examples, this Wikipedia article sums up some of the most common phonetic differences between pidgin and Standard English: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawaiian_Pidgin

Illustrating the interwoven development of Hawaiian Pidgin, the Hawaiian phrase for pidgin is ʻōlelo paʻi ʻai, which means "pounding-taro language,” alluding to the ancient practice of pounding and mixing the taro plant to make the Hawaiian staple poi.

Another reason why I think Hawaiian Pidgin is its own language is that religious texts have been translated into pidgin. Here is an abridged, albeit satirical, translation of Psalm 23 that I found online:

Da Boss Above, he take care me,

 Jalike da sheep farma take care his sheeps. 

He let me lie down wea da sweet an soft grass stay.

He give me new kine life.

He goin give me everyting I need.
 He lead me by da water wea I can rest.
 He lead me in da road dat stay right,
 Cuz I his guy. (http://www.pidginbible.org/)

Could you understand this excerpt? If you follow the above link, you can also find information on Da Jesus Book, which is a translation of the New Testament in Hawaiian Pidgin. A version of the Old Testament, appropriately entitled Da Befo Jesus Book, is currently being translated. The authors of these texts say that many people understand pidgin better than English and aim to spread the religion to a wider audience.

Although most people from Hawaii speak Standard American English (SAE), it is not difficult for us to understand pidgin because of the constant presence in everyday conversation or for comedic purposes. Here is a parodied example of how to speak Hawaiian Pidgin: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLmfQSR3EI0.

Is there a pidgin language spoken in your hometown? If so, how did it develop? Do you know of any other pidgin languages? Do you think that the grammar and syntax of pidgin languages like Hawaiian Pidgin compromise the integrity of proper Standard English, or does it show the positive effects of allowing different cultures to communicate through the evolution of language?

Mahalo fo readin’ dis, brah \m/