Pidgin is the unofficial third language of Hawaii, and according to aboutworldlanguages.com, is a creation of Hawaii’s early contact with foreigners. Immigrants came from various countries to the Hawaiian islands to work on the sugar and pineapple plantations. Since all the workers spoke different languages, they needed a common way to communicate. Through this need for a common language, Hawaiian Pidgin was developed. Hawaiian Pidgin is a creole language that evolved from a mixture of Portuguese, Cantonese, Hawaiian, Japanese, Tagalog, Spanish, and Korean. Pidgin combines different phrases and sounds from these languages with English to become a language that can be understood by people of all dialects. Pidgin is now commonly spoken among locals and has become the slang of Hawaii.Test your pidgin knowledge Brah __________________ Grinds __________________ Ono __________________ Da kine __________________ Shoots __________________ ‘aina __________________ Chee __________________ Hana hou __________________ Haole __________________ Howzit __________________Kau kau ________________ Moke ________________Pau ________________ Shaka ________________ Talk story________________ Choke ________________ Wahine ________________ Broke da mout_____________ Mo’ bettah________________ Slippers ________________ Like try ________________Answer Key:Brah ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––brother, friendGrinds –—–––—–––––––––––––––––––––––––—local foodOno—–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––tasty, deliciousDa kine––––––––––––used when trying to explain something and you can’t think of the wordsShoots–––––––––––––––––––––––––agreement, ok, let’s do it‘aina–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––earth, landChee–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––gee, gee whiz, wowHana hou––––––––––––––––––––repeat, again, one more timeHaole––––––––––––––––––––Foreigner, now Caucasian personHowzit–––––––––––––––––––——–––––––——how are youKau kau–––––––––––––––––––––––––——food, meal, to eatMoke–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––—–local surfer guyPau––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––—done, finishedShaka––––––––––––––––universal hand signal used as a wave or thumbs-upTalk story–––––––––––—––––––––casual conversation, discuss, have a conversationChoke–––––––––––––––––––––––––—–––—–lots of, manyWahine––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––femaleBroke da Mout––––––––––––––––——Delicious, satisfying foodMo’ Bettah–––––––––––––––––––––––good idea, that’s better.Slippers –––––––––––––––––––––––––——sandals, flip flopsLike Try–––––––––––––––––––––––want to do/try something
Writer: Emily Halls ~ Multimedia Journalist
