I'm tired and can't think of any other good examples. Attending UHH, we have Ka Haka 'Ula O Ke'elikōlani, the College of Hawaiian Language, and thus I hear more spoken Hawaiian (my department is under Ka Haka Ula) than someone might elsewhere, for example.īut common Pidgin terms and phrases you might hear can probably include 'dakine', 'shoots', 'wea yu steh?', 'fakas'. If you get off the beaten path, and manage to spend more time with locals, then your chances increase.įirst things first, obviously there needs to be a distinguishment made between 'Ōlelo Hawai'i (the Hawaiian language) and Pidgin, or Hawaiian Creole (a creole language developed among migrant workers and their families, as creoles often are).Īs has been pointed out, Pidgin is far more common than straight Hawaiian, but it all depends on where you are (not to mention that there are different regional dialects of Pidgin!). How likely are you to hear it being spoken if you visit? If you stick to the tourist traps, then mostly not much. Because of the history of repression, the revival of the language has become a key ingredient for many people's expression of cultural pride and self determination. Hawaiian language classes can be taken at all major Hawaiian universities, and a number of Hawaiian language immersion K-12 schools (Ka Punana Leo) have been running for quite some time now. Since the 1960's, there has been a concerted effort to revive it. The main exception is the island of Ni'ihau, where the language survives to this day, and is used every day by the families that live there. The language survived in song and chant, however. I have heard from my mother, as well as many elders, stories of the violent reaction they would receive if they were caught speaking it at school. Only a handful of people still spoke it at home (mostly older people), mainly because it was banned by schools and government.

The language almost died by the mid 20th century because there was a concerted effort to eliminate it.

Poho hawaiian slang