Pidgin English has never been a part of our Hawaiian culture, as stated by some who were either misinformed by incompetent authority or others who know very little about what our culture entails. Can you see King Kamehameha I conversing
Pidgin English has never been a part of our Hawaiian culture, as stated by some
who were either misinformed by incompetent authority or others who know very
little about what our culture entails.
Can you see King Kamehameha I
conversing with Captain Cook in pidgin or King Kalakaua rapping with other
heads of state in broken English or fractured grammar?
Pidgin has its
beginning with the immigrants who came to Hawaii as laborers. They brought
their cultures and languages with them and with it, exchanged words and phrases
with each other so as to communicate while sharing their cultures.
Their
pidgin, out of necessity, was sincere, melodious and, though comical at times,
much appreciated and respected but never degraded.
Many locals today
fracture pidgin and treat it more as a joke rather than a shortcoming. They
make no effort to bring it dignity, if you can ever bring pidgin to that level,
yet many of these users and abusers of pidgin rely too much on it for their own
good.
Good standard English is not a strong point with many individuals
today and the rate it’s going, never will be. When teachers have to revert to
pidgin in class to be understood, I’d hate to think what the future holds for
those students who are too lazy to “get with the program.”
We
all have to make choices in life. I’m so glad and thankful that our parents and
teachers cared enough to permit us to make one choice – it was either their way
or no way at all.
McWarren J. Mehau
Mt. View, Hawaii
