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Hawaiian is a member of the Oceanic group of Malayo-Polynesian branch of the Austronesian language family. The Oceanic group spreads over a large triangular area in the Pacific Ocean from Hawai‘i to New Zealand to Easter island. While Hawaiian is related to other Polynesian languages such as Samoan, Fijian, Tahitian and Maori, they are not mutually intelligible. It is thought that Marquesan or Tahitian seafarers settled in the Hawaiian Archipelago around 1000 AD. Linguistic evidence points to the genesis of the Hawaiian language from the language of these settlers some 10 centuries ago. Until the arrival of Captain Cook in 1778, followed by American missionaries in 1820, Hawaiian was the only language spoken in the Hawaiian islands. Since Hawaiian was a strictly spoken language, the missionaries developed a Roman-based writing system for Hawaiian.The 19th century, when Hawai‘i was an independent kingdom, was the golden age of the Hawaiian language: literacy rates were high, dozens of newspapers were published, many religious and literary works were translated into Hawaiian, and traditional oral literature was transcribed. However, increased travel to and from Hawai‘i during the 19th century brought devastating diseases, such as smallpox, influenza, and leprosy, that killed large numbers of native speakers of Hawaiian. At the same time, the number of native speakers of other languages, especially English, Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese, and Ilokano, continued to grow. As a result, the actual number, as well as the percentage, of native speakers of Hawaiian in the local population declined sharply. English gradually replaced Hawaiian as the medium of instruction in schools, especially after Hawai‘i’s conversion to U.S. territorial status in 1899. |
Hawai‘i is the only state in the U.S. that has designated a native language, Hawaiian, as one of its two official state languages. In 1978, Hawaiian was made an official language of Hawai‘i, along with English. Formerly considered critically endangered, Hawaiian is rebounding due to a resurgence of interest in Hawaiian language and culture, Hawaiian language immersion programs of the Hawai‘i State Department of Education and the Hawaiian language programs at the University of Hawai‘i Honolulu and Hilo campuses. Hawaiian classes are popular at all levels of education. In 1993 about 8,000 people could speak and understand Hawaiian as a second language (Ethnologue). A decade later, the number has grown to 27,000. Click here for more detailed information about Hawai‘i's language revitalization efforts. |
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Hawaiian has a small inventory of phonemes, i.e., sounds that make a difference in word meaning. Like all Austronesian languages, it is characterized by a large number of vowels, a small number of consonants, and a simple syllabic structure that does not allow any consonant clusters. Vowels
Consonants
Click here to listen to a sample of spoken Hawaiian. |
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As is the case in all Austronesian languages, Hawaiian words are not inflected. They consist of content words (roots) and particles that are added to roots to indicate grammatical functions. Hawaiian also relies on reduplication to express plurality, frequency, or augmentation. Noun phrase
Verb phrase
Word order |
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Hawaiian vocabulary is Polynesian in origin, but the language has also borrowed words from English, Portuguese, Japanese, Chinese, and Ilocano. Many of the loanwords have to do with imported foods, rituals, clothes, and everyday items. Here are a few common phrases and words in Hawaiian.
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Below are the numerals 1-10 in Hawaiian (for counting in series). Click here for the first 101 words to learn in Hawaiian. |
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The Hawaiian alphabet (ka pī āpā Hawai‘i) was created during the 1820-1826 period by missionaries from the US mainland. The first publication appeared in 1822. The alphabet was revised in 1826 when some redundant letters were eliminated. The current Hawaiian alphabet is given below. The vowels are always listed first.
Take a look at Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Hawaiian.
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Hawaiian words in English
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Click here to find out where Hawaiian is taught in the United States. Online resources for the study of Hawaiian language and culture
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How difficult is it to learn Hawaiian? Hawaiian is a Category II language in terms of difficulty for speakers of English. |