![]() ![]() If you were going to say your ABCs in Hawaiian, it would go something like this: However, unlike English, Hawaiian only uses 13 letters: 8 consonants and five vowels. Hawaiian is written in the Latin script, like English. On the tiny island of Ni’ihau, home to fewer than 170 people, residents continue to speak Hawaiian as the language of everyday life. There is one place where Hawaiian still reigns supreme. Hawaiian is still the primary langauge on the island of Ni'ihau. According to the latest American Community Survey, at least 18,000 people claim to speak Hawaiian at home. With only around 2,000 native speakers now, UNESCO classifies Hawaiian as “critically endangered.” However, language preservation initiatives like immersion preschools are helping the language make a comeback. When Captain Cook discovered the Hawaiian Islands, there were somewhere between 400,000-800,000 native Hawaiians speaking the language. The hawaiian language is critically endangered. Advertisers often use it to target local Hawaiians. ![]() An additional 400,000 speak it as a second language. As its other name, "Hawaiian Creole English," implies, Pidgin is a complete language on its own.Ībout 600,000 people speak Pidgin, mostly native Hawaiians. However, while it contains elements of both languages, it's not a pidgin language at all. This creole language is the combination of Hawaiian and English. There’s also a third, unofficial language: Pidgin (or Hawaiian Creole English). They began offering this service after a native Hawaiian professor refused to speak anything but Hawaiian during a court appearance. In January of this year the state decided to make native Hawaiian interpreters available in court. In 1978 the state constitution gave the Hawaiian language an official status. ![]() Hawaii is the only US state with two official languages. Here are 6 little known facts about the Hawaiian language. Unless you’re from Hawaii, your knowledge of native Hawaiian language and culture might be limited to pictures of hula dancers and the word “Aloha.” It’s time to change that. ![]()
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