Hawaiian Pidgin

English

Proper noun

Hawaiian Pidgin

1. A creole language based in part on English used by most "local" residents of Hawaii.
2. Any pidgin language based on Hawaiian, especially used in the second half of the 19th century and the earliest 20th century.

Usage notes

Despite the literal meaning of the word pidgin, the language is instead considered by linguists to be a well developed creole, because a creole is the native language of a group of people, whereas a pidgin has no native speakers, and is a blended, ad-hoc trade language used when two groups of people have no other common language to communicate. Creoles develop from pidgins, and this language is no longer in the pidgin stage.

Synonyms

• (English creole language of Hawaii): Hawaiian Creole English, Hawaii Creole English, Hawaiian Creole, Hawaiian Pidgin English, Hawaii Pidgin English, HCE
• (pidgin based on Hawiian): pidgin Hawaiian

See also

• Nigerian Pidgin

Further reading

• ISO 639-3 code hwc (SIL)
• Ethnologue entry for Hawaiian Pidgin, hwc ⁠