Hawaiian is classified as Critically Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger
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Hawaiian (ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi, pronounced[ʔoːˈlɛlohəˈvɐjʔi])[6] is a Polynesian language and critically endangered language of the Austronesian language family that takes its name from Hawaiʻi, the largest island in the tropical North Pacific archipelago where it developed. Hawaiian, along with English, is an official language of the US state of Hawaii.[7] King Kamehameha III established the first Hawaiian-language constitution in 1839 and 1840.
In 1896, the Republic of Hawaii established English as the official language in schools.[8] The number of native speakers of Hawaiian gradually decreased during the period from the 1830s to the 1950s. English essentially displaced Hawaiian on six of seven inhabited islands. In 2001, native speakers of Hawaiian amounted to less than 0.1% of the statewide population. Linguists were unsure if Hawaiian and other endangered languages would survive.[9][10][failed verification]
Nevertheless, from around 1949 to the present day, there has been a gradual increase in attention to and promotion of the language. Public Hawaiian-language immersion preschools called Pūnana Leo were established in 1984; other immersion schools followed soon after that. The first students to start in immersion preschool have now graduated from college and many are fluent Hawaiian speakers. However, the language is still classified as critically endangered by UNESCO.[11]
A creole language, Hawaiian Pidgin (or Hawaii Creole English, HCE), is more commonly spoken in Hawaiʻi than Hawaiian.[12] Some linguists, as well as many locals, argue that Hawaiian Pidgin is a dialect of American English.[13] Born from the increase of immigrants from Japan, China, Puerto Rico, Korea, Portugal, Spain and the Philippines, the pidgin creole language was a necessity in the plantations. Hawaiian and immigrant laborers as well as the white luna, or overseers, found a way to communicate amongst themselves. Pidgin eventually made its way off the plantation and into the greater community, where it is still used to this day.[14]
The Hawaiian alphabet has 13 letters: five vowels: a e i o u (each with a long pronunciation and a short one) and eight consonants: he ke la mu nu pi we ʻokina (a glottal stop).
^"Hawaiian". SIL International. 2015. Retrieved 13 January 2016.
^Mary Kawena Pukui; Samuel Hoyt Elbert (2003). "lookup of ʻōlelo". in Hawaiian Dictionary. Ulukau, the Hawaiian Electronic Library, University of Hawaii Press.
^"Article XV, Section 4". Constitution of the State of Hawaiʻi. Hawaiʻi State Legislature. 1978. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
^Gutierrez, Ben (2022-04-28). "Lawmakers adopt resolution apologizing for ban on Hawaiian language in schools". www.hawaiinewsnow.com. Retrieved 2023-01-21.
^see e.g. (Hinton & Hale 2001)
^"The 1897 Petition Against the Annexation of Hawaii". National Archives and Records Administration. 15 August 2016.
^"UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in danger". unesco.org. Retrieved 2017-11-20.
^"Languages Spoken in Hawaii". Exclusive Hawaii Rehab. 3 December 2021. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
^Fishman, Joshua A. (1977). ""Standard" versus "Dialect" in Bilingual Education: An Old Problem in a New Context". The Modern Language Journal. 61 (7): 315–325. doi:10.1111/j.1540-4781.1977.tb05146.x. ISSN 0026-7902.
^Haertig, E.W. (1972). Nana i Ke Kumu Vol 2. Hui Hanai.
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