ANALYSING HAWAIIN PIDGIN

Individual Names: Louis Gabrie Xienata (10-3/24)

Task 1: Read the article linked below:

Code-Switching Definition: 5 Reasons People Code-Switch - 2023 - MasterClass

CODE SWITCHING

What An alternation of two or more languages in a conversation for adjusting

in a role or in a situation because of other participation in a
conversation.

Why Code switching allows people to express themselves in the way they
see fit in any given scenario (for example someone using Singlish to
talk and Standard English to talk). They also can use it in a situation
whether it is formal or not and also allows people to express their
authentic selves (the way they like to talk).

5 Functions 1. Privacy. Speaking in foreign language can mask what you’re

saying to people who don’t speak the same language.
2. Power dynamic. Can be a sign of an in group having implicit or
explicit power over an out-group.
3. Happens Naturally. For multilingual speakers it happens at
subconscious level. They can exchange pronouns, verbs from
one language to another without realizing.
4. Helps to find the right word. Second-language learners might
code-switch to their native tongue since they have a greater
vocabulary in their primary language.
5. Increases Solidarity. Code-switching helps people increase
bonds between speech communities.

Task 2: Post Reading Activity: Developing an outline (Ind)

Areas of Focus Evidence Possible points for explanation

Intro/Historic The transcription was taken from a video

Background recording of comedian Kathy Collins. She was
raised on the island Maui, USA. She’s famous
for telling stories and performing in Hawaiian
Creole English.

Phonology Talk (tɒk) There are differences between standard

 Something (sʌmʘin)
Kind (kɑin)
Morphology “Not broke bugger work just
fine”
“you know how everything work
out for Captain Cook “
Lexis/Semantics Fo (to)
Tutu (grandmother)
Dunno (don’t know)
Grammar/ Syntax - “What these guys no
understand”
- “Hawaiian language
everybody understands
each other”.
- “So now you get two
different guys talking two
different kind languages
hard fo understand”
English and Hawaiian Creole English in the
terms of pronunciation. Examples of
differences of pronunciation between the
Hawaiian Creole Language and the standard
English are talk, something, and kind. The
bracket is how you read it.
There are some differences in morphology
between standard English and Hawaiian
Creole English. In the first sentence work in
standard English should be added -s in the
suffix so it becomes “works” but in Hawaiian
Creole English the grammar is different and
so is the morphology too.
The second sentence should be added -s in
the suffix of the word “work” because the
word “everything” makes it plural form, but
Hawaiian Creole doesn’t use it.
These are some differences between
Hawaiian Creole English and standard
English. The bracket is the translation to
standard English and Hawaiian Creole
English seems to be borrowing the English
word and also combining it with their own
local languages.
The 1st sentence has a different grammar
structure than standard English and the
translation to standard English is “What these
guys don’t understand”. It replaces the word
no to don’t.
The 2nd sentence also has a different
grammar structure and the translation to
standard English is “In Hawaiian language
everyone understands each other”. At the
beginning of the sentence it adds “In” (to refer
to a language), and everybody changed to
everyone (because everyone included the
speaker itself).
The 3rd sentence should be “So now you get
two different kinds of guys talking two
different kinds of languages that’s hard to
understand”. There’s an addition of “kind of”
and "that’s” to the sentence. There’s also a
replacement in fo -> to (lexical word
difference).
 Discourse/ “So no you get two different kind
Pragmatics guys talking two different kind
languages hard fo understand,
and you know how everything
work out for Captain Cook
(audience laughter).
Relevant Theories 1. Different grammar than
standard English
2. Different vocabulary of
words and some similar
words from standard
English.
Soc/Cultural - Their own unique set of words,
Issues/Concepts grammatical structure, and how
they pronounce words.
Conclusion
Task 3: Writing a draft for the Analytical Essay: (ind)
In my opinion she was very sarcastic towards
the English language. This can be proven
because of how she makes fun of Captain
Cook, who was a British explorer who got
killed by Hawaiian people because of Captain
Cook's inability to speak Hawaiian Creole
Language. This may happen because of the
feeling of pride in her own language.
These different grammars and words are
more leaning towards the descriptivism
approach rather than prescriptivism.
Descriptivist people don't have any problem in
their own language as to how it's being used
as long as they can understand it, but
prescriptivists do really mind how their
language is being used. These different
vocabulary words and grammar are combined
from English and their own language.
Judging by how she presents the comedy it
seems that the overall language seems less
formal and more casual like. There are some
sentences that are from standard English and
it's shorter because of the unique grammar
and we can still understand it. They also say
some words that seem casual like dunno
(don’t know). For descriptivists these things
are okay but it's vice versa for prescriptivists.
If we are judging from a prescriptivist
approach we might say that the language is
broken and we should use the original
language (standard English). If that happens
and people don't start using the language
again because of the judgment the
uniqueness of the language starts
disappearing and the language might become
extinct.
Each language has its own uniqueness. For
example Hawaiian Creole is very different
from English because of its own grammatical
structure, vocabulary words, and how they
pronounce it. It’s good to use a prescriptivist
approach but we need to balance it out with a
descriptivist approach. If we judge a language
too much the language might become extinct.