Hawaiian Pidgin facts for kids

Hawaiian Pidgin, often just called Pidgin by people in Hawaii, is a special language that grew in Hawaii. It's a type of language called a creole language. This means it started from one main language, English, but then mixed with many other languages.

Some of these languages include Hawaiian, Japanese, Ilocano, Chinese, and Portuguese. Many people who live in Hawaii speak Pidgin, even though most of them also speak regular English. A smaller number of people still speak the original Hawaiian language.

Most people who speak English can understand a lot of Hawaiian Pidgin. Also, many Pidgin speakers often mix Pidgin words with English words when they talk. For a long time, people in Hawaii thought of Pidgin as just a different way of speaking English. But recently, the U.S. government has officially recognized it as its own language.

Fun Pidgin Words

Pidgin has many unique words and phrases that come from the different languages it's mixed with. Here are some examples of common Pidgin words and what they mean in standard English:

Images for kids

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  Inscription in Hawaiian Pidgin (Gospel of Mark 1:9-11)

See also

In Spanish: Pidgin hawaiano para niños