My Inner Voice

Dear Pride,

No ka ʻŌlelo Hawai‘i,

He ‘ōlelo Polynesia ka ‘ōlelo Hawai‘i i ‘ōlelo ‘ia me nā ‘oko‘a li‘ili‘i wale nō ma nā mokupuni noho kanaka ‘ia a pau o Hawai‘i nei. I ke kenekulia ‘umikūmāiwa, ua lilo ka ‘ōlelo Hawai‘i he ‘ōlelo kākau a he ‘ōlelo aupuni i ho‘ohana ‘ia i loko o nā ‘aha ho‘okolokolo, nā kula, ka ‘aha‘ōlelo a me nā ke‘ena aupuni. ‘O ka ‘ōlelo laha loa ho‘i ia o ka lehulehu i ho‘ohana ‘ia ma waena o nā lāhui like ‘ole. I ka nui o ke kenekulia iwakālua na‘e, i ko Hawai‘i ka‘a ‘ana ma lalo o ‘Amelika, ua ho‘opilipū ‘ia ka ‘ōlelo e ke aupuni a ua pani ‘ia kona wahi e ka ‘ōlelo Beretānia ma nā hana aupuni a ma nā pā‘oihana. Ma waena o ka lehulehu ma ka hapanui o nā mokupuni, ua ulu mai ka ‘ōlelo kalīola Hawai‘i, he ōlelo i kupu mai loko mai o ka ho‘okikina ‘ia ‘ana o ka lehulehu ‘ōlelo Hawai‘i e ‘ōlelo Beretānia me ke komo pū mai o kekahi mau ‘ano o ka pa‘i‘ai ‘ōlelo Hawai‘i i ‘ōlelo ‘ia e nā komone‘e o ia kenekulia i hala mua akula.

About the Hawaiian Language,

Hawaiian is a Polynesian language spoken on all of the inhabited islands of Hawai‘i with only minor dialectical differences between them.In the nineteenth century, Hawaiian became a written language. At the same time, it became the language of the Hawaiian government in public offices, the courts, the school system and the legislature. In addition, it was the most widely used language among the general public, which included foreigners and various local ethnic groups. However, with the subjugation of Hawai‘i under the rule of the United States in 1898, Hawaiian was supplanted and English became the official language for all government offices and transactions. By the turn of the century, a Hawai‘i Creole language had begun to develop. This hybrid was the result of two language dynamics occuring simultaneously: 1) the attempt suddenly of a public, heretofore accustomed to communicating in Hawaiian, to speak now in English, and 2) the Pidgin Hawaiian that was spoken by immigrants.