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The film "Language Matters" asks what we lose when languages die and how we can save them. It was filmed around the world: on a remote island off the coast of Australia, where 400 Aboriginal people speak 10 different languages, all at risk; in Wales, where Welsh, once in danger, is today making a comeback; and in Hawaii, where a group of Hawaiian activists is fighting to save the native tongue.

This article really perplexed me at first. We always talk about how we have to save Hawaiian, and yet, according to this article by the Honolulu Magazine, there are much more keiki speaking 'Olelo Hawaii than in the 1980's. We have made a great leap forward regarding the spread of Hawaiian language and culture, but this article delves into whether this spread is enough.

While more people do speak Hawaiian now than 30 years ago, thanks to revitalization efforts, the question is whether formal language training alone can help truly revitalize a language, especially since the native speaker population is dying out. As you know, for a language to truly live, it should not just be surviving in academic contexts, but be utilized in normal, everyday contexts. Weʻre a long way from that point--but thereʻs hope. :-) E ola mau ka `Ōlelo Hawai`i!

This article talks about how some World Cup games will be broadcast in pidgin for Nigerian and Ghana audiences. I find it fascinating that the world has become more friendly to pidgin and other "informal" languages. I wonder if Hawaii broadcasts and television shows will start to utilize more pidgin and Hawaii Creole English.

One could argue that Niʻihau Hawaiian is the closest we've got to early forms of the language spoken in the islands. However, the language may be dying out. One interviewee noted the more frequent use of English amongst younger Ni`hau residents and expressed worry that when young speakers use English, they'll start to think in English, possibly leading them to abandon the Hawaiian way of thinking, and perhaps the language. Niʻihau speakers don't use diacritical marks like ʻokina (glottal stop) and kahakō (macron), which have become invaluable aids for language learners. They do, however, use "t"s and "r"s in place of "k"s and "l"s (e.g. ke aloha= te aroha, Ni`ihau style) - something that isn't taught in universities and immersion schools. Hawaiian language scholar Keao NeSmith says there's a history there. He says missionaries were confused by the Hawaiian language when they arrived. They were determined to translate the Bible into Hawaiian, but they couldn't figure out when to swap the "t" for the "k" and the "l" for the "r". So they created a standardized alphabet that dropped the use of "t'"s and "r"s. NeSmith says Niʻihau speakers chose not to alter their spoken language. But the missionary system gained a stronghold in the rest of the islands through the 1800s. Many of the Hawaiian language documents developed during this period, including newspapers, would become a go-to repository for the revitalization of the ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi a century later as the number of native speakers began to decline.

Author Karel McIntosh, a "Trini Creole" (Trinidad Creole English, a.k.a. TCE) and standard English code-switcher, reflects on how TCE is stigmatized in her homeland, arguing that the language has a rightful and valuable place. Readers may find parallels between the linguistic situation in Hawaii and that in Trinidad.

House Bill 157, introduced by State Representative Diamond Garcia, proposes requiring and implementing the teaching of the Hawaiian language, ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi, for public school students grades K through 12. The proposal would appropriate $5 million to create ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi curriculum and hire teachers to implement the program. The state Department of Education said in a statement they strongly support expanding ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi in public schools. The DOE currently offers it as a language course at 32 of its 64 high schools and Hawaiian language immersion is an option at 22 of its schools statewide. DOE officials say they would need to look at their ability to teach ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi at every grade level in all schools because qualified Hawaiian language teachers are already a high-need area with recruitment challenges.

Increasing demand is sparking conversations around Hawai`iʻs constitutional duty to provide access to ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi, or Hawaiian language education. It's been three years since the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court ruled that the state has a constitutional duty to provide immersion education. The case involved Chelsa-Marie Kealohalani Clarabal. She wanted an immersion education for her daughters on Lānaʻi where there was no such program. "The legal landscape at the time was there was no case law that we could cite," said Honolulu attorney Sharla Manley who represents the Clarabal ʻohana. "There were three provisions of the state constitution - one being the official languages provision, the other provision being the Hawaiian education provision and thereʻs the provision for traditional and customary practices," Manley told HPR. But no court had enforced any of these provisions when it came to ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi until the Clarabal case.

The growing number of Hawaiian language accounts on social media is sparking discussions on how ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi can take advantage of platforms like Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. Traditional approaches to language revitalization, like classroom instruction, have been fruitful, but using social media may help raise the visibility and accessibility of ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi.

UH-Manoa's Institute for Hawaiian Language Research and Translation provides access and research capacity into the extensive archive of Hawaiian language materials, making more than a century of historical documentation about Hawaiian knowledge and experience available for study. Browse through the Hawaiian Language Newspaper database to view side-by-side scans of original Hawaiian language articles, along with their English translation!

Dr. Derald Wing-Sue examines the demeaning meta-communications or hidden messages in comments addressed to people of color. Though it should be noted that microaggressions can also be levied at white people, e.g. when Hawaii born-and-raised whites are asked "Where are you from?", and then when told "Here", persist: "No, I meant originally." ;-)

Hey Lara, thanks for remembering me ;-)

by George Grace--a commentary on the "social grooming" theory of language evolution

Mrs. Foster's husband, George Grace, is quoted here.

excellent explanations