Hawaiian language

ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi, or the Hawaiian language, is a Polynesian language within the Austronesian language family. It is the historic native tongue of the Hawaiian people. Today, it serves as an official language of the U.S. state of Hawaiʻi alongside English. The language is currently classified as critically endangered by UNESCO. This status reflects a long history of struggle and a modern movement for revitalization.

For most of its history, Hawaiian was an oral language. People used spoken words to pass down religion, traditions, and history. One vital way they shared their world was through hula. Hula is a form of storytelling through dance. It helped keep the nation's legendary past alive in the communal imagination. During the Makahiki festival, a harvest celebration for the god Lono, stories and dances were central to the peace and joy of the season.

Writing changed the language in the early 19th century. In 1820, Protestant missionaries arrived from New England. They wanted to translate the Bible into Hawaiian. To do this, they created a standard orthography, which is a system of spelling. This system was very straightforward. Because it was easy to master, literacy spread rapidly. By 1834, the first Hawaiian-language newspapers were being published.

By 1840, the Hawaiian Legislature mandated compulsory education for all children under 14. This was twelve years before any similar law was passed in the United States. By 1853, a government report stated that 75% of the adult population could read.

However, the language faced a period of severe decline. In 1896, the Republic of Hawaii passed Act 57. This law established English as the sole medium of instruction in public and private schools. While it did not make the language illegal, it removed it from the classroom. Children were often disciplined with corporal punishment for speaking Hawaiian at school or on the playground. This period of suppression lasted many years. Hawaiian was not allowed as a medium of instruction in public schools again until 1987.

The number of native speakers dropped significantly between the 1830s and the 1950s. English eventually displaced Hawaiian on six of the seven inhabited islands. By 2001, native speakers made up less than 0.1% of the statewide population. Despite this, a movement to save the language began around 1949. This movement focused on promotion and education to reverse the decline.

A major part of this revival was the creation of immersion schools. In 1984, public Hawaiian-language immersion preschools called Pūnana Leo were established. These schools teach children entirely in Hawaiian. Many of the first students from these preschools have since graduated from college. They are now fluent speakers who help carry the language forward. This effort has helped create a new generation of learners.

Hawaiian is closely related to other Polynesian languages. It shares links with Samoan, Marquesan, Tahitian, Māori, Rapa Nui, and Tongan. Studies show different levels of mutual intelligibility, or how much speakers can understand each other. For example, Hawaiian has a 41.2% intelligibility rate with Marquesan. It has a much lower rate of 6.4% with Tongan. These connections show the deep history of voyaging across the Pacific.

In modern Hawaiʻi, you may also encounter Hawaiian Pidgin. This is a creole language, which is a stable language developed from mixing different languages. It is more commonly spoken in the islands than the native Hawaiian language itself. While the native tongue faces challenges, its presence in government and schools remains a vital part of the islands' identity.