U.S.A. / SPORTS
Page 8 n THE ASIAN REPORTER
March 21, 2016
Data inspires pride for Pidgin, a Hawai’i language
PIDGIN PRIDE. Comedian Andy Bumatai ges-
tures during an interview in Mililani, Hawai’i. News re-
ports about census data showing the number of Pidgin
speakers in Hawai’i have helped spark a sense of
pride among those who speak the language in their
homes. Pidgin is a mix of the languages spoken by
Hawai’ian, Filipino, Chinese, Puerto Rican, and other
workers who toiled in the sugar plantations in Hawai’i.
(AP Photo/Audrey McAvoy)
By Jennifer Sinco Kelleher
The Associated Press
ILILANI, Hawai’i — When
Hawai’i
comedian
Andy
Bumatai was searching for a
new way to attract the attention of
audiences on the internet, his wife
suggested he find inspiration in something
from the old days: Pidgin, the language of
his youth.
Her idea came after a flurry of news
reports about how census data included a
tally of people in the islands who said they
spoke Pidgin, a mix of the languages
spoken by Hawai’ian, Filipino, Chinese,
Puerto Rican, and other workers who
toiled in the state’s sugar plantations.
Bumatai put up some videos online
doing his routines in Pidgin, and one with
English subtitles got 1.5 million views. He
said his videos resonated with those who
grew up in Hawai’i and were homesick for
the sounds of the language.
It is “more than a language. It’s become a
lexicon that congeals the people who are
from Hawai’i,” he said.
The news reports last fall helped spark a
sense of pride among those who speak the
language in their homes and among
friends, and a discussion about its use and
the stigma that limits its wider acceptance
in the state.
There are other pidgins in other parts of
the world, including in the Caribbean,
Africa, and Asia. Pidgin in Hawai’i, or
Hawai’i Creole English, has long been
considered a substandard form of English.
Some saw the census numbers as recogni-
tion for the language, though the U.S.
Census isn’t in the business of recognizing
languages. Census officials have been
counting Pidgin since 1990.
Christine Gambino, a survey statisti-
cian at the agency, said with more people
knowing that it’s acceptable to write down
Pidgin on the federal questionnaires,
future data will be more reflective of an
M
Hawai’i long after the end of the plantation
era.
“You’re ranked as to how local you are
with how much you understand and are
able to speak,” Bumatai said.
Television station Hawai’i News Now
posted to Facebook a mock traffic report in
Pidgin by reporter Lacy Deniz. Hawai’i
viewers were enthusiastic, while some
outside the state thought it made her
sound uneducated, she said.
In “Kapakahi Traffic,” Deniz refers to a
stalled motorist as “uncle” and roadside
assistance workers as “braddahs.” Her
intonation is characteristically Pidgin,
her grammar and vocabulary accurate:
“We goin’ have choke students out on
da roadway tryin’ fo get to school,
makin’ their classes ... It’s gonna be supa
busy.”
“We knew that majority people here in
Hawai’i, it’s something they connect to,”
she said.
Colbert Matsumoto, chairman of Island
Insurance, Hawai’i’s largest locally owned
insurance company, said he doesn’t always
accurate number of speakers. Many who
speak Pidgin believe there are far more
speakers than the 1,600 counted in the
census surveys.
While Pidgin may sound like mixed-up
English because English words provide a
large portion of Pidgin vocabulary, it has
its own grammar and sound system, said
Kent Sakoda, who teaches a course about
Pidgin at the University of Hawai’i.
Native Hawai’ians, Chinese, and Portu-
guese had the most influence on Pidgin
structure because they were the earliest
plantation laborers. Pidgin borrows
phrases from various other languages.
“The house is big” in Pidgin, for example, is
“big, da house,” which borrows from
Hawai’ian sentence structure.
One of Cantonese’s influences is evident
in the Pidgin word “get,” which means both
“has” and “have,” as well as both “there is”
and “there are.” ‘‘Para,” which means “for”
in Portuguese, influenced how Pidgin
speakers use “for” in places where English
uses “to.”
Pidgin has flourished as the voice of
speak Pidgin in the “downtown circle” in
which he operates. Sometimes he lets
himself fall into the ease of Pidgin.
“I always thought that Pidgin was
something of value,” said Matsumoto, who
grew up on Lanai, which can feel a world
away from downtown Honolulu. “It made
me feel grounded.”
Mike McCartney, chief of staff for
governor David Ige, said he’s proud of his
ability to speak Pidgin.
“To me it’s part of who we are as a people,
place, and culture,” said McCartney,
whose father was an English teacher and
would correct him when he spoke Pidgin.
McCartney said now he can turn Pidgin on
and off fluidly, as many others do.
Former Hawai’i governor Ben Cayetano
worries about those who can’t switch back
and forth.
“Hawai’i kids are at a distinct
disadvantage if they can’t speak standard
English,” he said. “My first year in college
on the mainland, I hardly said anything in
class ... I was concerned about whether my
English would be good enough.”
The stigma against speaking Pidgin is
strong, despite moments of pride, said Lee
Tonouchi, an author and activist who calls
himself the “Da Pidgin Guerrilla.” He
makes it a point to only speak Pidgin.
To him, until the state university system
starts offering degrees in Pidgin or if
Pidgin joins Hawai’ian and English as the
state’s official languages, the language
will never gain any true respect.
“I tink still get stigma,” he said. “For me,
I tink da goal always goin’ be fo Pidgin to
get institutionalized recognitions.”
Salt Lake Comic-Con to host pop culture events in Asia
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The organizers of Salt Lake
Comic Con are entering a partnership to host events in
China, Thailand, and the Philippines.
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FIFA cancels two of Kuwait’s
World Cup qualifying matches
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level: Hard
#19237
# 15
Instructions: Fill in the grid so that the digits 1
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Solution to
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Puzzle #25951 (Medium)
All solutions available at
<www.sudoku.com>.
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Utah pop-culture convention announced the deal. They’re
partnering with Pop Life Entertainment, a company that
makes big-headed figurines of popular characters from
movies, television, and more.
Events are scheduled for June in the Philippines,
September in China, and December in Thailand, though
organizers are still working out exactly where.
As part of the deal, the company will also produce
exclusive items for the March 24 through 26 Salt Lake
City event, including a figure of the character Daryl Dixon
from the zombie show “The Walking Dead.”
Norman Reedus, the actor who plays Daryl Dixon, is set
to appear at the 2016 Utah convention.
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ZURICH (AP) — The Fédération Internationale de
Football Association (FIFA) says it has cancelled Kuwait’s
two scheduled World Cup qualifying matches this month
and opened a disciplinary case against the country’s
soccer federation.
Kuwait has been suspended by FIFA since October
because of government interference in how the federation
is run.
The national team also failed to play a previous World
Cup qualifier in November. That match was forfeited as a
3-0 win for Myanmar.
Kuwait was scheduled to play Laos on March 24 and
complete its program against group leader South Korea
five days later.
FIFA says it told the federations involved that the
matches “cannot take place as things stand.”
Kuwait faces forfeiting both matches and being fined.