Hawaiian Pidgin - Grammatical Features

Grammatical Features

Pidgin also has distinct grammatical forms not found in SAE, but some of which are shared with other dialectal forms of English or may derive from other linguistic influences.

Forms used for SAE "to be":

  • Generally, forms of English "to be" (i.e. the copula) are omitted when referring to inherent qualities of an object or person, forming in essence a stative verb form. Additionally, inverted sentence order may be used for emphasis. (Many East Asian languages use stative verbs instead of the copula-adjective construction of English and other Western languages.)
Da baby cute. (or) Cute, da baby.
The baby is cute.

Note that these constructions also mimic the grammar of the Hawaiian language. In Hawaiian, "nani ka pēpē" or "kiuke ka pēpē" is literally "cute, the baby" and is perfectly correct Hawaiian grammar meaning in English, "The baby is cute."

  • When the verb "to be" refers to a temporary state or location, the word stay is used (see above). This may be influenced by other Pacific creoles, which use the word stap, from stop, to denote a temporary state or location. In fact, stop was used in Pidgin earlier in its history, and may have been dropped in favor of stay due to influence from Portuguese estar or ficar (literally 'to stay').
Da book stay on top da table.
The book is on the table.
Da water stay cold.
The water is cold.

For tense-marking of verb, auxiliary verbs are employed:

  • To express past tense, Pidgin uses wen (went) in front of the verb.
Jesus wen cry. (DJB, John 11:35)
Jesus cried.
  • To express future tense, Pidgin uses goin (going) in front of the verb, a declaratory word or verbum dicendi, common in many forms of slang American English.
God goin do plenny good kine stuff fo him. (DJB, Mark 11:9)
God is going to do a lot of good things for him.
  • To express past tense negative, Pidgin uses neva (never). Neva can also mean "never" as in normal English usage; context sometimes, but not always, makes the meaning clear.
He neva like dat.
He didn't want that. (or) He never wanted that. (or) He didn't like that.
  • Use of fo (for) in place of the infinitive particle "to". Cf. dialectal form "Going for to carry me home."
I tryin fo tink. (or) I try fo tink.
I'm trying to think.

For more information on grammar, also see Sakoda & Siegel (References, below) and the Pidgin Coup paper (External links, below).

Read more about this topic:  Hawaiian Pidgin

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