The following is the entry for this language as it appeared in the 14th edition (2000).
It was superseded by the corresponding entry in the 15th edition (2005). See also the corresponding entry in the current edition of Ethnologue.
SIL code: HWI
ISO 639-2: haw
| Population | 1,000 mother tongue speakers, 500 with Ni'ihau Island connections, another 500 in their 70s or 80s (1995 Laina Wong Univ. of Hawaii). 8,000 can speak and understand it (1993 Keith Haugen). 237,128 ethnic Hawaiians in Hawaii (1996 Hawaii State Dept. of Health), 18.8% of the population (1990 Hawaii State Dept. of Health), and 99,269 ethnic Hawaiians on the USA mainland (1990 census), including 24,245 in California. In 1900 there were 37,000 mother tongue speakers (1995 Honolulu Advertiser). Ethnic Hawaiians include 8,244 pure Hawaiian, 72,809 between 50% and 99% Hawaiian, 127,523 less than 50% Hawaiian in Hawaii (1984 Office of Hawaiian Affairs). In 1778 there were believed to have been more than 500,000 pure Hawaiians (1995 Wayne Harada). |
| Region | Hawaiian Islands, mainly Ni'ihau Island and the Big Island of Hawai'i, some on all the other islands. |
| Alternate names | 'OLELO HAWAI'I, 'OLELO HAWAI'I MAKUAHINE |
| Classification | Austronesian, Malayo-Polynesian, Central-Eastern, Eastern Malayo-Polynesian, Oceanic, Central-Eastern Oceanic, Remote Oceanic, Central Pacific, East Fijian-Polynesian, Polynesian, Nuclear, East, Central, Marquesic. |
| Comments | 79% lexical similarity with Rarotongan, 77% with Tuamotuan, 76% with Tahitian (Elbert), 71% with Maori (Schütz), 70% with Marquesan, 64% with Rapa Nui. Speakers use Hawaii Creole English (Pidgin) or English as second language. 500 mother tongue speakers in their 70s or 80s (1995). People 2 years old and older are learning it as second language: 1,000 ages 0-15. 350 ages 15-25 (1997 Rosemary Henze). Official language. Dictionary. Grammar. VSO. Roman. Punana Leo private schools offer Hawaiian immersion programs (as a second language) for about 800 2-year-old ethnic Hawaiians into high school. The University of Hawaii offers a BA in the Hawaiian language. Christian, traditional religion. Bible 1838. |
