Haʻalilio Solomon, Ph.D. student, Department of Linguistics, and instructor of ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi, UH-Mānoa
Title: Ke Kūlana o ka ʻŌlelo: Attitudes and Ideologies Surrounding Hawaiian Language and Pidgin
This portion of the summit intends to critically examine the attitudes and ideologies that surround both Hawaiian language and Pidgin English here in Hawaiʻi. The motivations of this discussion seek to uncover discursive processes that value one language over the other. Through an ethnomusicological framework, I analyze the compositions of several mele kamaʻāina (local songs) written in ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi, ʻōlelo paʻi ʻai, or a combination of both. Accordingly, I posit that the value perceived in, assigned to, and maintained by Hawaiian language and Pidgin English is largely impacted by the way both languages are represented in these mele. These assertions intend to pinpoint how such surrounding attitudes and ideologies began, and more importantly, how they persist.
Bio: Noah Haʻalilio Solomon is from Honolulu, Oʻahu, and is an instructor at Kawaihuelani Center for Hawaiian Language. He received his MA at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, where he is currently pursuing his PhD. He is currently conducting sociolinguistic research about Hawaiian language ideologies, but other academic interests include language revitalization, ethnomusicology, mele Hawaiʻi, and the recovery of Hawaiian language primary sources. In this presentation, Haʻalilio will address his personal experiences about Hawaiian and Pidgin English within the ongoing movement to revitalize Hawaiian language, and the continual push to counteract language shift in Hawaiʻi
