The goal of this course is to provide a general understanding of the following aspects of Hawai‘i Pidgin English (HPE) and especially of Hawai‘i Creole (HC) as covered in the following units:
1. Sociohistorical background; pidginization, creolization, decreolization
2. Sociolinguistic variation, language attitude, and social inequality
3. Linguistic structure: phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics
4. Discourse processes and interactional styles
5. Language acquisition and schooling
6. Pidgin in literary and performing arts
These topics will be addressed through lectures, readings, and class discussions. Course activities will include journal writing, quizzes, oral reports, transcriptions of authentic speech data, sociolinguistic fieldwork, linguistic analysis, and group projects.