Re: Da' Pidgin English Thread
Thanks again for your opinion.
It's helpful to non-scholars. E.G., "What language is THAT?!" Do we say "English," or "Pidgin?"
I think you chose one example that was a poor one, others were more spot-on:
With the exception that "pēpē" is of post-contact construction from the English; kama or just keiki are both aboriginal Hawaiian.
Wikipedia is an imperfect medium, and I generally try to find better references, but this was convenient. Although I got my B.A. in English, that was in 1978, and I've forgotten more than I've remembered, so I'm not qualified to judge the accuracy of the article.
You seem very knowledgeable on English grammar and categorization (with some interesting biases). What is your level of education, and where did you study?
Originally posted by GregLee
View Post
It's helpful to non-scholars. E.G., "What language is THAT?!" Do we say "English," or "Pidgin?"
I think you chose one example that was a poor one, others were more spot-on:
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."
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."
Wikipedia is an imperfect medium, and I generally try to find better references, but this was convenient. Although I got my B.A. in English, that was in 1978, and I've forgotten more than I've remembered, so I'm not qualified to judge the accuracy of the article.
You seem very knowledgeable on English grammar and categorization (with some interesting biases). What is your level of education, and where did you study?
Comment