BILINGUALISM

Although there are differents theoretical views that try to conceptualize Bilingualism, we can understand Bilingualism as the use of two or more languages (or dialects) by an individual in her/his everyday live. We also use the term Bilingual to refer to an individual with such capacity. These definitions are not set in stone since many theories discuss the meaning of bilingual in order to establish what this term really means, specially dealing with issues like the degree and type of mastery of the second language.

It is interesting to note that the term Bilingualism has its roots in Latin, with the particle     -bi meaning “two”, but nowadays many linguists use the term to refer to more than two languages.

According to the Oxford Dictionary:

NOUN

mass noun

• Fluency in or use of two languages.
• ‘his proficient bilingualism’
• ‘earlier ads’ playful bilingualism’

 

The study of Bilingualism can be focused on individuals or on a group of people as a whole. Since the theme of this site is the Hawaiian Pidgin English, we shall deal with a macrolinguistic view of the subject, so it is important to keep in mind the concept of Societal Bilingualism. One definition of Societal Bilingualism says that it “denotes the characteristic linguistic situation in a particular speech community, i.e. in a particular society or nation in which more than one language is used”.

In this context we consider Bilingualism as the ability of the Hawaiians to communicate in Hawaiian Pidgin English and at least one other Hawaiian official language (English or Hawaiian).

Bilingualism itself can open the discussion and we can think about the relationship between language and culture. It is important to highlight that Bilingualism does not imply Biculturalism but, in general, a fluent bilingual is likely to be familiar with the cultures (s)he can speak. Specifically to the Hawaiian Pidgin English speakers the use of this language is a means to reaffirm their culture and local identity. Nevertheless, there is much criticism toward this community, because it is said that they speak a broken or corrupted English.