A word about Da Kine
Lehua’s writings often include a modified form of Hawaiian Pidgin English. Pidgin is a polyglot language with its roots in Hawaiian, Chinese, Portuguese, Japanese, English, Korean, and Filipino. Hawaiian Pidgin developed as people from all over the world came to Hawaii in the 1800s looking for a better life. Over time, Pidgin has evolved into a heavily English-based language while retaining its original syntax, grammar, and Pacific lilt. While almost everyone in Hawaii today speaks, reads, and writes standard American English, true communication, the kind that speaks from the heart, is in Pidgin.
To see the current list of Hawaiian and Pidgin words, definitions, and usage please click on
Pidgin Dictionary