Who You Tink You, Talkin Propah? Hawaiian Pidgin Demarginalised

Communication accommodation, ethnolinguistic vitality and markedness model assumptions are applied to language ideologies and practices among Standard English and Hawai‘i Creole English (Pidgin) speakers in Hawai‘i. Respondents reported that Standard English should be spoken in most employment or scholastic interactions with tourists, teachers or mainlanders (‘Haoles’). However, Pidgin maintains widespread covert prestige and has resisted marginalisation in social, workplace and educational exchanges. Narrative accounts verified that language enhances group solidarity and shapes routine interactions, providing further support for the models that frame this research.