Pidgin’ on da loose: Borrowed words in Hawaiian creole

Da kine word/frayze/turm uv da day: manini, pake (mah-nee-nee, pah-kay)

“Vanna, can I borrow a word?”

Modern day Pidgin’ speakers say: “smahl kine” to mean a little, little bit, somewhat. In my day, we would borrow a word from Hawaiian, Chinese or Japanese, etc., to convey the same thought.

When dining in one of those fancy restaurants where you can still see the design on the plate with your entree on it, one might say: “ai da manini kine” (what a skimpy portion) or “hoo da pake, dis playce!” (what a cheap place!)

While most local bamboo-pole shoreline fishermen or speargun hunters know the word manini as a type of common reef surgeonfish (also known as convict tang because of its black stripes), the word also means small, cheap or miserly.

If you grew up on the mainland, you may have heard your parents or grandparents referring to a frugal person as Scottish or Jewish. In Hawaii, we just substitute pake. This Hawaiian word can mean: Chinese, like a Chinaman, or thrifty/frugal/tight!

As most kamaaina know, borrowed words often take on a life of their own. As with the Japanese word: Sukoshi; which according to Webster-san, means: little. Many who haven’t converted to “smahl kine” yet, might use the morphed term: skoshi; as follows:

When being offered a slice of prime rib at a buffet, the local chef might ask: “how much yu like?”…….to which older Japanese pidgin’ speakers might reply: “skoshi” or “skoshi kine.”

Now let’s discuss the art of being pake. Sometimes, having good negotiating or shopping skills can be something to be proud of; especially when bargain hunting at a swap meet, etc.

So, when people sometimes accuse me of being pake, I might respond “ai no keah, wot bahdah yu?” (what’s it to you, I don’t care what you think!) I never pay retail! (if I can help it.) So, keep in mind, when you hear: “hoo ass wun manini buggah!” or “dat wun sum pake, but!” it might not be all bad.

Germans might say: billig, and those Americans who think they can speak Spanish might say, “El cheap-o”

In some future columns, we will discuss other borrowed words from different languages that are an important part of Hawaiian creole; like: lolo, babooze, nuha, bakatare, kapakahi, yau yau, salamat, etc.

So, as you can see, there is a lot of material to cover. And, I promise not to give you da manini, pake or skoshi treatment when discussing the fine art of “da kine tok!”

Pau fo nau.

Nex wun: try fo go way’t

Wally Camp is a Big Island resident and linguist who writes a biweekly column. He can be reached at hilowally@gmail.com