Walk into a grocery store in Hilo or a surf shop in Haleʻiwa and you’ll hear it. It’s not just English. It isn't exactly the language of the Aliʻi (royalty) either. It’s a rhythmic, bouncy, and soulful blend of words that sounds like a secret code to the uninitiated. If you’ve ever wondered what do Hawaiians speak, the answer is a bit more layered than a simple "English."
Hawaii is actually the only state in the U.S. with two official languages.
One is English. The other is ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi (the Hawaiian language). But there’s a third player in the game that arguably carries the most weight in day-to-day life: Hawaiian Creole English, better known as Pidgin. Honestly, if you visit the islands and expect everyone to sound like a textbook, you’re in for a massive surprise.
The Resurrection of ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi
For a long time, the native tongue was dying. It’s a heavy history. After the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom in 1893, the language was basically banned in schools. Teachers would punish kids for speaking the language of their grandparents. By the 1970s, it was estimated that fewer than 2,000 native speakers remained, many of them elderly residents of the isolated island of Niʻihau.
Then came the Hawaiian Renaissance.
People got fed up. Activists and educators like Larry Kimura and the founders of the ʻAha Pūnana Leo immersion schools fought to bring the language back from the brink. They started preschools where kids spoke nothing but Hawaiian. It worked. Today, you’ll see Hawaiian on street signs, hear it in flight announcements on Hawaiian Airlines, and find it integrated into the curriculum of the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.
Is it hard to learn?
Kinda. The alphabet only has 13 letters. You’ve got five vowels (A, E, I, O, U) and eight consonants (H, K, L, M, N, P, W, and the ‘okina). That little apostrophe-looking thing—the ‘okina—is a literal letter. It’s a glottal stop, like the break in "uh-oh." If you ignore it, you change the whole meaning of a word.
Take the word moa. That means chicken.
Add an ‘okina: moʻa. Now it means cooked.
Huge difference if you’re looking at a menu.
Then there’s the kahakō, or macron, which is a line over a vowel that tells you to hold the sound a little longer. These nuances are why many locals get frustrated when mainland brands misspell Hawaiian words. It’s not just about aesthetics; it’s about respect and clarity.
The Real Daily Talk: Hawaiian Pidgin
While Hawaiian is the cultural soul, Pidgin is the social glue. If you’re asking what do Hawaiians speak when they’re hanging out at a backyard BBQ or fishing on the pier, it’s Pidgin.
It started on the plantations in the 19th century. You had immigrants from China, Portugal, Japan, the Philippines, and Korea all working alongside Native Hawaiians and white supervisors. They couldn't understand each other. So, they built a bridge. They took English grammar, tossed in Hawaiian loanwords, added Japanese sentence structures, and seasoned it with Portuguese slang.
- "Brah, you like go beach?" (Brother, do you want to go to the beach?)
- "Can, wait, I go get my slippers." (Yes, wait, I need to get my flip-flops.)
- "Why you stay acting like one lolo?" (Why are you acting like a fool?)
It’s a linguistic masterpiece of efficiency.
In 2015, the U.S. Census Bureau officially recognized Hawaiian Pidgin as a language. That was a big deal. For decades, it was dismissed as "broken English" or a sign of being uneducated. But linguistics experts like Dr. Christina Higgins have shown that Pidgin has its own consistent rules and complex syntax. It’s an identity marker. If you speak Pidgin, you’re signaling that you’re from the islands. You’re "local."
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Why English Still Dominates
Despite the cultural depth of the other two, English is the primary language of business, government, and tourism. Most people you meet will speak standard American English with a slight "island" lilt—a specific cadence where certain syllables are stressed differently.
However, "Hawaiian English" is often peppered with loanwords that even the most corporate office workers use. You won't hear a local say "the direction toward the mountains." They’ll say mauka. They won't say "toward the ocean." They’ll say makai.
- Pau: Finished. (e.g., "Are you pau with that plate?")
- Hana Hou: Do it again/Encore.
- Keiki: Children.
- Kamaʻāina: Long-time resident/local.
If you don't know these four words, you're going to be very confused reading a local newspaper or even just walking through a mall.
The Niʻihau Dialect: The Last Frontier
There is one place where the answer to "what do Hawaiians speak" is pure and uninterrupted: Niʻihau. The "Forbidden Isle" is privately owned and populated almost exclusively by Native Hawaiians.
They speak a specific dialect of Hawaiian that sounds very different from the "University Hawaiian" taught in schools. It’s faster. The 't' and 'k' sounds often swap. It is the only place in the world where Hawaiian is the first language of the entire community and has been continuously spoken since before Western contact.
Access to Niʻihau is extremely restricted, which has acted as a sort of linguistic time capsule. While the rest of the islands struggle with revitalization efforts, Niʻihau just is.
Misconceptions You Should Avoid
A lot of people think that because they know "Aloha" and "Mahalo," they understand the linguistic landscape. They don't.
One common mistake is calling anyone who lives in Hawaii a "Hawaiian." In the islands, "Hawaiian" is an ethnicity, not a residency status. If you moved to Oahu from California two years ago, you are a "Hawaii resident" or a "local," but you are not Hawaiian. Calling the language "Hawaiian" is correct, but calling a non-ethnic Hawaiian person "Hawaiian" because they speak Pidgin is a quick way to get corrected.
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Another thing? Don't try to "fake" Pidgin.
Locals can spot a "try-hard" from a mile away. It often comes across as mocking rather than appreciative. If you aren't from there, it’s usually better to just listen and appreciate the flow.
The Future of Island Speech
The landscape is changing again. With the rise of social media, you’ll see "Pidgin" influencers and TikTokers who are documenting the slang for a global audience. Simultaneously, the state is seeing a massive push for "normalization" of ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi.
We’re seeing it in Google Maps—which recently improved its pronunciation of Hawaiian street names—and in the way the local government handles official documents. The goal for many isn't to replace English, but to ensure that the native tongue isn't just a relic in a museum, but a living, breathing part of the air.
How to Navigate Language in Hawaii
If you’re planning a trip or moving to the islands, you don’t need to be fluent, but you should be mindful. Respecting the linguistic history of the islands goes a long way.
- Learn the ‘okina and kahakō. Even if you can't pronounce them perfectly yet, acknowledging they exist shows you've done your homework.
- Use common loanwords naturally. Stick to basics like mahalo (thank you), mauka (toward the mountains), and makai (toward the sea).
- Listen more than you speak. Pay attention to the cadence of Pidgin. Notice how it changes depending on who is talking to whom.
- Support local immersion. If you're looking for a way to give back, look into organizations like the Kamaʻehuakanaloa or local immersion schools that are keeping the native language alive.
Ultimately, what Hawaiians speak is a reflection of a complicated, beautiful history of collision and coexistence. It’s a mix of the ancient, the colonial, and the modern, all swirling together in the Pacific breeze.
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Next Steps for Your Knowledge
To deepen your understanding, start by looking up the correct pronunciation of common Hawaiian place names using resources like Wehewehe, the online Hawaiian dictionary. You can also listen to the Kūiwalu podcasts or local radio stations like KINE 105.1 to hear the natural blend of English and Hawaiian in a contemporary setting. Understanding the "why" behind the words will give you a much richer experience of the islands than any guidebook ever could.