English as she is Spoke in Hawaii LIFE is picturesque in Hawaii, and no small part of the interest of it is due to the mongrel language spoken by Kahanu, Ah Sin, Yokomitso, Manuel-all the peoples foregathered here. In domestic life, in mart and school, one hears the jargon. The whites, in order to make themselves understood, have to come down to the speech and the habit of the "half-white" language. A Japanese servant thus presented himself to his new mistress: "You are quite a stranger. I take the liberty to introduce myself to you, Miss Lady. My name is Hilahara. I hope you will know me hereafter with your friendship." A Japanese lad thus sought to be reinstated in favor with his teacher: "Please excuse me from the mark I received for being sleeping from evening studyhour, because I am sleepful. Next time more sleepless. Signed, Ichinara.” The school-teacher in Hawaii, if she possess any sense of humor, is not overpowered by the difficulties that confront her; she counts as part of her interesting experience in "the islands" the mirth-provoking things she hears and reads in the course of the day's work. We cull from one teacher's collection-a collection, after all, not so very different from what might be made by almost any pedagogue in "the States," the mistakes, as a rule, arising from want of thought rather than of language. "The latitude of Honolulu is 160 degrees West Longitude." "A crater is the hole in which the people go to see the volcano." "The Pacific Ocean was discovered by a human bean." "When we wear our hat the sun does not shine so much." "I thought studying how to read is the most important principal part of any language on the face of the earth." "The telescope's invention long before the new world were discovered by Christopher Columbus by William Cullen Bryant in the year 989." "Paraphrasing means to change poetry into prose or in a common sense. And here are some illustrations of poetry changed into "a common sense": (Poem, "Evangeline." "Many a youth fixed their eyes on her and sometimes they winkled their eyes at her." "Some of them looked at her with eyes as nearly as round as the circumference of the sun only the sun. is good deal larger than theirs." "Happy is he who came within 10 rods of her." More Longfellow "in the wide plateau of battle.". "Skill is tedious, life is transitory." "It is said that the reason why he [Willliam Cullen Bryant] did n't die so soon because he don't eat no condiments." "He was called the first of American litcraturian." "Women are soft mind, pitiful and flexible." "A short man is not adapted to marry with a long lady." "One of the causes of banter has been to promote conversation between young ladies and young men." "Wonder means to think where your knife is." "Enemy means you hate, you no want to speak, or taugh boys, or your enemy the wile animals." "Sober-just through drunk." (This, coming from an Hawaiian, is a perfect definition.) "Artist-a picture painter having three sticks and a board." "Veil-something to hide lady's face." "Veil-to keep dirt out of lady's face." "Veil a curtain for lady's face." "Veil-something to make a lady's face. look pretty." "Innocent-don't know much." "Accepted-to yes what is to be said or challenged." "Hospitable-state of being in hospital." (By boy lately excused therefrom.) "Gore, to eat with great force when you are hungry." "A postal card is a kind of envelop which you write your thoughts on back side." "Nourishment is a woman that keeps babies, sick persons, etc." "Nieces--for instance a brother and a sister supposed the brother is married to another woman then when she have a child the sister of the brother will be the child's nieces." "A few items of paper [the school paper] were go out last week not in good form." "When the people of the south heard this they were a great excitement, publican meetings were held, verbs were read, and sing were sang." "The program is now empty." "We will now have another music by the band." "The masculine of duchess is Dutchman." "The Hessian troopers went ghosting about." |