Pidgin to Da Max
Encyclopedia
Pidgin to Da Max is a humorous illustrated
dictionary
of Hawaiian Pidgin
words and phrases by Douglas Simonson, Pat Sasaki, and Ken Sakata. With the definitions of most of the words and phrases also given in Pidgin, the book is not clearly intended to be used as a Pidgin-English dictionary, although a reader unfamiliar with the dialect would likely understand most of the entries from context and the illustrations. Rather, the book is intended to be a humorous introspective for Hawaii
ans about the language they speak on a day-to-day basis. As such, it is a relatively popular book in Hawaii, and sold 25,000 copies in its first month in print.
There is an additional volume, titled Pidgin to Da Max: Hana Hou, which follows the first book.
As an example of an entry for which the dictionary may be of little help to outsiders, consider the definition of the word da kine
:
The dictionary then turns around and uses "da kine" (often a notoriously difficult word for non-Hawaiians to understand) in some of the definitions of other words.
The authors of Pidgin to Da Max are not originally from Hawaii, and Simonson admits to not speaking Pidgin all that well.
Illustration
An illustration is a displayed visualization form presented as a drawing, painting, photograph or other work of art that is created to elucidate or dictate sensual information by providing a visual representation graphically.- Early history :The earliest forms of illustration were prehistoric...
dictionary
Dictionary
A dictionary is a collection of words in one or more specific languages, often listed alphabetically, with usage information, definitions, etymologies, phonetics, pronunciations, and other information; or a book of words in one language with their equivalents in another, also known as a lexicon...
of Hawaiian Pidgin
Hawaiian Pidgin
Hawaii Pidgin English, Hawaii Creole English, HCE, or simply Pidgin, is a creole language based in part on English used by many "local" residents of Hawaii. Although English and Hawaiian are the co-official languages of the state of Hawaii, Pidgin is used by many Hawaii residents in everyday...
words and phrases by Douglas Simonson, Pat Sasaki, and Ken Sakata. With the definitions of most of the words and phrases also given in Pidgin, the book is not clearly intended to be used as a Pidgin-English dictionary, although a reader unfamiliar with the dialect would likely understand most of the entries from context and the illustrations. Rather, the book is intended to be a humorous introspective for Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
ans about the language they speak on a day-to-day basis. As such, it is a relatively popular book in Hawaii, and sold 25,000 copies in its first month in print.
There is an additional volume, titled Pidgin to Da Max: Hana Hou, which follows the first book.
As an example of an entry for which the dictionary may be of little help to outsiders, consider the definition of the word da kine
Da kine
Da kine is an expression in Hawaiian Pidgin , probably derived from "that kind", that usually functions grammatically as a placeholder name , but can also take the role of a verb, adjective, or adverb...
:
- DA KINE (da KINE) Da kine is the keystone of pidgin. You can use it anywhere, anytime, anyhow. Very convenient. What would we do without DA KINE? "Ey, I no can da kine if you no like da kine, too!"
The dictionary then turns around and uses "da kine" (often a notoriously difficult word for non-Hawaiians to understand) in some of the definitions of other words.
The authors of Pidgin to Da Max are not originally from Hawaii, and Simonson admits to not speaking Pidgin all that well.
External links
- Going Native on Oahu, an article which mentions Pidgin to Da Max, including quotes from the author