Hawaii Language

“ʻO koʻu ʻaupuni, he ʻaupuni palapala koʻu.” King Kamehameha III declared this statement meaning “My nation will be a nation of literacy.” Many of us associate Hawaiian language as being an oral language. Today, I’m going to inform you about the lesser known aspect, the development of written Hawaiian language and literacy in the 1800s. As all of us currently live in Hawaii, it is relevant to learn one of the historical achievements of Hawaiian language that leaves its traces in place names, conversations, and as one of the two official languages of Hawaii in the present-day. As a Hawaiian language major, I have done a lot of research about this topic to expand my knowledge about the history of the language. This topic is something that continues
Missionaries provided the resources for Hawaiian to be converted into a written form. The first resource they offered was teachers (Chambers 2001). Written language was encouraged because of the language barrier between missionaries and Hawaiians. Without collective understanding, teaching was incredibly difficult. Teaching was originally conducted in English with Hawaiian translators (Laimana 2011). Missionaries wanted written materials to enhance their religious teachings (Laimana 2011). Varying Hawaiian orthography contributed to the language barrier. Orthography is the set of rules on how to write a language. Having a set of written guidelines for Hawaiian could clear up the miscommunications. The introduction of the printing press by missionaries presented the opportunity to print written
The Hawaiian monarchy pursued the goal of becoming a literate nation. LihoLiho (Kamehameha II) recognized the importance of palapala (writing and reading). He was king during the time the missionaries first arrived. Liholiho could read and write causing him to understand the usefulness of the skill. Liholiho heavily encouraged the teaching of reading and writing. For example, he valued teaching so much that he waived fees on incoming ships that had potential teachers (Walk 2014). Kauikeoli became king after Liholiho’s death. Kauikeoli shared Liholiho’s value of written language. He Kauikeoli (Kamehameha III) implemented widespread use of palapala. Kamehameha III made literacy the national goal. Kamehameha III saw palapala as a move toward maintaining freedom of religion, speech, and publication (Chapin 1984).

Now that I’ve talked about how the Hawaiian monarchy encouraged written language, I’m going to tell you about the spread of these goals to the Hawaiian public. Writing and reading thrived among the rest of the Hawaii population.
Hawaiian newspapers became an important means of use of palapala. Around 90 newspapers in five different languages were in print by 1900 in Hawaii (Chapin