In Hawaii, two official languages are spoken: English and Hawaiian (ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi)
- Hawaiian (ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi) is the indigenous Polynesian language of the Native Hawaiian people. It is a critically endangered language but remains an important cultural cornerstone. Hawaiian uses a small alphabet of 13 letters and includes special pronunciation marks like the ʻokina (glottal stop) and kahakō (macron for vowel length)
- English is the most widely spoken language in daily life across the islands
Additionally, Hawaiian Pidgin (Hawaiian Creole English), a creole language mixing English with Hawaiian, Japanese, Portuguese, and other languages, is commonly spoken though it is not an official language
. Hawaii is linguistically diverse, with over 130 languages spoken due to its multicultural population. Other common languages include Ilocano, Tagalog, Japanese, Chinese, Spanish, Korean, and Samoan, reflecting the state's ethnic diversity
. In summary:
- Official languages: English and Hawaiian
- Widely spoken: English, Hawaiian, Hawaiian Pidgin
- Other languages: Ilocano, Tagalog, Japanese, Chinese, Spanish, Korean, Samoan, and more
