Figure 12.2 Languages spoken in Hawai’i
Source: U.S. Census Bureau (2004)
As is the case with all creoles, HC exists in various forms along a
continuum of most to least similar to the base language – in this case,
English. On that end of the continuum where HC has more in common
with English, it is used in a wide variety of public settings; Grimes (1994)
reports that it is commonly heard in the judicial system and is used there
by officers, jurors, plaintiffs, and defendants, that it is used by some on
radio and TV in public service announcements, and that there is a
“growing body of serious literature, including poetry” (ibid.). In its
basilectal form (where there is the least mutual intelligibility with
English), HC is spoken widely by persons of all ages and races, but it is