Vocabulary

The vast majority of words in Hawai‘i Creole are derived from English and have the same meanings as their English etyma. However, many Hawai‘i Creole words have changed in meaning or have additional meanings, including the following:

Other words and expressions are derived from English but have changed in form and in some cases in meaning as well:

There are also many compounds and expressions made up of English-derived words that are not found in English (or at least not with the same meaning):

In addition, Hawai‘i Creole has many words derived from other languages. The largest number of such words (over 100) come from the Hawaiian language. Many of these have come into the English spoken in Hawai‘i as well. Some examples are:

Japanese has also provided many words to Hawai‘i Creole (approximately 40, but some of these are used primarily by people of Japanese ancestry). Some examples are:

In addition, Hawai‘i Creole has words from Portuguese and other languages:

Finally, there are some compounds, blends, and expressions made up of words from English and other languages. Example include: