During the development of a plantation economy in the later 19c, Hawaiians and English-speaking plantation owners communicated in so-called hapa-haole (half-foreign), probably foreigner talk rather than a pidgin. This pidgin was originally known as olelo pa'i'ai (pounded but undiluted taro language) and is partially related to one of the earliest forms of English in the islands, Maritime Pidgin Hawaiian, which was used between Hawaiians and sailors and traders of various backgrounds, but principally from the US. It may have been a pidginized version of Hawaiian re-lexified with English words and used by the Chinese plantation labourers who took over the cultivation of taro from native Hawaiians. The term Hawaii Pidgin English is now generally preferred among scholars and teachers.

Although the term Hawaiian pidgin has been widely used to refer to the English-based PIDGIN and CREOLE varieties used in Hawaii, some people of ethnic Hawaiian descent have objected to it because it suggests that HAWAIIAN rather than English was pidginized. The New Testament was published in 2000.HAWAII PIDGIN ENGLISH, also informally Pidgin. The literacy rate in Pidgin is unknown in standard English it is estimated at 66%–75%. It is used in some radio and television programs. 50% of children in Hawaii do not speak English when entering school, yet English as a second language is generally not taught to Pidgin-speaking children. It is accepted by many as an important part of local culture, a distinctive local language but it is looked down on by others. Plays, novels, short stories, and essays are produced constantly.

It is used in personal communications, blue collar, farm, and fishing work, and among friends in nearly all social groups. It is used unofficially in courts, sometimes with interpreters. It is the native speech of about half of those born or brought up in Hawaii, regardless of racial origin. Alternate names are Pidgin, Hawai‘i Creole, and Hawai‘i Creole English. They live in Hawaii, Alaska and the United States mainland. Nonnative speakers are estimated at between 300,000 and 400,000. Native speakers of Hawai‘i Pidgin numbered around 600,000 in 2011, 100,000 to 200,000 with low proficiency in standard English.

Hawaiian speaking pidgin