So I researched that both languages faced an extent of decline both by English. However it turned out that Irish is in better position than Hawaiian right now. Irish isn’t safe either but according to unesco, Irish is a level ahead of Hawaiian. I even went to Hawaii and there were barely ant schools or signs in it. In Irish however there are certain schools and signs that use Irish. Why did Irish fare better than Hawaiian?
Gaelic was nearly a dead language, spoken only in some rural areas and the written language lost for a bit.
Several groups were behind the revival. Added to this, philologist rediscovered and translated ancient Gaelic text from the 900s or so. These tales of mythic and heroic and Ireland caught the public imagination in the English speaking world.
As to the groups, some were founded as early as 1808 and had strong ties to Irish Independence and/or land rights movements.
Once Ireland or Eire became free, the Government did support the revival of Gaelic.
I’m way out of my depth on this, I could have given a better answer 20 years ago, but I realize I have forgotten too much. Maybe I can summon a member that is a bit of an Irish Scholar. @An_Gadai though he hasn’t posted for too long a while.
I listened to a lecture on this in Dublin Castle and read about it from a couple of different sources earlier than that, but less has retained than I can recall now.
And what about Hawaiian in Hawaii?
I know little, but in the 1800s and early 1900s the US Government worked to either suppress Hawaiian or at least not teach it in public schools. That was enough to nearly kill the language. Hawaiian also has to compete with the local Pidgin language.
So the circumstances of the revival of Hawaiian are fairly different than Gaelic. Gaelic is spoken to some degree by over a third of the Irish Republic and then add in the Scottish Gaelic speakers of another 50,000-60,000. According the Irish 2022 Census, 71968 are native or daily speakers. This is the second drop in this number compared to 2016 & 2011. So Irish is not out of trouble yet.
Hawaiian has only 2000 native speakers and I’m not finding any government support for it.
So why is Irish doing better than Hawaiian?
I answered that. Government support makes a huge difference.
My understanding is that the Irish language is compulsory learning in Irish elementary and secondary schools. Even if most who learn the language in school don’t go on to regularly speak it, it’s clearly being supported by the government.
Good friends of mine, who live in the U.S., grew up in Ireland, and the sister of one of them (who still lives in the Dublin area) is a school teacher. If I remember correctly, the sister had to pass an Irish proficiency test in order to be certified as a teacher.
Then why isn’t the same for Hawaiian?
The US government is not interested in promoting the language the way that the Irish government is.
Then maybe Hawaiian government should take a note from the Irish government and do the same
Because the Hawaiian government (which is going to be in charge of school curriculum in the state) apparently doesn’t support the Hawaiian language in the same way as the Irish government supports Irish.
(Honestly, it’s kind of an obvious answer.)
I don’t know a lot about the specific situations of Irish and Hawaiian, but I can speculate a bit.
In Ireland, almost everyone is in the Irish ethnic group and has recent ancestors who spoke the language. So there is a lot more potential interest in learning and support for education. I think most schools teach Irish as a second language, and maybe there are immersion programs.
In Hawaii, only a minority (about 10 percent of the population of about 1.5 million) have an ethnic connection to the language. That translates into less support for education in the language.
Then maybe take it up with the Hawaiian government, rather than arguing about it with a bunch of us dipsticks on a message board?
@Jagraze1 without intending to derail the OP or junior mod, it might help other posters understand you a bit better if you explain your interest in minority languages a bit better. I think this is the 3rd post on the same topic for different languages.
Click on my profile
That’s an excellent point. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, people of Asian descent (37%) and Whites (25%) far outnumber Native Hawaiians / Pacific Islanders (10%).
Hawaii does also have 25% of its population who self-identify as “two or more races,” but I would suspect that only a minority of that group claims Native Hawaiian heritage.
Hey! I may be a dipstick, and I may be on a message board, but, uh, what was the first thing again?
Keep in mind, there is no history of a written language in Hawaii to save. Writing was introduced by Protestant Missionaries.
The US school curriculum is pretty busy and full and most students might prefer a useful language over a functionally dead one.
Is there a push by Hawaiian Nationalist to revive the language?
The Hawai’ian government is an arm of the US government. The US government is the entity that took Hawai’i frmo the Hawai’ians. (More or less.) Their pure self-interest is to see the Hawai’ian language and people be relegated to entertainment for tourists. They have a strong interest in not examining their lack of support for the language too closely, as with all of the Native American languages.
My understanding is that Hawai’ian is still the main language of Ni’ihau, as Irish is in the Gaeltachtaí.
Ok Yesh true