Da Kine

Ever observant, my parents asked what adding "-kine" in my previous blog post meant.

Because I am incapable of explaining it myself, here is what Wikipedia has to say (I was pretty close, just not articulate enough):

"Da kine" is a word in Hawaiian Pidgin, derived from "the kind", that usually functions grammatically as a placeholder name (compare to English "whatsit" and "whatchamacallit"), but can also take the role of a verb, adjective, or adverb. Unlike other placeholder names in English, however, which usually refer specifically to a device (e.g. "gizmo" or "widget"), person (e.g. "so-and-so"), or place (e.g. "Anytown, USA"), "da kine" is general in usage and could refer to anything from a person to an abstract concept. It can be used to refer to something nonspecific, or given enough context (especially when used in conversation between native speakers of the dialect, see Pragmatics) to something very specific. As such, it appears to be unique among English dialects, at least in its centrality to everyday speech.

"Da kine" is probably the most identifying characteristic of spoken Pidgin. The humorous illustrated dictionary Pidgin to Da Max defines "da kine" as:

DA KINE (da KINE) Da kine is the keystone of pidgin. You can use it anywhere, anytime, anyhow. Very convenient. What would we do without DA KINE? "Ey, I no can da kine if you no like da kine, too!"

Trever Cralle's Surfin'Ary lists da kine as "the word you use when you don't use the word."

It also happens to be one of the most frustratingly difficult aspects of Pidgin for non-native speakers to understand. While reports that native speakers of Pidgin can be unforgiving of amateurs may exaggerate, some Hawaiians get a certain pleasure from using the word to non-native speakers.

According to the article Going Native on Oahu by Steve Barth, "[da kine] can mean virtually anything, the salad dressing, a phone number, your uncle Lewellyn. It doesn't strictly even have to be a thing. It doesn't matter how obscure the reference either. A kamaaina will always intuitively know what you mean." While such a claim is often made, in practice it should be remembered that "da kine" is used as shorthand when it is likely the listener will understand what is meant from context (or a combination of context and body language), so that this type of claim is not necessarily as amazing as it might first seem.

Kama'aina means local, btw.

Stay tuned for a picture of Manapua, wildlife news, and shockingly shocking rich point I uncovered yesterday (not-so-shocking hint: it has to do with food.).

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