536 pp. May 1995
paper, ISBN 978-0-8248-1637-7, $31.00
|
Keywords: |
language
linguistics
Hawaii
Pacific
history |
|
The Voices of Eden: A History of Hawaiian Language Studies
by Albert J. Schutz
"An extraordinary scholarly work; it is stunning in its breadth and depth and will serve as the model for similar studies of other languages. Nothing else of any significance has been published on this subject. Schutz's work is awesome in its scope, seeming to include everything that has ever been written about the Hawaiian language. At the same time it is extremely thorough in its treatment of each topic." -Hawaiian Journal of History
"The Voices of Eden is a much needed contribution to the study of the Hawaiian language. It documents the endeavors in describing the language, its appearance in print, and evolving attitudes toward its role in society. It painstakingly reviews all the Hawaiian language studies, from the earliest wordlists and grammars, through the written materials produced by the missionaries, and then on to present-day efforts to study and perpetuate the language." --Oceanic Linguistics 35 (1996)
How did outsiders first become aware of the Hawaiian language? How were they and Hawaiians able to understand each other? How was Hawaiian recorded and analyzed in the early decades after European contact Albert J. Schutz provides illuminating answers to these and other questions about Hawai`i's postcontact linguistic past. The result is a highly readable and accessible account of Hawaiian history from a language-centered point of view. The author also provides readers with an exhaustive analysis and critique of nearly every work ever written about Hawaiian.
|
