Local meaning Hawaiian

[Laurence Horn]

At 2:05 AM -0800 3/26/05, Benjamin Barrett wrote:
>?In an article in the Seattle Sun (March 9 to April 6 2005, Vol. 9, Iss. No.
>3) entitled "What's Cookin'", the word "local" is used twice to mean
>Hawaiian. (I also should note that the spelling "Hawai'ian" is used, backed
>up by 38,700 hits on Google, but is this pronunciation really used?)
>
>"Some of the more authentically Hawai'ian dishes on Clara's menu are grilled
>short ribs (market price) which in the islands is known as Korean kolbi
>[sic: kalbi]; and chicken cutlet ($10), a boneless, breaded chicken called
>katsu in Hawai'i. Locals also eat pork prepared in the same way known as
>tonkatsu."
>
>The only sensible interpretation of "local" that I can see is "Hawaaiian
>person" rather than a Seattle local.
>
>It appears again in the same article, this time as an adjective:
>
>"Clara's offers no poi or local favorite spam musobi [sic: musubi] either."

I wouldn't say "local" *means* Hawaiian [I'll delete the glottal
stop, since that's not relevant to this issue], any more than that
"I" *means* 'Larry Horn' when I use it, or 'Benjamin Barrett' when
you do.  It's a deictic term that picks up its reference from the
context.  This has been discussed by semanticists--if Geoff Nunberg
is lurking, he'd be the one to provide detailed references--but
consider "When I go to Seattle, I always visit the local sushi
joints", where "local" designates 'of Seattle'.  Of course, what's
doing the envelope-pushing in your example is that the context for
assigning the reference of "local(s)" is the "in Hawaii" in the
previous sentence.  But I'd wager it's only because the writer thinks
s/he's fixed "Hawaii" as the relevant context that "local" can refer
to "Hawaiian".

larry