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I believe that when referring to the state, there is no apostrophe, but when referring to the Big Island, there is. But what do I know, I live in Denver?
hawai'i is the proper spelling. we call the apostrophe/glottal stop an 'okina. with some words it is necessary to include either the 'okina or mekona (macron or the line above a vowel) which changes both the meaning and pronunciation. take for instance ha'ole (should have a macron over the a but i don't know how to indicate that) which means "without breath or life" versus haole--any person or thing of foreign origin. you would pronounce the ha in ha'ole like hah whereas the a and o in the second word would be pronounced sort of like how.
to hawaiians the spelling matters but on a resume it wouldn't.
The okina is a modern way of spelling things being of hawaiian blood and native to the islands i respect my makua wahine(Mother) whos native tongue is Hawaiian who does not write with the okina. So i still and will always write Hawaii as such.
according to the hawaiian dictionary (pukui/elbert), the correct spelling is:
Hawai'i.
"for many years hawaiian dictionary has been the definitive and authoritative work on the hawaiian language. now this indispensable reference volume has been enlarged and completely revised. more than 3,000 new entries have been added to the hawaiian-english section bringing the total number of entries to almost 30,000, and making it the largest and most complete of any polynesian dictionary. other addititins and changes in this section include: a method of showing stress groups to facilitate pronunciation of hawaiian words with more than three syllables; indication of parts of speech; current scientific names of plants; use of metric measurements; additional reconstructions;; classical origins of loan words; and many added cross-refernces to enhance understanding of the numerous nuances of hawaiian words.
the english-hawaiian section, a complement and supplement to the hawiian-english section, contains more than 12,500 entries and can serve as an index to hidden riches in the hawaiian language. this new edition is more than a dictionary. containig folklore, poetry, and ethnology, it will benefit hawaiian studies for years to come."
"mary kawena pukui, in the course of her long career at the bishop museum, translated innumerable hawaiian legends, chants, and archival materials. among her many publications are 'olelo no'eau: hawiian proverbs and poetical sayings and the echo of our song: chants and poems of the hawaiians, co-authored with alfons l. korn.
samuel h. elbert, professor emeritus of pacific languages and linguistics, has been the resident authority on polynesian languages at the university of hawai'i for more than thirty-five years. he is the author of spoken hawaiian, puluwat dictionary, dictionary of the langusges of rennell and bellona, and other books on polynesian languages. dr. elbert and mrs. pukui are the co-authors of hawaiian grammar, the definitive grammar of the hawiian language, and, with esther t. mo'okini, the pocket hawaiian dictionary, with a concise hawaiian grammar, and place names of hawai'i."
from the hawaiian dictionary hawiian-english english-hawaii revised and elnlarged edition, mary kawena pukui and samuel h. elbert, university of hawai'i press 1986.
Last edited by kani-lehua; 01-29-2008 at 01:15 PM..
Here's a link to several online Hawaiian dictionaries at Ulukau that might be somewhat helpful.
Cheers,
Jonah K
good link. i've used them before. it shows "hawai'i" as the proper spelling.
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