Is the 50th state spelled Hawaii or Hawai'i?

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saraimay75

The proper Hawaiian way would be Hawai'i. The apostrophe is called an Okina. It a Glottal stop that shortens the sound of letter before it. Therefore the i is a short sound and there is a brief pause.

Here is a better explanation.

The `okina indicates a break in the breath, as in "Oh-oh!" The `okina is considered a consonant. Just as you would never drop essential consonants in your spelling (ear for dear, for example), do not drop the `okina. It is well-depicted with a " ` ", which precedes vowels with `okina:`a, `e, `i, `o,` u.

born&raised: maui_gurl

it's spelled both ways. in hawaiian that thing you guys call an apostrophe is actually called an okina and the proper way would be to spell it hawai'i. the correct pronounciation for hawai'i is like ha-vai-i.

spellings for the islands would be:

hawai'i
maui
moloka'i
lana'i
kaho'olawe
o'ahu
kaua'i
ni'ihau

take care and alooooooha!!

Beckee

Most properly, it would be spelled with the okina, but an apostrophe does not equal an okina. If you rotated an old-fashioned apostrophe about 180 degrees it would look like an okina. Sometimes, I've been known to use an opening single quote in certain typefaces.

The okina helps people pronounce the name properly: Hah-VAI-ee. The okina shows there's a glottal stop between the vowels. For example, Kaaawa (a town near where they film "LOST") has three separate "ah" sounds in the middle. Using an apostrophe as an okina, it would be written Ka'a'awa.

Here's the problem with using an okina in a limited typeface on the internet (e.g. Yahoo! Answers): it is not proper to use the okina when you leave out the other diacritical. The macron or kahako over some vowels in Olelo Hawaii indicates that the vowel is held slightly longer than other syllables. Since a macron is really difficult to produce on the internet, leaving out all the diacriticals is preferable to leaving out kahako and substituting apostrophes for okina (Hawaiian nouns do not have a separate form for plural).

By the way, I've been leaving out the okina before the 'o' in okina, all the way through this message.

And a shoutout to my homie with the names of the islands, but the pronunciation of "Molokai" is mucho controversial, especially on Molokai. If you believe Molokai means "Barren Sea" or "Gathering Sea", there's no okina.

Mojo

Hawai'i is the spelling for the pronunciation in the Hawaiian language. It is said (Ha-Va-E) in Hawaiian.

Hawaii is probably how it is spelled in general term because in English there is never an apostrophe in these types of words.

kiniguy

The correct spelling is Hawai`i, but because most people are unaware of this, and because there aren't many who'll correct them, the name just gets spelled Hawaii.

The little reverse apostrophe between the two i's is called an "okina". Technically , it's known as a glottal stop ... you know, the pause when you say "oh-oh."

So, the correct pronunciation is hah why` ee [stress the ending ee sound a bit]

That okina is very important in the Hawaiian language, because it changes the entire meaning of the word. Here's an example:
The island of Lana`i is spelled Lana`i not Lanai.
Lana`i = a hump as in humpback whale
lanai = means a porch.

Pu`u O`o is the volcanic vent on the Big Island that is putting out a lot of lava right now
Pu`u = means a hill ... more or less
O`o = an extinct Hawaiian endemic bird.

Geez, probably told you more than you wanted to know.

Aloha a hui hou

stephbbear

In Hawaiian-language newspapers published from 1834â€“1948, the spelling Hawaii was used. However, in texts written mainly for Hawaiian-language pedagogy, especially since 1950, the modern Hawaiian-language spelling used is HawaiÊ»i, with an okina written between the final two vowels. The modern spelling is pushed mainly by teachers of Hawaiian language at the University of Hawaii. However, traditional native speakers of Hawaiian generally never use okinas nor kahakos in their own writing.

linda

Hawaii is how it's spelled in English.
Hawai'i is how it's spelled in Hawaiian.

Many newspapers in Hawaii spell it how it's spelled in the Hawaiian language. For more info about the Hawaiian language, see here:

http://www.to-hawaii.com/hawaiian-language.php

coiky

Hawaii, is the former, really is Hawai'i the correct.

ShinyGanondorf

Good question. I think it's officially Hawaii (but may be Hawai'i for the locals).

ProudArmyWife!

It's spelled Hawaii, but in the hawaiian language it's spelled Hawai'i...and it's not an apostraphe it's an `okina!

â™¥HEARTS 808â™¥ TROPICAL BABEâ™¥

The apostrophe (okina) is in place for proper pronunciation...Hawai'i, in the Hawai'ian language the 'W' is pronounced as a 'V' but it can be written either way with the okina or without...

ash.wri

maybe both? because i know a LOT of the city names in hawaii have ' in in it.

and that guy who said the 50th state is wyoming b/c of alphabetical order....HAHA funny stuff.

Walid Q

in Hawaii they spell it like Hawai'i because its there way of showing ppl the accents

so it actually means Hawaieeeeeee get? the last "i" it long.

i hope this helps you.