Readers may reach Buck through Gene Owens at 317 Braeburn Drive, Anderson SC 29621 or send e-mail to Please let Buck know what town you’re from. ![]() Clarisse Van Beauregard asked as Heidi Schwartzkopf stepped off the plane from Honolulu.Įither the "v” or the "w” sound is considered correct. "Is the correct pronunciation ‘Hawaii’ or ‘Havaii’?” Ms. Native Hawaiians would pronounce it 'Hawai-Ee or 'Havai-Ee. Oklahomans usually pronounce 'Hawaii as if it were spelled 'Hawah-ye. But since standard English fonts don’t include the okina, the apostrophe is substituted. ![]() The state constitution of Hawaii decrees: "English and Hawaiian shall be the official languages of Hawai’i.” "Hawaiian” is considered an English word, so it doesn’t take the okina. The true okina is an upside-down apostrophe, like the numeral 6 with the circle colored in. Oklahomans usually pronounce "Hawaii” as if it were spelled "Hawah-ye.” Native Hawaiians would pronounce it "Hawai-Ee” or "Havai-Ee.” The true okina is an upside-down apostrophe, like the numeral 6 with the circle colored in. A glottal stop is a sound produced by closing the opening between the vocal cords, as you do when you’re indicating "no” by saying "ah-ah” or "oops” by saying "uh-oh.” It’s a mark common to languages of the South Seas, and it indicates a glottal stop between two vowel sounds. What you see is, strictly speaking, not an apostrophe but an okina. ![]() It hasn’t changed, Jerry, but "Hawai’i” isn’t often seen in mainland spellings.
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