By Burl Burlingame
Star-BulletinAin't no big thing, brah, unless you're opening a multimillion-dollar convention center that is supposed to reflect a Hawaiian sense of place. In which case that little sliver of punctuation in the word "Hawai‘i" really does matter. Virtually all the signs at the Hawai‘i Convention Center -- the large neon light sign at the corner of Kalakaua and Kapiolani, directional signs on the grounds and room names -- use an apostrophe instead of an ‘okina.
Convention Center authorities are aware of the problem and are determining whether it needs to be fixed.
Project executive director Alan Hayashi says the problem came up about a month ago and is being researched.
"Right now we're taking the position that it's not unacceptable," Hayashi said.
Bank of Hawaii's Alton Kuioka, Convention Center chairman, said he noticed the apostrophe at the center dedication last week.
"I was told they're looking into it," Kuioka said.
"It's not just the big signs, but the room names as well."
Convention Center’s Glottal Goof
The ‘okina, according to Albert Schutz's "A Pocket Guide to the Hawaiian Language," indicates a glottal stop to help in pronunciation of the Hawaiian language.
It "isn't written with one of the usual letters of the Roman alphabet, but with a backward apostrophe" or, in other words, a single open quote mark, Schultz's guide says.
"The ball is on the bottom, like the number six," said Puakea Noglemeier, assistant professor of Hawaiian language at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
"It indicates a glottal stop, and it's universally recognized among linguists as the proper symbol. It's a pronunciation aid."
"The ‘okina is actually a kind of consonant, so using it wrongly can change the whole meaning of the word," said Kalani Akana, head of the Hawaiian-language study group ‘Ahahui ‘Olelo Hawai‘i.
The Mary Pukui and Samuel Elbert "Hawaiian Dictionary" also shows the ‘okina as a backward apostrophe.
By Ken Sakamoto, Star-Bulletin
The apostrophe instead of the ‘okina
shows up on small signs, too.
By Ken Sakamoto, Star-Bulletin
"We're checking on it to make sure if it's correct. If it's wrong, it'll be fixed," said center head architect Ty Sutton.
Center officials had no estimate of what it would cost to fix the signs.
Work on the project's graphics and signs is shared between two architecture firms: Wimberly, Allison, Tong and Goo of Honolulu and Loschkey, Marquandt and Nesholm of Seattle.
"The work is about 50-50 between the two firms," said Jeff MacNeill of Wimberly, Allison, Tong and Goo.
Noglemeier said, "I'm never surprised at the (public) spellings of Hawaiian words, just vexed. Like street signs. They're such a part of everyday life and often they're wrong. People drive down 'key-now' street and it's properly Kina‘u, which is a shame because it's a chiefly name.
"Still, I'm glad they're making the effort at the Convention Center, and better yet if they decide to fix it. I'd rather see an apostrophe than nothing at all."
