Hawaiian language online About Hawaiian diacritical marks The
Hawaiian language uses two diacritical markings. The okina is a
glottal stop, similar to the sound between the syllables of "oh-
oh." In print, the correct mark for designating an okina is the
single open quote mark. The kahako is a macron, which lengthens
and adds stress to the marked vowel. For example 'pau,'
depending on placement of okina and kahako, can mean completed,
smudge, moist or skirt. The State of Hawaii and University of
Hawaii strongly encourage use of Hawaiian diacritical markings.
(See UH Style Guide.) Technology, however, is still catching up.
Choose the level of Hawaiian font display Depending on your
browser, operating system and installed fonts, you may be able
to display Hawaiian diacritical marks. If not, they will
generally appear as boxes or question marks. In that case, you
can choose either to use a foot mark (') as an approximation of
the okina or display text without diacritical marks. Your
setting selection will be main