By Lilinoe Andrews
Specialist, University of Hawaiʻi – West Oʻahu
ALT Codes For Foreign Language Letters With Accents
- For ALT codes for letters with accents or diacritical marks that are used in other foreign languages, visit ALT Codes for Latin Letters with Accents or Diacritical Marks used in Foreign Languages. For the the complete list of the first 256 Windows ALT Codes, visit Windows ALT Codes for.
- Fundamental » All languages » English » All topics » Communication » Language » Writing » Orthography » Letters, symbols, and punctuation » Diacritical marks. English names of diacritical marks.
Hawaiian diacritical marks comprise just two symbols: the glottal stop (ʻokina) and the macron (kahakō). Are they important? Worth the extra time it takes to insert them into your text? That depends, so let’s discuss.
Simply speaking, the two diacritical marks are a way to show how a Hawaiian word should sound to a person unfamiliar with a particular word.
More importantly, those two little marks are keeping the Hawaiian language alive.
Section: Internet Tutorial: International Letters Fabulous Code Chart for International Letters (Diacritical Marks) for PC and MAC (AlT & HTML) Many special characters from Latin-based languages can be entered on an English keyboard by entering ALT codes via the keyboard's numeric pad.
In 1826, a committee of seven missionary gentlemen thought diacriticals were important enough to wrestle mightily with them in the challenge to put the once oral language to print. They decided, after doing similar work in Tahiti, that Hawaiian should have just twelve letters. The ʻokina appeared in Andrews’ dictionary in 1865 and the kahakō in Judd, Pukui, and Stokes’ dictionary and grammar in 1945.
In 1978 the ʻAhahui ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi published “Recommendations and Comments on the Hawaiian Spelling Project” and standardized the use of the ʻokina and kahakō.
Not only do the ʻokina and kahakō change the sound of a word, they often end up changing its meaning. For example, these are separate words:
List Of Diacritical Marks And Meanings
Dictionary guide word examples for third grade. pau=completed
paʻu=soot
paʻū=damp, soaked
pāʻū=woman’s skirt
Diacriticals are important to keeping Hawaiian (the fastest growing native language in the U.S.) alive because they help expand the lexicon and give the language the subtlety that fluent speakers know by heart. And they are helpful for those unfamiliar with the language, like little cheat marks to keep you from getting your pāʻū all paʻū. Your kumu hula would not be happy.
There are a few contexts where diacriticalizing is not seen. For example, in the Niʻihau church where the Hawaiian Bible does not include diacriticals, readings are done exactly as they appear, but all other speaking, discussion, and conversation reverts back to the Niʻihau dialect which does include the kahako and ʻokina. Another example is in proper names: if a family (see one of the dictionary authors above) or a company does not use diacriticals, we shouldn’t add them in. This, and the other conventions mentioned here, apply even when using proper names in completely Hawaiian text.
List Of English Words With Diacritical Marks
The ʻokina is not an apostrophe. An apostrophe is shaped like a number nine with a tail that curls left. An ‘okina is like a number six whose top slants to the right. And yes, it is perfectly acceptible to use an ʻokina in close proximity to an apostrophe, as in: Hawaiʻi’s.
Typing Hawaiian is easy thanks to the early efforts of Keola Donaghy with Apple and Microsoft. First, make sure the Hawaiian keyboard is selected on your computer. For the ʻokina: PC and Mac users, simply press the apostrophe key. (For a regular apostrophe: PC users press the right-alt key; for Mac users hold the option key down and press the apostrophe/closed quotes key.)
For the kahakō to display above a vowel: PC users press the right-alt key and type a vowel; Mac users hold the option key down and type a vowel. (For upper case vowels, hold the shift key down along with the keystrokes just listed.)
Most of the fonts we use on both PCs and Macs are of the Unicode variety which means they display the same diacriticals you type no matter what kind of computer they are eventually viewed on or printed from. Quicken basic 2007 download.
The Hawai‘i Tourism Authority has also developed an AutoCorrect Tool that can be installed for use with Microsoft Word. When Hawaiian words with proper diacritical marks are added to the dictionary, the system will automatically add the ‘okina and kahakō to common Hawaiian words. It may be downloaded from https://www.hawaiitourismauthority.org/what-we-do/tools-resources/maemae-tool-kit/
Tools for the correct spelling of Hawaiian words abound: wehewehe.org is quick and easy, looking up words across several dictionaries at once. Bookmark or tab it on your computer. A desk reference set should include the Elbert & Pukui dictionary, Pukui’s Place Names of Hawaiʻi, and Pukui’s ʻŌlelo Noʻeau to get more nuance on your word choice and to see how it is actually used in the language.