Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Hawaii-related articles

The following is the English Wikipedia's style guide for editing Hawaiʻi-related articles, including the State of Hawaii as well as the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi and its ancient history. This subpage gives the preferred method of aligning word usage and typography in Hawaiʻi-related articles to give all articles a consistent "look and feel". This subpage is the result and record of past agreements and discussions over typographical issues. This is a general reference for editors on unique aspects of word usage in Hawaiʻi, as well as how to treat specific subjects.

Orthography, Spelling and Formatting

Orthography refers to the correct spelling of a language. The Hawaiian language uses two special diacritic marks in its orthography not used in English.

The kahakō is the Hawaiian term for the macron, a small sign added to a letter to alter pronunciation or to distinguish between similar words. It is written as a raised horizontal line, which indicates a long vowel:

(Ā ā, Ē ē, Ī ī, Ō ō, Ū ū)

The ʻokina ( ʻ ) is an apostrophe-like letter indicating the glottal stop, serving as a consonant.

Discussion may be needed to determine a consensus on use.

An apostrophe should never be used in place of the ʻokina diacritic, even if it is used in the source. Unless used as a part of a formal spelling, apostrophes should be replaced with the ʻokina character (ʻ). The standard western keyboard does not have these characters. They can be copied from the above description and pasted where needed in editing. The ʻokina template was created years ago by editors to simplify using the diacritic in the body of the article: {{okina}}. It is not to be used in article titles. Use in the body of the article is acceptable but is discouraged as this creates unnecessary characters in the editing box.

Guidelines on Use of Hawaiian Diacritics (Kahakō and ʻOkina)

See § Article names, below, for use in article titles.

To ensure accuracy and cultural sensitivity in Hawaii-related articles, editors must use diacritics required by the Hawaiian language, including the kahakō (macron) and ʻokina (glottal stop), where appropriate. The online Hawaiian Dictionary or a similar reference work should be used as a guide for proper spelling and diacritic usage. The Hawaiian Dictionaries template is useful for citations. These diacritical marks are integral to Hawaiian orthography and serve not only to guide proper pronunciation but also to distinguish between words with different meanings. The omission or misuse of these diacritics can lead to significant errors in representation and meaning.

Importance of Diacritics:

• The kahakō (macron) indicates a long vowel, which can change the pronounciation and meaning of a word. For example:
  • *Kāne* [1] (n. Male, husband, male sweetheart, man, etc.) vs. *Kane* [2] (Tinea, a fungus skin disease).
• The ʻokina (glottal stop) is a consonant and affects pronunciation and meaning. For example:
  • *ʻOno* [3] (Delicious, tasty, savory; to relish, crave; deliciousness, flavor, savor) vs. *Ono* [4] (1. n. Large mackerel type fish; 2. num. Six; sixth).

Impact of Omission:

• Failing to use these diacritics can lead to misinterpretation of text and misrepresentation of Hawaiian cultural and linguistic nuances.
• Articles without proper diacritical marks fail to respect the authenticity and integrity of the Hawaiian language.

Consistency with Reliable Sources:

• Follow reliable sources that use the proper diacritics. Many Hawaiian language and cultural experts, as well as institutions such as the University of Hawaiʻi, provide authoritative references that include these marks.

Unicode Compatibility:

• Ensure technical compatibility by using Unicode-compliant characters for the kahakō (e.g., ā, ē, ī, ō, ū) and ʻokina (ʻ). This ensures accessibility and proper display across all devices.

Exceptions:

• In cases where a proper noun or widely recognized term is historically written without diacritics (e.g., *Hawaii* vs. *Hawaiʻi*), provide the accurate Hawaiian version first, followed by the anglicized version in parentheses, e.g., *Hawaiʻi* (Hawaii).

Despite previous practices of using a wikilink and a "piped link" to achieve ease of English language spelling and ease of English language pronunciation of Hawaiian words and phrases, in general, follow the orthography of use for the kahakō and ʻokina at all times possible when using Hawaiian words and phrases.

By adhering to these guidelines, Wikipedia editors uphold the accuracy, respect, and integrity of the Hawaiian language in all Hawaii-related articles.

---

Spelling in Article Titles

Article titles can be contentious. Whenever possible, the most common name should be used with the regional spelling and orthography preferred for titles and consistently used when referring to the subject in the body of the article. Sometimes, Hawaiian related articles may have titles that are not using the regional spelling and orthography. If consensus holds for spelling in the title that ignores the diacritic marks, create a redirect that does. All titles with the native orthography, in turn should have a redirect page for the normal English spelling. Spelling in the running text should be consistent with the regional spelling. Therefore, articles that have not used the diacritics in the title, will list the native language spelling as an alternative, alongside the title spelling in the lede and then repeat the alternative spelling consistently throughout the running text in the body of the article. Discussion may be needed to gain a consensus on articles where an earlier consensus has established a particular spelling in the title if the spelling in the article differs from that title.

Italics

Hawaiian words and phrases in the English Wikipedia are italicized in the running text and in the article title except for proper names. This can be done with {{lang}}, which also has benefits for text-to-speech, spell checking, and other systems:

{{lang|haw|HAWAIIAN TEXT HERE}}

Loanwords or phrases that have common use in English, such as "Hula", are also not italicized. WP:ITALICTITLE states: "Italic formatting cannot be part of the actual (stored) title of a page; adding single quotes to a page title will cause those quotes to become part of the URL, rather than affecting its appearance. A title or part of it is made to appear in italics with the use of the DISPLAYTITLE magic word or the {{Italic title}} template. In addition, certain templates, including Template:Infobox book, Template:Infobox film, and Template:Infobox album, by default italicize the titles of the pages they appear on; see the pages for those templates for details. For details, see Italics and formatting on the technical restrictions page."

Article Names

The Wikipedia policy for article names provides the general guidance namings. The Wikipedia naming conventions page provides more specific guidance.

In general, use the most common name of the subject as the title of the article, as you would find in reliable sources. For example, use Pearl Harbor rather than Puʻuloa. You can create redirects for common, alternative names. This makes it easy to find, and easy to compare information with other sources. Wikipedia disambiguation pages are also used to help the reader find the desired article if several have similar names. For example, see Waimea.

Sources

Never copy content from a source directly into an article. Close paraphrasing without in-text attribution may constitute plagiarism, and when extensive (with or without in-text attribution) may also violate Wikipedia's copyright policy, which forbids Wikipedia contributors from copying material directly from other sources. Public domain material must likewise be attributed to avoid plagiarism. If the source material bears a free copyright license that is compatible with Wikipedia's licenses, copying or closely paraphrasing it is not a copyright violation so long as the source is attributed somewhere in the article, usually at the end.

When trying to determine what is a reliable source remember that three things affect a source's reliability: the author, the publication itself and the publisher. Tertiary sources may be used but are not as strong as secondary, reliable sources. Primary sources may be used but when sourcing facts from a primary source, be careful to only mention what content is in the source with no additional editorializing, analysis or interpretation.

Hawaiian Sources

Sources must support the material clearly and directly: drawing inferences from multiple sources to advance a novel position is prohibited by the NOR policy.

Hawaiian-language sources, such as newspapers, books, journals and online references, may be used to source Hawaiian related articles when no other English source of equal quality and relevance is found. Sources sometimes have differing or conflicting information. WP:BALANCE states: "Neutrality assigns weight to viewpoints in proportion to their prominence. However, when reputable sources contradict one another and are relatively equal in prominence, describe both approaches and work for balance. This involves describing the opposing views clearly, drawing on secondary or tertiary sources that describe the disagreement from a disinterested viewpoint."

WP:RSUE states: "Citations to non-English sources are allowed. However, because this is the English-language Wikipedia, English-language sources are preferred over non-English ones, whenever English sources of equal quality and relevance are available. As with sources in English, if a dispute arises involving a citation to a non-English source, editors may request that a quotation of relevant portions of the original source be provided, either in text, in a footnote, or on the article talk page. (See Template:Request quotation.)"

Translations

When quoting Hawaiian sources, follow Wikipedia policy. "When quoting a non-English source (whether in the main text, in a footnote, or on the talk page), a translation into English should always accompany the quote. Translations published by reliable sources are preferred over translations by Wikipedians, but translations by Wikipedians are preferred over machine translations." Additionally, "If needed, ask an editor who can translate it for you. In articles, the original text is usually included with the translated text when translated by Wikipedians, and the translating editor is usually not cited. When quoting any material, whether in English or in some other language, be careful not to violate copyright; see the fair-use guideline."

Hawaiian and Hawaii

"Hawaiian" is always capitalized. Do not insert the ʻokina between the two "i" characters; "Hawaiian" not Hawaiʻian, since an English word ending indicates it is being used as an English word. When describing persons, "Hawaiian" refers to persons descended from the aboriginal peoples of Ancient Hawaiʻi. The article describing the people is Native Hawaiians, but that term can be ambiguous, and the people call themselves Kānaka Maoli. When referring to residents of the state in general, "Hawaii resident" is preferred, unless it is clear from the context that the person in question is of Hawaiian descent. Distinguishing between people who are "Hawaiian" or "Native Hawaiian" versus people who are "Hawaii residents" or "islanders" is also recommended by the AP Stylebook.

The word "Hawaii" appears in most English dictionaries, so either spelling can be appropriate. The modern US State is usually just "Hawaii". The ʻokina is often used when talking about the ancient culture, Kingdom of Hawaiʻi, or the island of Hawaiʻi in the body of the article.

Geography

A good source for geographic names is the Geographic Names Information System, a resource developed by the United States Geological Survey. Many of the island names have the special characters in them, but the major ones are likely to appear in English dictionaries, so both forms are acceptable (for example, Oahu or Oʻahu). The "Place Names of Hawaii" and "Hawaiian Place Names" databases in {{Hawaiian Dictionaries}} are also good sources.

Honolulu

Honolulu is the largest city and capital of the state of Hawaii, covering the southeastern coast of Oʻahu. The City and County of Honolulu is the governmental entity which covers the entire island of Oʻahu. There are no separate city or town governments in the entire state.

Roads

Generally names are used by local residents for roads instead of numbers. However, state highways and "Interstate" highways are also given numbers. According to highway naming guidelines, articles should be given titles of either the name of the road, or "Hawaii Route 19" for example, but just use "Route 19" in the body.

Census Data

Census Bureau policy in 2000 and earlier did not allow special characters in Hawaiian place names. Place names for the 2000 census were submitted by state officials in 1998, before the GNIS was updated to include the marks. This restriction was rescinded for the 2010 census. The United States Census Bureau attempted to have the CDP and GNIS names agree as much as possible for the 2010 census. The Hawaii Board on Geographical Names, under the Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism, has been working with USGS to use special characters in place names as appropriate.

Biography

Avoid literal translation from Hawaiian-language sources. For example, improvements could be made to the passage: "He was born, the son of Aliʻi Hoʻopuʻulani and Aliʻi Kalanianuiapui". All people are "born", and the use of "he" makes it clear he was a "son" so those words convey no information. On the other hand, it was not clear which parent was his father and mother, since both use similar titles. A better wording might be: "He was born in the late 18th century. His father was High Chief Hoʻopuʻulani and his mother was High Chiefess Kalanianuiapui".

Dates

Main page: Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Dates and numbers § Strong national ties to a topic

Although two styles of dates are allowed by the general date style guideline, the "month day, year" style is used almost exclusively within Hawaii, and by most sources (published in the islands or the US mainland). Therefore, the "month day, year" style is preferred in Hawaii-related articles.

Ancient Names

As stated above, follow the orthography of use for the kahakō and ʻokina at all times possible when using Hawaiian words and phrases. The older style of using hyphens is more popular for pre-historic figures, and may be mentioned for clarification.

Hawaiian Monarchs

In article titles for Hawaiian monarchs and members of the royal family, use the reign name (and ordinal as appropriate); e.g. Kamehameha III.

• Do not use Christian names in the article title, nor the pre-reign name. Examples:
  • Kamehameha II, not Liholiho.
  • Kalākaua, not David Kalākaua.
• Avoid "of Hawaii" in the article title; the names of royalty are mostly unique to Hawaiʻi. Example: Kamehameha I, not Kamehameha I of Hawaii. One exception is Queen Emma of Hawaii.
• Avoid the words "King" "Queen" "Prince" etc. in the title, since that can change through a person's life.
• Refer to other given names in the article lead and body.

Use redirects as appropriate for alternate names. In the body of the article, refer to the name generally used by the person at the time the event is being discussed, being careful to explain when names change, such as when Prince Lot Kapuāiwa became King Kamehameha V.