Journalism Watchdogs
ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi
Just Two Steps: 1. Paste Your Text. 2. Release the Hound.
Our Journalism Watchdog Poni is a specialist in ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi, on high alert for spotting technical errors when people are using the Hawaiian language. She will help you to incorporate proper diacritical markings. Just paste your draft story text into the box below and select "Release the Hound" to learn from Poni's suggestions.
Meet Your Watchdog:
The Hawaiian language, ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi, is the indigenous language of Hawaiʻi. Poni will help to make sure that any words that appear from the Hawaiian language in your texts have the appropriate diacritical marks by teaching you about the language and the markings.
The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa — the founding sponsor of the Journalism Watchdogs — is a Native Hawaiian Place of Learning intent on re-normalizing the use of ‘ōlelo Hawai‘i in the state. ‘Ōlelo Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian language) is one of the two official state languages in Hawaiʻi (English is the other).
Hawaiʻi is one of only three states to support multiple official languages (with Alaska and South Dakota; four American territories — American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, and Puerto Rico — also have at least one official language beyond English). As an official state language, use of ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi is encouraged and supported in all of our UH classrooms and school-related activities.
The particulars of that language renormalizing process system-wide still are under development. But we have decided to be a leader in the pragmatics of this initiative, and, in turn, the School of Communication and Information adopted a formal policy in May 2024 that requires the proper use of the language’s two diacritical marks in all public-facing communication, including all published journalistic, marketing, and public relations content shared with the broader community.
Those key diacritical marks are the ‘okina, which looks like a backward and flipped apostrophe (‘ vs. ’) and indicates a glottal stop, and the kahakō, which looks like a long line over a vowel and indicates a long-vowel pronunciation. These marks are not punctuation. They are the representation of the intended character and sound, and leaving them out, technically, indicates a misspelling or misuse.
While fluency in ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi is not a requirement at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa for graduation, cultural competency is an underlying subtext of the university’s General Education curriculum. In turn, SCI students should not only be aware that ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi is an official language of the state. When using ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi, they should model appropriate use, including the proper inclusion of the diacritics.
This ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi-focused Journalism Watchdog tool called "Poni" is a guide intended to help. The Watchdog will assist users in recognizing when an ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi word is being used in a text and how that word should be marked with diacritics. This AI Watchdog is good at this task but not infallible. So please take her recommendations and use those to develop your own understanding of how the ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi text is being used, in your particular case, and therefore how it should be punctuated.
After consulting with our Journalism Watchdog, here are other sources that also can be used to confirm and develop deeper understandings of ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi in practice:
"Students gathered for a beach clean-up at Wāwāmalu, or Sandy’s beach."
Such a technical editing process is common in all academic fields already. For example, in Journalism, this type of editing process is akin to using the Associated Press Stylebook to ensure professional alignment in written style with other journalists and then adding a “local style,” which most newsrooms do, for common words and terms used in a particular geographic area that are not addressed in the stylebook.
Some common words we use, for example, with the diacritical marks included, are:
ʻāina, Hawaiʻi, Hale Hālāwai, kamaʻāina, Liliʻuokalani, Mānoa, Mōʻiliʻili, Oʻahu, ʻŌlelo, Waikīkī, etc.
Some common words we use, for example, that do not include diacritical marks, are:
aloha, Hawaiian, Honolulu, hula, Lahaina, kapu, kuleana, lei, mahalo, mele, menehune, moana, etc.
These most-common uses can be memorized, but when in any doubt, check with the official sources above and, if needed, consult further with a fluent speaker of ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi.
Additional resources include:
Hawaiʻi is one of only three states to support multiple official languages (with Alaska and South Dakota; four American territories — American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, and Puerto Rico — also have at least one official language beyond English). As an official state language, use of ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi is encouraged and supported in all of our UH classrooms and school-related activities.
The particulars of that language renormalizing process system-wide still are under development. But we have decided to be a leader in the pragmatics of this initiative, and, in turn, the School of Communication and Information adopted a formal policy in May 2024 that requires the proper use of the language’s two diacritical marks in all public-facing communication, including all published journalistic, marketing, and public relations content shared with the broader community.
Those key diacritical marks are the ‘okina, which looks like a backward and flipped apostrophe (‘ vs. ’) and indicates a glottal stop, and the kahakō, which looks like a long line over a vowel and indicates a long-vowel pronunciation. These marks are not punctuation. They are the representation of the intended character and sound, and leaving them out, technically, indicates a misspelling or misuse.
While fluency in ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi is not a requirement at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa for graduation, cultural competency is an underlying subtext of the university’s General Education curriculum. In turn, SCI students should not only be aware that ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi is an official language of the state. When using ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi, they should model appropriate use, including the proper inclusion of the diacritics.
This ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi-focused Journalism Watchdog tool called "Poni" is a guide intended to help. The Watchdog will assist users in recognizing when an ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi word is being used in a text and how that word should be marked with diacritics. This AI Watchdog is good at this task but not infallible. So please take her recommendations and use those to develop your own understanding of how the ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi text is being used, in your particular case, and therefore how it should be punctuated.
After consulting with our Journalism Watchdog, here are other sources that also can be used to confirm and develop deeper understandings of ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi in practice:
- Wehewehe Wikiwiki (from UH Hilo)
- Nā Puke Wehewehe ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi (check all of the toggles on, for the most feedback)
- Ulukau (specifically for place names)
"Students gathered for a beach clean-up at Wāwāmalu, or Sandy’s beach."
Such a technical editing process is common in all academic fields already. For example, in Journalism, this type of editing process is akin to using the Associated Press Stylebook to ensure professional alignment in written style with other journalists and then adding a “local style,” which most newsrooms do, for common words and terms used in a particular geographic area that are not addressed in the stylebook.
Some common words we use, for example, with the diacritical marks included, are:
ʻāina, Hawaiʻi, Hale Hālāwai, kamaʻāina, Liliʻuokalani, Mānoa, Mōʻiliʻili, Oʻahu, ʻŌlelo, Waikīkī, etc.
Some common words we use, for example, that do not include diacritical marks, are:
aloha, Hawaiian, Honolulu, hula, Lahaina, kapu, kuleana, lei, mahalo, mele, menehune, moana, etc.
These most-common uses can be memorized, but when in any doubt, check with the official sources above and, if needed, consult further with a fluent speaker of ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi.
Additional resources include:
- University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Hawaiian Language Considerations