Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Hawaii-related articles

The following is the English Wikipedia's style guide for editing Hawaii-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 Hawaii-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 Hawaii, as well as how to treat specific subjects.

Orthography and formatting

Orthography refers to the correct spelling of a language. The Hawaiian orthography has two characteristic features: the kahakō (macron), a vowel diacritic, and the ʻokina (glottal stop), a consonant letter.

Kahakō is the Hawaiian term for the macron, a short line added above a vowel letter to indicate that it represents a long vowel:

Ā ā, Ē ē, Ī ī, Ō ō, Ū ū.

The ʻokina is a letter of the Hawaiian alphabet that looks more or less like a turned apostrophe and indicates the glottal stop, which is a consonant in the Hawaiian language:

ʻ

An apostrophe or quotation mark should never be used in place of the ʻokina, even if one is used in the source. The official Unicode character U+02BB ʻ MODIFIER LETTER TURNED COMMA should be used instead. In article titles, the Unicode character needs to be used directly, but for article text the {{okina}} template was created for this purpose. The template should be used in text to make the ʻokina visibly distinct to other editors from punctuation marks. The kahakō does not have a template but ā, ē, ī, ō, ū are available in the Latin section of the list of symbols in the editing box.

Use of special characters

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

In general, follow current Hawaiian orthography for the use of kahakō and ʻokina in Hawaiian words, names and phrases in the body of articles dealing with Hawaii. The online Hawaiian Dictionary or a similar reference work should be used as a guide for proper spelling. The {{Hawaiian Dictionaries}} template is useful for citations.

When using the kahakō and ʻokina for a word that has both these marks, in either article content or a title, it is recommended to use both of the characters or neither of them. This is to avoid a misuse of the letters that would change the meaning of the word. As with any letter or character, omission of the kahakō or ʻokina in Hawaiian words alters the pronunciation and can change the meaning of the word. It may alter a geographical location: for example, Kalaʻe and Ka Lae are different places. Lānaʻi is an island (and has some other meanings), while lānai is a covered porch around a house, and lanai means 'stiff-backed'.

The English adjective Hawaiian is spelled without an ʻokina.

Please see the sections below for more guidance on a few special cases or specific topics.

Italics

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

{{lang|haw|HAWAIIAN TEXT HERE}}

Loanwords and -phrases that have common use in English, such as "hula", are not italicized, except for consistency in linguistic material, or where indicating an original native meaning from which the sense in English has diverged. 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 {{infobox book}}, {{infobox film}} and {{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 general guidance on naming. The Wikipedia naming conventions page provides more specific guidance. This page provides guidance for where the practice for Hawaiian articles differs from that of these universal Wikipedia conventions.

For place names, 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. When the common name is of Hawaiian origin, follow the correct orthography as outlined in the Hawaiʻi State Board on Geographic Names, even if common usage has a different orthographic style. For example, Lānaʻi rather than Lanai. While Hawaiian names are often spelled without ʻokina and kahakō, this is understood as a shorthand of convenience rather than as a distinct English name. It is standard Wikipedia practice to include rather than suppress diacritics and the like when they belong in a name.

When the common name is not a Hawaiian name, use the {{langx}} template to list the Hawaiian name in the lead, and include the Hawaiian name in the infobox as appropriate. However, do not use the lang and langx templates to differentiate the orthography unless the difference in spelling is an explicit change acknowledged in official sources, such as the State of Hawaii instead of the State of Hawaiʻi. For example,

Pearl Harbor (Hawaiian: Puʻuloa) is... Y

Hawaii (Hawaiian: Hawaiʻi) is an island state... Y

Lanai (Hawaiian: Lānaʻi) is... N

You should create redirects from common alternative names, as well as from spellings without ʻokina and kahakō. This makes the article 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, 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 use an ʻokina, as it is not a Hawaiian 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.

Either the spelling "Hawaii" or "Hawaiʻi" can be appropriate. The US State and the archipelago are usually spelled "Hawaii". The ʻokina is often used when talking about the ancient culture, the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi, or the island of Hawaiʻi.

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 additional information. On the other hand, it would not be clear which parent was his father and which his mother, since they have 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, use the kahakō and ʻokina. An 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.