Hawaii § 1-13.5 - Hawaiian language; spelling.

§ 1-13.5. Hawaiian language; spelling.

(a) Kahakō and `okina may be used in the spelling of words or terms in the Hawaiian language in documents prepared by or for state or county agencies or officials. (b) Effective July 1, 2023, any letterhead prepared by or for state or county agencies or officials that contains names or words in the Hawaiian language shall use and spell the names and words consistently; provided that revisions to conform any letterhead existing before July 1, 2023, to the requirements of this section may be implemented when the letterhead requires replacement, reprinting, or otherwise requires revision. (c) Any rule, order, policy, or other act, official or otherwise, that prohibits or discourages the use of kahakō and `okina or the consistent use and spelling of Hawaiian names and words, as provided by this section, shall be void. (d) For the purposes of consistency, any Hawaiian names and words used in letterhead subject to subsection (b) shall be printed in conformance with: (1) "Hawaiian Dictionary: Hawaiian-English, English-Hawaiian", by Mary Kawena Pukui and Samuel H. Elbert, University of Hawai`i Press, copyright 1986; (2) Any other commonly used Hawaiian-language dictionary; (3) "Place Names of Hawaii", by Mary Kawena Pukui, Samuel H. Elbert, and Esther T. Mookini, University of Hawai`i Press, copyright 1974, as revised and expanded in 1976; (4) Consultations from members of the Hawaiian-speaking language community, including native speakers; (5) Consultations with the Hawaii board on geographic names for the names and spellings of geographic features in Hawaii; or (6) The Hawaiian newspaper collection Nupepa Olelo Hawaii. (e) Violation of this section shall not invalidate any document or render it unenforceable and shall provide no cause of action against the State; any county; or any state or county agency, official, or employee. (f) If, in any document covered by this section, there is a conflict between words used by native speakers and second language speakers, two versions of the document may be made available to the public upon request if the affected department has sufficient resources. (g) For the purpose of this section, "native speakers" means speakers of the Hawaiian language who come from an unbroken lineage of primary speakers of the Hawaiian language. [L 1992, c 169, §2; am L 2022, c 170, §2] Law Journals and Reviews "Officially" What? The Legal Rights and Implications of `Ōlelo Hawai`i. 30 UH L. Rev. 243. Previous Vol01_Ch0001-0042F Next