Ask the Author: Mark Troy
Answered Questions (4)
Mark Troy
Hi Lis.
Thank you for the question. The thing that looks like a backward apostrophe in Hawai‘i is called an okina. Okina is a consonant in the Hawaiian alphabet that doesn’t appear in the English alphabet. Linguists refer to it as a glottal stop. It’s a part of many African, Asian, and Polynesian languages. If you place your fingers on your throat and say Oh Oh, you will feel your glottis, a part of your vocal chords, contract. That’s the okina sound. It’s also been described as a very light cough. It might take a practiced ear to hear it. When you see it in a word, it means the the vowel that follows is a new syllable. Thus, Hawai‘i is a three syllable word.
When the US annexed Hawai‘i, the US Postal Service decided that, because the okina was not a part of English, they would drop it from Hawaiian place names. The government also tried to suppress the Hawaiian language by not allowing it to be taught in schools and by discouraging its use in business. As a result, the okina disappeared. In the early seventies, when tourism picked up in the islands, newcomers had trouble learning Hawaiian place names because the street signs did not have okinas. Hawaiians also discovered that only a few hundred people remained who could speak the language, so the Department of Education and the University began developing programs to teach the language. This led to the return of the okina in the spelling of Hawaiian words. The government went back to using the okina in place names.
Another example is the name for the musical unstrument known in Hawai‘i as ‘ukulele but outside of Hawai‘i as ukulele. The spelling makes a big difference. In Hawaiian, with the okina, the name means “jumping flea,” Without the okina, it means “take on a debt.”
I know that’s a long-winded answer, but it hope it helps. Thank you again for asking.
Thank you for the question. The thing that looks like a backward apostrophe in Hawai‘i is called an okina. Okina is a consonant in the Hawaiian alphabet that doesn’t appear in the English alphabet. Linguists refer to it as a glottal stop. It’s a part of many African, Asian, and Polynesian languages. If you place your fingers on your throat and say Oh Oh, you will feel your glottis, a part of your vocal chords, contract. That’s the okina sound. It’s also been described as a very light cough. It might take a practiced ear to hear it. When you see it in a word, it means the the vowel that follows is a new syllable. Thus, Hawai‘i is a three syllable word.
When the US annexed Hawai‘i, the US Postal Service decided that, because the okina was not a part of English, they would drop it from Hawaiian place names. The government also tried to suppress the Hawaiian language by not allowing it to be taught in schools and by discouraging its use in business. As a result, the okina disappeared. In the early seventies, when tourism picked up in the islands, newcomers had trouble learning Hawaiian place names because the street signs did not have okinas. Hawaiians also discovered that only a few hundred people remained who could speak the language, so the Department of Education and the University began developing programs to teach the language. This led to the return of the okina in the spelling of Hawaiian words. The government went back to using the okina in place names.
Another example is the name for the musical unstrument known in Hawai‘i as ‘ukulele but outside of Hawai‘i as ukulele. The spelling makes a big difference. In Hawaiian, with the okina, the name means “jumping flea,” Without the okina, it means “take on a debt.”
I know that’s a long-winded answer, but it hope it helps. Thank you again for asking.
Mark Troy
To quote the late, great Ken Kesey, "Don't write what you know. What you know is boring. Write what you don't know." You have to expand your limits, take risks and get out of your comfort zone. You'll learn as you write. That drive to learn will fuel your writing and give it passion and excitement.
Mark Troy
I am currently at work on a story about a cold case from World War II. It features Ava Rome, the detective in The Splintered Paddle. Ava is approached by an elderly friend and asked to find out how his best friend died. His best friend was a Japanese American who went to Japan to become a Buddhist priest. He returned to Honolulu with his bride on the eve of Pearl Harbor. He was rounded up with other Japanese Community leaders and sent to a concentration camp. He was killed in the camp while, according to authorities, trying to escape. I'm enjoying the historical research required for this book.
Mark Troy
The idea for The Splintered Paddle came from the movie Cape Fear with Gregory Peck, Polly Bergen, and Robert Mitchum. I was fascinated by Max Cady, the villain played by Mitchum, and decided I wanted to write a villain like Cady. The movie, by the way, is based on a novel, The Executioner, by John D. MacDonald, one of my favorite authors. I read the book, saw the updated movie with DeNiro as Cady. From those sources came my ideas for my villain, Norman Traxler.
About Goodreads Q&A
Ask and answer questions about books!
You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.
See Featured Authors Answering Questions
Learn more
Sep 16, 2023 11:12PM · flag