Havaii

Havaii is one of a half dozen or so variant spellings of Hawaii that can be found across all three points of Polynesia. Havaii or Havai'i refers to the ancient name for Raiatea, in what is now known as French Polynesia. Common to all monarchial systems, island names changed by royal order or common assent, according to historic events. Other variants include Savai'i, Avaiki and Hawaiki, with the names attaining a political as well as cultural significance in postcolonial times.

Usage

Like Hawai'i, Havai'i spelled with an apostrophe recognizes local accepted pronunciation and spelling. Language workers also know the apostrophe is actually reversed, a glottal stop, signifying a verbal chop between vowels. Few web pages recognize this special character, with Microsoft releasing a Maori character font in 2003, although it does not address the glottal stop used by Maori outside of Aotearoa, New Zealand. Maori in Avaiki, Cook Islands, and in Rapanui, Easter Island; Maohi in Tahiti and other parts of French Polynesia; and Maoli in the islands of Hawai'i all treat consonants differently. Hawai'i, for example, originates centuries before in Savai'i, the big island of Samoa.

References

* Majesty King David Kalakaua (1888), "The Legends and Myths of Hawaii", Tuttle Co. Inc. 1888, 1972.