Can I publish my book in Hawaiian or Polynesian using characters called “okina” and “kahako”?
Yes, you can insert diacritical marks by utilizing the shortcut key functions built into Word. You can find detailed instructions on Kualono service’s Web site. Basic instructions are as follows: Under the “Insert” dropdown menu, open the “Symbol.” window. You can assign symbols to other keys on an ordinary keyboard by using the “Shortcut Key” option. For example, for the ‘okina, select “General Punctuation,” then locate the single, open quote character, which is “character code” 2018. Although the character used is not the preferred location of the ‘okina in Unicode, it is commonly found in Windows fonts. For the “vowel plus kahako” combinations, each uppercase and lowercase vowel has to be assigned separately. For example, to represent the kahako (A), use the “Latin Extended-A.” For more information, visit the Kualono site.
