okina

オキナは一見、日本語かと思う人がいるかもしれませんが、ハワイ語の声門閉鎖音（glottal stop）のことです。HawaiiがよくHawai'iと綴られることを目にしませんか。わたしは大昔、日系ハワイの方々を研究していたときにokinaについて現地の方から学びました。久しぶりに記事に出てきたのでとても懐かしくなりました。ともあれ、Keihanaikukauakahihuliheekahaunaeleさん、よかったですね。（UG）

Hawaii woman with long last name gets new ID cards

HONOLULU (AP) -- A Hawaii woman whose last name is 36 characters long has finally gotten the whole thing to fit on her driver's license and state identification card.

Janice "Lokelani" has a surname that consists of 35 letters plus an okina, a mark used in the Hawaiian alphabet. She received her new license and ID after her campaign to get her full name on the cards prompted the state Department of Transportation to change its policy to expand the number of characters that can appear.

Keihanaikukauakahihuliheekahaunaele, 54, said Monday that she's happy she was able to help fix the problem of identification cards lacking sufficient space for long names.
"Now, in the state of Hawaii, we are no longer second class citizens because of the length of our name," she said.

Hawaii driver's licenses and ID cards previously had room for names totaling up to 35 characters. The new policy allows 40 characters for last names, 40 for first names and 35 for middle names.

Keihanaikukauakahihuliheekahaunaele got the name when she married her Hawaiian husband in 1992.

http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20131231p2g00m0dm029000c.html