How to Get the Okina Character on the Windows Keyboard

Make Hawaiian words recognizable, searchable, and pronounceable: find out here how to insert the okina glottal stop character ( ʻ ) using the keyboard on Windows.

First, the Airbus That’s More of an Airbus than an Airbus

The venerable Ilyushin Il-86 “airbus” people-carrier not only had room to take 320 passengers and their luggage, but it also came with a staircase and a ladder of sorts.

For the plane was designed to also serve airports not equipped for large airliners: the Il-86’s “luggage at hand”-system let passengers climb first directly from the runway onto the plane’s lower deck to stow away their suitcases and, then, using a staircase onto the passenger deck itself.

Sweet and flexible though the system is, adapting airports proved more practical in the mid to long run.

Speaking of practicability, how about an okina a hand system to get the Hawaiian apostrophe (that is, of course, no apostrophe) into a text using Windows?

How to Insert a Hawaiian Okina Character ( ʻ ) with Windows Using Keyboard and Unicode

Using the Hawaiian Keyboard Layout (Preferred)

Using Character Map (for Occasional Use)

To insert the ʻokina anywhere using Windows Character Map:

1. Open the Character Map application on Windows.
   Here’s how: Press Windows to open the Start menu, then start typing character map to search and, finally, select Character Map in search results as soon as it appears.
2. Check Advanced view.
3. Type modifier letter turned comma (or, of course, a part of that character name) under Search for :.
4. Highlight the U+02BB: Modifier Letter Turned Comma character.
   
5. Click Select.
6. Now click Copy.
7. Paste the ʻokina character where you desire it to appear.

Copy and Paste the Okina Symbol (One-Off)

For one-off use, you can also copy the Okina symbol right here for pasting anywhere in Windows:

ʻ

copy

Okina With Windows WordPad Unicode Entry (Because You Can)

You can also take advantage of Unicode entry in Word and WordPad to make the ʻokina character on Windows.

To insert an okina in a document (and, of course, for copying elsewhere) using WordPad:

1. Type 02BB where you want the okina to appear in WordPad.
2. Press Alt X immediately.
   What happens: The Unicode charpoint is replaced with the corresponding character, here ʻ.

Word for Windows: How to Use the Okina (“Hawaiian Apostrophe”) in Word

How to Insert a Hawaiian Okina Character ( ʻ ) with Windows Using Keyboard and Unicode: FAQ

Can I use the okina character in HTML?

Yes.

In an HTML document, you can either

• insert the ʻokina using the keyboard and make sure the document uses UTF-8 Unicode encoding or
• insert ʻ for the okina in HTML source code.

Can I use the apostrophe as a substitute?

Better not.

The apostrophe has both

• a distinct purpose and, in some senses more damningly,
• a distinct shape from that of the okina.

That makes the apostrophe a bad replacement for the okina.

The opening single quotation mark has

• a distinct purpose but
• a shape remarkably similar to the okina.

So, the opening quote is the better substitute character.

Why use the okina when I can just type an opening quote?

While the single opening quotation mark is a suitable replacement when the okina is not available (or a font does not support it), you should prefer the real character whenever possible for at least two reasons:

• Search and replace: With a quotation mark in place of the okina, searching and replacing characters will tend to match too much or too little—replacing fake okinas or not finding words with glottal stops in them.
• Screen readers: The correct character allows screen readers to recognize and pronounce works instead of stumbling over strange sounds.

(How to insert a Hawaiian okina character tested with Windows 11 Version 22H2 and Windows 10 Version 21H2; updated January 2024)