Newbie

[Les C]

I grew up in the Islands and this Island has always been referred to as the Big Island since before statehood, to differentiate from the State/territorial name. I've never heard that it was not a preferred reference. But I've also been living elsewhere for a long while. Halema'uma'u is the correct punctuation and the Hawaiian way to pronounce the name. When growing up in these Islands, punctuation in Hawaiian words and names weren't always complete with 'okino and kahako (and it's still the case, as I can't put the macron on the first "a" in "kahako") and the pronunciation didn't always reflect the Hawaiian pronunciation. These days, Hawaiian pronunciation is likely matter of awareness and consideration of the culture that preceded us and is so characteristic in this land on which we live. "Laulau" doesn't have 'okino, I think, so it shouldn't be pronounced with glottal stops as in "Halema'uma'u".