:D The apostrophe gets a lot of abuse, doesn't it?

But in Hawaiian it does serve a purpose: it signifies a glottal stop. I can't tell the difference at the beginnings of words, though, unless they're strung together in a sentence. The macron (the line over the vowels) signifies a lenghtening of the vowel.

I'm enjoying it a lot. Hawaiian has always struck me as one of the prettiest languages. I can never fully explain the appeal of learning a language I'll probably never have the slightest occasion to use for any practical purpose, any more than I can explain why I make up my own languages. But if I decide I like the language, nothing can stand in my way.