Occasionally readers (mainly those who don't live here or who have just arrived) will write and ask us to define local terms.

Two such calls came in recently. One, a foreign tourist, had trouble with the terms kuleana and keiki and said she'd rather not have to go out and buy a Hawaiian dictionary.

Another, an Air Force major, said he and his wife moved here about a year ago and have been "continuously annoyed by your paper's consistent use of terms like 'makai' in your stories, leaving those of us who don't speak Hawaiian clueless as to what you're referencing."

The major pointed out that he has lived overseas and is familiar with assimilating with other cultures but believes it is not proper to use Hawaiian-language words in stories.

"I didn't think I'd have to do that when I got back to the United States, of which Hawai'i is still a member, last time I checked," he wrote.

I am all for making it easier for readers to understand everything they read in our paper and to provide extra depth and context where required.

However, The Advertiser is, has, and always will, be a local source of information. While newcomers and tourists may struggle with the local terms, I see no reason to routinely define Hawaiian terms any more than I'd ask us to avoid using multi-syllable words in the English language because someone might have to pick up a dictionary and search their meaning.

In October 2000, the editors here made the wise decision to begin using diacritical marks on Hawaiian words. Using the kahako and 'okina added precise meaning to Hawaiian words and pronunciation and reflected the use of English and Hawaiian as the state's official languages, an action codified in 1978 as part of the state Constitution.

Longtime reporter Dan Nakaso said The Advertiser has always used terms such as mauka and makai in stories, but for a period of time put less commonly used Hawaiian words in italics or quotes, or put definitions of words in parentheses. The approach offended Hawaiians and non-Hawaiians who thought the definitions and italics were unnecessary and demeaning.

Nakaso's approach is to try to add context to terms that may not be familiar to all readers.

In a recent interview with a local athletic director whose former student had been arrested for a crime, the athletic director described the student as "kolohe" and used the following quote: "In high school, he was a real kolohe — a rascal who was always getting into fights." That way, Nakaso had a good quote and the term's meaning all in one.

Entertainment writer Wayne Harada recently did a review of a new CD by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole and wrote, "You can hear Iz, in his inimitable pidgin English, relishing the values of pono (making things right), kuleana (responsibility) and kokua (helping each other) during the interlude."

Harada said he did so because it seemed to work well in the story but thinks it should be the exception and not the rule.

"Defining local terms that are commonly accepted and understood by most people would be somewhat insulting to the intelligence of the readership," he said. "Would you have to define pau, poi, 'opihi, malihini, kama'aina, poke, etc. ... just to enlighten the uninformed or newly arrived? Probably not. Mauka and makai and 'ewa and kokohead are directional terms widely used by media — us, radio, TV. To parenthesize would be stupid."

Columnist Lee Cataluna objects to putting definitions in parentheses and has balked when editors have tried to insert them in her columns.

"Hawaiian is an official state language," she said. "More importantly, it is a language tied to this land. There are thoughts you can express only in Hawaiian. Everyone should have a Pukui and Elbert dictionary handy. Having to look up a word you don't know is a joyful thing. A newspaper should be able to provide that joy of discovery."

The Air Force major asked us to print his letter in the newspaper, but I fear that identifying him by name would only subject him to ridicule. He means well, and many will come to his defense, but I'm left with the thought that any newcomer to any area should find it useful to immerse himself in the culture, whether it be local customs or local language.