Xopher 13: I am not a Hawaiian language expert, and I'm not native Hawaiian either -- I'm just a local boy, born and raised in the islands. (That's another point that folks from elsewhere often miss: "native Hawaiian" is analogous to "native American" in meaning that your ancestors were there from before Western contact. As opposed to, say, a "native New Yorker".) But anyway, as I understand it, in Hawaiian (ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi), the modifier comes after the noun. So a Hawaiian person would be kanaka Hawaiʻi (lit. "Hawaiʻi person"), although these days it's more common to hear kanaka maoli (meaning a native Hawaiian, lit. "true/real person", cf. the Maori of Aotearoa). Beyond that, my knowledge runs very shallow -- the grammar of Hawaiian particles is a complex subject. http://wehewehe.org is an excellent online Hawaiian dictionary, but as with any foreign-language dictionary, don't try to use the language based solely on it.

Cory, while we here in Hawai'i appreciate the well-intended attempt to use the 'okina (glottal stop), it's actually incorrect to put an 'okina into the middle of the word "Hawaiian". Hawai'i is indeed usually pronounced /həˈwəiʔi/ but Hawaiian is pronounced /həˈwaɪən/, not /həˈwəiʔiˈən/. "Hawai'i" is a non-English word, but "Hawaiian" has been Anglicized using English grammar rules and no longer warrants the 'okina.

As for where this inaccurate hyper-correctness comes from? Well, I blame the surf magazines.