The language has only 12 letters (A, E, H, I, K, L, M, N, O, P, U, W). There are 13 if you count the okina. The okina is a real letter and came from some "K" sounds in old Polynesian languages. The okina is pronounced as a glottal stop, like the break in the middle of the word "Uh-oh". The okina is written as a backward apostrophe (small numeral 6 above and before a vowel).