I learned Hawaiian way back in the 1970s from my kumu 'olelo Hawai'i Robert Lokomaika'iokalani Snakenberg. Many of my kupuna back then didn't speak Hawaiian so much was lost, and I am very rusty. I was taught the 'okina is ' not ` as 'okina means to cut the ' cutting the word with a gluttoral stop. Many online Hawaiian dictionaries will recognize the ' symbol but not the ` symbol when spelling out Hawaiian words. You will never have a 'okina next to any consonant as the 'okina itself is a consonant, and in Hawaiian you never have 2 consonants next to each other. As far as the words li'i and 'iki they both share the same root word from ancient western Polynesian word for small "riki" or "riti" replace the k (t) with an 'okina and you get ri'i or li'i, replace the r with a 'okina and you get 'iki (in Tahitian 'iti). I would say in the context you use 'iki is more common and accepted. The word li'i or li'ili'i is not as commonly used but acceptable. Again I am rusty and I hope a young blood like 1019 chimes in with his fresh input. Manini is a slang which originated with the local small fish the Convict Tang, and refers to something small or of little importance. It can also refer to a person who is a "tight-wad". Look on the head of a Tangi Manini 'ukulele and there you have a manini fish inlay. I highly recommend this sight for research into Hawaiian language: http://wehewehe.org/ I hope that didn't cause any confusion.
Thanks, Ankho Honu.We just tried the link for the Hawiian dictionary. It worked really well for individual words but not phrases or sentences. We tried to get a translation for the sentence in your signature but no luck