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The Sāmoan^[2] or Samoan language is the traditional language of Samoa and American Samoa and is an official language—alongside English—in both jurisdictions. It is a member of the Austronesian family, and more specifically the Samoic branch of the Polynesian subphylum. The Samoan language has a 'polite' and formal variant used in Samoan oratory and ceremony as well as in communication with elders, guests, people of rank and strangers.

Geographic distribution

There are approximately 370,000 Samoan speakers worldwide, 69% of whom live in the Samoan Islands.^[1] Thereafter, the greatest concentration is in New Zealand, where people of Samoan ethnicity comprise the fourth largest group after New Zealand European, Māori, New Zealander and Chinese: the 2006 New Zealand census recorded 95,428 speakers of the Samoan language, and 141,103 people of Samoan ethnicity. Among ethnic Samoans in New Zealand, 70.5 percent of the Samoan speakers (87,109 people) could speak Samoan. Samoan is the 4th most commonly spoken language in New Zealand after English, Maori and Chinese. The majority of Samoans in New Zealand (66.4 per cent) reside in the commercial capital, Auckland. Of those who speak Samoan, 67.4 percent live in Auckland and 70.4 percent of people who are both of Samoan ethnicity and Samoan speakers live in that city.

According to the 2006 census, there were 38,525 speakers of Samoan in Australia, and 39,992 people of Samoan ancestry.

First Samoan dictionary 1862

The first grammar and dictionary of the Samoan language, A Grammar and Dictionary of the Samoan Language, with English and Samoan Vocabulary, was authored by Reverend George Pratt in 1862.^[3] Pratt's valuable Samoan dictionary records many old words of special interest–specialist terminology, archaic words and names in Samoan tradition. It contains sections on Samoan poetry and proverbs, and an extensive grammatical sketch.^[4] Pratt was a missionary for the London Missionary Society and lived in Matautu on the island of Savai'i.

Phonology and alphabet

The Samoan alphabet consists of 15 letters excluding three (H, K, R) that are used only in loanwords:

In formal Samoan, with native words, [k] is found only in the interjection puke(ta)! 'gotcha!'. However, in colloquial speech, /t/ has come to be pronounced [k], and in /n/ has merged with /ŋ/ as [ŋ]. /l/ is pronounced [ɾ] following a back vowel (/a, o, u/) and preceding an /i/. /s/ is less sibilant than in English. /h/ and /r/ are found only in borrowings, and /s/ and /l/ are sometimes substituted for them.

Short /a/ is pronounced [ə] in only a few words, such as mate or maliu 'dead', vave 'be quick'. Diphthongs are /au ao ai ae ei ou ue/.

Syllables

Every syllable ends in a vowel. No syllable consists of more than three letters, one consonant and two vowels, the two vowels making a diphthong; as fai, mai, tau. Roots are sometimes monosyllabic, but mostly disyllabic or a word consisting of two syllables. Polysyllabic words are nearly all derived or compound words; as nofogata from nofo and gata, difficult of access; taʻigaafi, from taʻi, to attend to the fire, and afi, fire, the hearth.^[3]

Samoan syllable structure is (C)V, where V may be long or a diphthong. A sequence VV may occur only in derived forms and compound words; within roots, only the initial syllable may be of the form V. Metathesis of consonants is frequent, such as manu for namu 'scent', lava‘au for vala‘au 'to call', but vowels may not be mixed up in this way.

The letter G in the Samoan language is pronounced like ng at the end of the word thing. So the name Giovani would be pronounced Ngiovani.

Stress

Stress generally falls on the penultimate mora; that is, on the last syllable if that contains a long vowel or diphthong or on the second-last syllable otherwise. There are exceptions though, with many words ending in a long vowel taking the accent on the ultima; as ma'elega, zealous; ʻona, to be intoxicated; faigata, difficult.

Verbs formed from nouns ending in a, and meaning to abound in, have properly two aʻs, as puaa (puaʻaa), pona, tagata, but are written with one.

In speaking of a place at some distance, the accent is placed on the last syllable; as ʻO loʻo i Safotu, he is at Safotu. The same thing is done in referring to a family; as sa Muliaga, the family of Muliaga. So most words ending in ga, not a sign of a noun, as tiga, puapuaga, pologa, faataga and aga. So also all words ending in a diphthong, as mamau, mafai, avai.^[3]

In speaking the voice is raised, and the emphasis falls on the last word in each sentence.

When a word receives an addition by means of an affixed particle, the accent is shifted forward; as alofa, love; alofága, loving, or showing love; alofagía, beloved. Reduplicated words have two accents; as pálapála, mud; ségiségi, twilight. Compound words may have even three or four, according to the number of words and affixes of which the compound word is composed; as tofátumoánaíná, to be engulfed. The articles le and se are unaccented. When used to form a pronoun or participle, le and se are contractions for le e, se e, and so are accented; as ʻO le ana le mea, the owner, literally the (person) whose (is) the thing, instead of O le e ana le mea. The sign of the nominative ʻo, the prepositions o, a, i, e, and the euphonic particles i and te, are unaccented; as ʻO i maua, ma te o alu ia te oe, we two will go to you.

Ina, the sign of the imperative, is accented on the ultima; ína, the sign of the subjunctive, on the penultima. The preposition iá is accented on the ultima, the pronoun ia on the penultima.^[3]

Grammar

Personal pronouns

Like many Austronesian languages, Samoan has separate words for inclusive and exclusive we, and distinguishes singular, dual, and plural. The root for the inclusive pronoun may occur in the singular, in which case it indicates emotional involvement on the part of the speaker.

In formal speech, fuller forms of the roots mā-, tā-, and lā- are ‘imā-, ‘itā-, and ‘ilā-.

Articles

The article le is both definite and indefinite; at least as it is constantly used in Samoan, whereas the English would require the indefinite article; definite e.g., ʻo le Atua, God; indefinife e.g., ʻo le aliʻi Pai, such as, one is a chief. On looking into such cases, it will be found that there is something definite, from a Samoan standpoint, which makes them use le rather than se, as Ua tu mai le vaʻa, a canoe appears.

Se is always indefinite; ta mai se laʻau, cut me a stick.^[3]

The article is omitted before plural nouns, thus, ʻO le tagata, the man; ʻO tagata, men.

Nouns

Names of natural objects, such as men, trees and animals, are mostly primitive nouns, e.g.ʻO le la, the sun; ʻo le tagata, the man; ʻo le talo, taro; ʻo le iʻa, the fish; also manufactured articles, such as matau, an axe, vaʻa, canoe, tao, spear, fale, house, etc.^[3]

Some nouns are derived from verbs by the addition of either ga, saga, taga, maga, or ʻaga: such as tuli, to drive; tuliga, a driving; luluʻu, to fill the hand; luʻutaga, a handful; anu, to spit; anusaga, spittle; tanu, to bury; tanumaga, the part buried. These verbal nouns have an active participial meaning; e.g. ʻO le faiga o le fale, the building of the house. Often they refer to the persons acting, in which case they govern the next noun in the genitive with a; ʻO le faiga a fale, contracted into ʻo le faiga fale, those who build the house, the builders. In some cases verbal nouns refer to either persons or things done by them: ʻO le faiga a talo, the getting of taro, or the party getting the taro, or the taro itself which has been got. The context in such cases decides the meaning. Sometimes place is indicated by the termination; such as tofa, to sleep; tofaga, a sleeping-place, a bed. ʻO le taʻelega is either the bathing-place or the party of bathers. The first would take o after it to govern the next noun, ʻO le taʻelega o le nuʻu, the bathing-place of the village; the latter would be followed by a, ʻO le taʻelega a teine, the bathing-place of the girls.

Sometimes such nouns have a passive meaning, such as being acted upon; ʻO le taomaga a lau, the thatch that has been pressed; ʻo le faupuʻega a maʻa, the heap of stones, that is, the stones which have been heaped up. Those nouns which take ʻaga are rare, except on Tutuila; gataʻaga, the end; ʻamataʻaga, the beginning; olaʻaga, lifetime; misaʻaga, quarrelling. Sometimes the addition of ga makes the signification intensive; such as ua and timu, rain; uaga and timuga, continued pouring (of rain).

The simple form of the verb is sometimes used as a noun: tatalo, to pray; ʻo le tatalo, a prayer; poto, to be wise; ʻo le poto, wisdom.

The reciprocal form of the verb is often used as a noun; e.g. ʻO le fealofani, ʻo femisaiga, quarrellings (from misa), feʻumaiga; E lelei le fealofani, mutual love is good.

A few diminutives are made by reduplication, e.g. paapaa, small crabs; pulepule, small shells; liilii, ripples.

Adjectives are made into abstract nouns by adding an article or pronoun; e.g. lelei, good; ʻo le lelei, goodness; silisili, excellent or best; ʻo lona lea silisili, that is his excellence or that is his best.

Many verbs may become participle-nouns by adding ga; as sau, come, sauga; e.g. ʻO lona luai sauga, his first coming; mau to mauga, ʻO le mauga muamua, the first dwelling.

Gender

Gender is sometimes expressed by distinct names:—

When no distinct name exists, the gender of animals is known by adding poʻa and fafine respectively. The gender of some few plants is distinguished by tane and fafine, as in ʻo le esi tane; ʻo le esi fafine. No other names of objects have any mark of gender.^[3]

Number

The singular number is known by the article with the noun; e.g. ʻo le tama, a boy.

Properly there is no dual. It is expressed by omitting the article and adding numbers e lua for things e.g. e toalua, two, for persons; as ʻo fale e lua, two houses; ʻo le nuʻu e toalua, two persons.

The plural is known by:

1. the omission of the article; ʻo ʻulu, breadfruits.
2. particles denoting multitude, as ʻau, vao, mou, and moíu, and such plural is emphatic; ʻo le ʻau iʻa, a shoal of fishes; ʻo le vao tagata, a forest of men, i.e., a great company; ʻo le mou mea, a great number of things; ʻo le motu o tagata, a crowd of people. These particles cannot be used indiscriminately; motu could not be used with fish, nor ʻau with men.
3. lengthening, or more correctly doubling, a vowel in the word; tuafafine, instead of tuafafine, sisters of a brother. This method is rare.^[3]

Genitive

This is indicated by the prepositions a or o (soft). As to which of these should be used, as well as the pronouns lou, lau, lona, lana, lo and la matou, etc., it is difficult for a foreigner to know. There is no general rule which will apply to every case. The governing noun decides which should be used; thus ʻO le poto ʻo le tufuga (fai fale), the wisdom of the builder; ʻO le amio a le tama, the conduct of the boy; upu o Fagono, words of Fagono (a kind of narrative and song or storytelling); but upu a tagata, words of men.

O

O is used with:

1. Nouns denoting parts of the body; fofoga o le aliʻi, eyes of the chief. So of hands, legs, hair, etc.; except the beard, which takes a, lana ʻava; but a chief's is lona soesa. Different terms and words apply to chiefs and people of rank and status according to the 'polite' variant of the Samoan language, similar to the 'polite' variant in the Japanese language.
2. The mind and its affections; ʻo le toʻasa o le aliʻi, the wrath of the chief. So of the will, desire, love, fear, etc.; ʻO le manaʻo o le nuʻu, the desire of the land; ʻO le mataʻu o le tama, the fear of the boy.
3. Houses, and all their parts; canoes, land, country, trees, plantations; thus, pou o le fale, posts of the house; lona fanua, lona naʻu, etc.
4. People, relations, slaves; ʻo ona tagata, his people; ʻo le faletua o le aliʻi, the chief's wife. So also of a son, daughter, father, etc. Exceptions; Tane, husband; ava, wife (of a common man), and children, which take a; lana, ava, ma, ana, fanau.
5. Garments, etc., if for use; ona ʻofu. Except when spoken of as property, riches, things laid up in store.

A

A is used with:

1. Words denoting conduct, custom, etc.; amio, masani, tu.
2. Language, words, speeches; gagana, upu, fetalaiga, afioga; ʻO le upu a le tama.
3. Property of every kind. Except garments, etc., for use.
4. Those who serve, animals, men killed and carried off in war; lana tagata.
5. Food of every kind.
6. Weapons and implements, as clubs, knives, swords, bows, cups, tattooing instruments, etc. Except spears, axes, and ʻoso (the stick used for planting taro), which take o.
7. Work; as lana galuega. Except faiva, which takes o.

Some words take either a or o; as manatu, taofi, ʻO se tali a Matautu, an answer given by Matautu; ʻo se tali ʻo Matautu, an answer given to Matautu.

Irregularities

Irregularities in the use of the proposition:

1. Nouns denoting the vessel and its contents do not take the preposition between them: ʻo le ʻato talo, a basket of taro; ʻo le fale oloa, a house of property, shop, or store-house.
2. Nouns denoting the material of which a thing is made: ʻO le tupe auro, a coin of gold; ʻo le vaʻa ifi, a canoe of teak.
3. Nouns indicating members of the body are rather compounded with other nouns instead of being followed by a genitive: ʻO le mataivi, an eye of bone; ʻo le isu vaʻa, a nose of a canoe; ʻo le gutu sumu, a mouth of the sumu (type of fish); ʻo le loto alofa, a heart of love.
4. Many other nouns are compounded in the same way: ʻO le apaau tane, the male wing; ʻo le pito pou, the end of the post.
5. The country or town of a person omits the preposition: ʻO le tagata Samoa, a man or person of Samoa.
6. Nouns ending in a, lengthen (or double) that letter before other nouns in the possessive form: ʻO le sua susu; ʻo le maga ala, or maga a ala, a branch road.
7. The sign of the possessive is not used between a town and its proper name, but the nominative sign is repeated; thus putting the two in apposition: ʻO le ʻaʻai ʻo Matautu, the commons of Matautu.

Dative

Mo and ma governing this case, usually signify for; as au mai lea ma aʻu, give that for, or to, me. Ma also means, on account of, because; sau i fale ma le la, come in, because of the sun. The same rules govern the use of mo and ma, as o and a in the genitive: ʻO le sui mo outou, a substitute for you.

Accusative

The accusative or objective case follows the verb without any sign: Seu lou vaʻa, turn or steer your canoe.

This case is governed also by the preposition i in, into, to; ia, to persons; and with pronouns. It mostly follows active verbs: Seu lou vaʻa i le mea nei, steer your canoe to this place. It is also used in sentences which require the addition of the verb; to be, or to have, in translating them; ʻua ia te ia le mea, the property is to him; that is, he has it.

Vocative

This is indicated by e. Sometimes it retains the article; le aliʻi e; but, most commonly it is omitted.

Ablative

The ablative is governed by mai, nai, ai, from; i, into; e, from, mostly with persons.

Proper names are declined as the plural form of the common noun. That is to say, they omit the article; thus, ʻO Toga; ʻo le Toga, would mean a Tonga man. The accusative takes ia instead of i.

Adjectives

Some adjectives are primitive, as umi, long; poto, wise. Some formed from nouns by the addition of a, like y in English; as word, wordy; thus, ʻeleʻele, dirt; ʻeleʻelea, dirty; palapala, mud; palapala, muddy.

Others are formed by doubling the noun; as pona, a knot; ponapona, knotty; fatu, a stone; fatufatua, stony.

Others are formed by prefixing faʻa to the noun; as ʻo le tu fa'asamoa, Samoan custom or fa'amatai.

Like ly in English, the faʻa often expresses similitude; ʻo le amio faʻapuaʻa, behave like a pig (literally).

In one or two cases a is prefixed; as apulupulu, sticky, from pulu, resin; avanoa, open; from va and noa.

Verbs are also used as adjectives: ʻo le ala faigata, a difficult road; ʻo le vai tafe, a river, flowing water; ʻo le laʻau ola, a live tree; also the passive: ʻo le aliʻi mataʻutia.

Ma is the prefix of condition, sae, to tear; masae, torn; as, ʻO le iʻe masae, torn cloth; Goto, to sink; magoto, sunk; ʻo le vaʻa magoto, a sunken canoe.

A kind of compound adjective is formed by the union of a noun with an adjective; as ʻo le tagata lima malosi, a strong man, literally, the stronghanded man; ʻo le tagata loto vaivai, a weak-spirited man.

Nouns denoting the materials out of which things are made are used as adjectives: ʻo le mama auro, a gold ring; ʻo le fale maʻa, a stone house. Or they may be reckoned as nouns in the genitive.

Adjectives expressive of colours are mostly reduplicated words; as sinasina, white; uliuli, black; samasama, yellow; ʻenaʻena, brown; mumu, red, etc.; but when they follow a noun they are usually found in their simple form; as ʻo le ʻie sina, white cloth; ʻo le puaʻa uli, a black pig. The plural is sometimes distinguished by doubling the first syllable; as sina, white; plural, sisina; tele, great; pl. tetele. In compound words the first syllable of the root is doubled; as maualuga, high; pl. maualuluga. Occasionally the reciprocal form is used as a plural; as lele, flying; ʻo manu felelei, flying creatures, birds.

Comparison is generally effected by using two adjectives, both in the positive state; thus e lelei lenei, ʻa e leaga lena, this is good—but that is bad, not in itself, but in comparison with the other; e umi lenei, a e puupuu lena, this is long, that is short.

The superlative is formed by the addition of an adverb, such as matua, tasi, sili, silisiliʻese aʻiaʻi, naʻua; as ʻua lelei tasi, it alone is good—that is, nothing equals it. ʻUa matua silisili ona lelei, it is very exceedingly good; ʻua tele naʻua, it is very great. Silisili ese, highest, ese, differing from all others.

Naua has often the meaning of “too much”; ua tele naua, it is greater than is required.

Vocabulary

Numerals

The cardinals are:

The term mano was an utmost limit until the adoption of loan words like miliona, a transliteration of million. Otherwise, numbers beyond mano is manomano, ilu; that is, innumerable.^[3]

Months

Points of the compass

Stars and heavenly bodies

Common phrases and words

See also

• Fa'amatai Samoa's chiefly matai system which includes ali'i and orator statuses.

References

• Milner, G.B. 1993, 1966. Samoan Dictionary. Polynesian Press. ISBN 0 908597 12 6
• Mosel, Ulrike and Even Hovdhaugen, 1992. Samoan reference grammar. Oslo: Scandinavian University Press/Institute for Comparative Research in Human Culture.
• Mosel, La'i Ulrike and Ainslie So'o. Say it in Samoan. Pacific Linguistics D88. Canberra: ANU.
• Payne, Thomas E. 1997. Describing morphosyntax: a guide for field linguists. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-58224-5.

Notes

• An Account of Samoan History up to 1918 by Teo Tuvale [1], NZ Licence CC-BY-SA 3.0, Retrieved 8 March, 2010.

External links