Samoan language

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Samoan
Gagana Sāmoa
Spoken in	Samoa   American Samoa
Region	Spoken as first language in Samoa, American Samoa, with substantial communities of speakers in New Zealand, Australia, U.S., Canada, Tokelau, Tuvalu, Denmark, England, Japan, China and Germany
Total speakers	369,957 total speakers according to Ethnologue (2009 edition, figures from 1999)[1]
Language family	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian  Oceanic Polynesian Nuclear Polynesian Samoic-Outlier Samoan
Official status
Official language in	Samoa (199,000 speakers)  American Samoa (56,700 speakers)
Regulated by	No official regulation
Language codes
ISO 639-1	sm
ISO 639-2	smo
ISO 639-3	smo
Linguasphere	–
Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode.

Sāmoan (Gagana Sāmoa, (pronounced [ŋaˈŋana ˈsaːmoa]) is the language of the Samoan Islands, comprising the independent country of Samoa and the United States territory of American Samoa. It is an official language—alongside English—in both jurisdictions. Sāmoan, a Polynesian language, is the first language for most of the Samoa Islands' population of about 246,000. With many Sāmoan people living in other countries, the total number of speakers worldwide is estimated at 370,000. It is notable for the phonological differences between formal and informal speech.

Contents 1 Classification 2 Geographic distribution 3 Grammar 3.1 Syntax 3.2 Personal pronouns 3.3 Articles 3.4 Nouns 3.5 Gender 3.6 Number 3.7 Possessives 3.8 Adjectives 4 Vocabulary/Lexis 4.1 Formal versus colloquial register 4.2 Oratorical register 5 History 6 Writing system and alphabet 6.1 Alphabet 7 Phonology 7.1 Vowels 7.2 Consonants 7.3 Stress 7.4 Pronunciation 7.4.1 Foreign words 8 Phonotactics 9 Stress 10 Vocabulary 10.1 Numerals 11 See also 12 Notes 13 References 14 External links 14.1 Coursebook 14.2 Online resources

[edit] Classification

Sāmoan is a member of the Austronesian family, and more specifically the Samoic branch of the Polynesian subphylum. It is closely related to other Polynesian languages with many shared cognate words such as ali'i, 'ava, atua, tapu and numerals as well as the name of gods in mythology.

Linguists differ somewhat on the way they classify Samoan in relation to the other Polynesian languages.^[2] The "traditional" classification,^[3] based on shared innovations in grammar and vocabulary, places Samoan in Nuclear Polynesian with Tokelauan, the Polynesian outlier languages and the languages of Eastern Polynesia, which include Rapanui, Māori, Tahitian and Hawaiian. Nuclear Polynesian and Tongic (the languages of Tonga and Niue) are the major subdivisions of Polynesian under this analysis. A revision by Marck reinterpreted the relationships among Samoan and the outlier languages. In 2008 an analysis, of basic vocabulary only, from the Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database is contradictory in that while in part it suggests that Tongan and Samoan form a subgroup,^[4] the old subgroups Tongic and Nuclear Polynesian are still included in the classification search of the database itself.^[5]

All Polynesian languages show strong similarity, particularly in vocabulary. The vowels are often stable in the descendant languages, nearly always a, e, i, o and u. The legendary homeland of the Māori of New Zealand, where w is used instead of v, is Hawaiki; in the Cook Islands, where h is replaced with the glottal stop, it is ‘Avaiki; in the Hawaiian Islands, where w is used and k is replaced with the glottal stop, the largest island of the group is named Hawai‘i; in Samoa, where s has not been substituted by h, v is used instead of w, and k is replaced with the glottal stop, the largest island is called Savai'i. In the Society Islands, k and ng are replaced by the glottal stop, so the name for the ancestral homeland is pronounced Havai‘i.^[6]

[edit] Geographic distribution

There are approximately 370,000 Samoan speakers worldwide, 69 per cent of whom live in the Samoan Islands.^[1] There after, the greatest concentration is in New Zealand, where people of Samoan ethnicity comprise the third largest group after New Zealand European, Māori, 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 Australian census of 2006, there were 38,525 speakers of Samoan in Australia, and 39,992 people of Samoan ancestry.

Samoan Language Week (Vaiaso o le gagana Sāmoa) is an annual celebration of the language in New Zealand supported by the government^[7] and various organisations including UNESCO. Samoan Language Week was started in Australia for the first time in 2010.^[8]

[edit] Grammar

[edit] Syntax

Sentences have different types of word order and the four most commonly used are Verb Subject Object (VSO), Verb Object Subject (VOS), Subject Verb Object (SVO) and Object Verb Subject (OVS).^[9][10][11]

For example:- The girl went to the house. (SVO); girl (subject), went (verb), house (object).

Samoan word order;

• (VSO)

Sa alu le teine i le fale.; sa alu (verb), teine (subject), fale (object).

went-girl-house.

• (VOS)

Sa alu i le fale le teine.

went-house-girl.

• (OVS)

Le fale sa alu i ai le teine. 

house-went-girl.

• (SVO)

Le teine sa alu i le fale. 

girl-went-house.

[edit] 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.

	singular	dual	plural
First person exclusive	a‘u , ‘ou	mā‘ua, mā	mātou
First person inclusive	tā	tā‘ua, tā	tātou
Second person	‘oe, ‘e	‘oulua	‘outou, tou
Third person	ia / na	lā‘ua	lātou

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

[edit] Articles

The definite article is le: ʻo le Atua, God; indefinife e.g., ʻo le aliʻi Pai, (the) chief (named) Pai. It is sometimes used where English would require the indefinite article: Ua tu mai le vaʻa, a canoe appears. The article se is always indefinite; ta mai se laʻau, cut me a stick. The article is omitted before plural nouns: ʻO le tagata, the man; ʻO tagata, men.^[12]

[edit] 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.^[12]

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.

[edit] Gender

Gender is sometimes expressed by distinct names:—

ʻO le aliʻi, a chief. ʻO le tamaloa, a man. ʻO le tama, a boy. ʻO le poʻa, a male animal.

ʻO le tamaitaʻi, a lady. ʻO le fafine, a woman. ʻO le teine, a girl. ʻO le manu fafine, a female animal.

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.^[12]

[edit] 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.^[12]

[edit] Possessives

Possessive relations are indicated by the particles a or "o". Possessive pronouns also have a-forms and o-forms: lou, lau, lona, lana, lo and la matou, etc. Nineteenth century writers like Platt were unable to understand the underlying principles govering the use of the two forms: "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"; ʻupu o Fagono, "words of Fagono" (a form of narrated and sung storytelling); but ʻupu a tagata, "words of men." Platt instead gives a rote list of uses and exceptions:

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 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.

Exceptions:

1. Nouns denoting the vessel and its contents do not take the particle 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 possessive particle: 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 particle: 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 topic marker 'o is repeated; thus putting the two in apposition: ʻO le ʻaʻai ʻo Matautu, the commons of Matautu.

[edit] Adjectives

Some adjectives are primitive, as umi, long; poto, wise. Some are formed from nouns by the addition of a, meaning "covered with" or "infested with"; thus, ʻeleʻele, dirt; ʻeleʻelea, dirty; palapala, mud; palapalā, 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.

[edit] Vocabulary/Lexis

[edit] Formal versus colloquial register

The language has a polite or formal variant used in oratory and ceremony as well as in communication with elders, guests, people of rank and strangers.^[11]

The consonant system of colloquial Samoan is slightly different from the literary language (spoken and written) and is referred to as K speech or K style.^[9] In colloquial speech, defined as taking place in casual social situations among intimates or in the home, /t/ is sometimes pronounced [k], and /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.

Therefore, in colloquial Samoan speech, common consonant replacements occur such as;^[11][9]

t is pronounced k e.g. tama (child, boy) is pronounced kama; tānoa ('ava bowl) is pronounced kāngoa; tagata (person, people) is pronounced kangaka

n is pronounced ng e.g. teine (girl) is pronounced keinge; ono (six) is pronounced ongo, similar to the replacements in the words above tānoa and tagata

Also, the letter r becomes l eg taro is pronounced kalo; Māori is pronounced Māoli

[edit] Oratorical register

Historically and culturally, an important form of the Samoan language is oratory, a ceremonial language sometimes referred to in publications as 'chiefly language',^[13] which incorporates classical Samoan terms and prose as well as a different set of vocabulary, which is tied to the roles of orator chiefs (tuafale) and 'speechmaking' (failauga) that remains part of the culture's continuing indigenous matai system of governance and social organization.

[edit] History

The oldest pre-historic remains in Samoan archaeology have been dated by New Zealand scientists to to circa 3,000 BP (Before Present) from a Lapita site at Mulifanua excavated during the 1970s.^[14]

[edit] Writing system and alphabet

Encounters with Europeans began in the 18th century followed by the era of colonialism in the Pacific. Samoan was only a spoken language until the early to mid-19th century when Christian missionaries began documenting the spoken language for religious texts and introduced writing using the Latin script. In 1834, an orthography of the language was distributed by the London Missionary Society who also set up a printing press by 1839. The first complete Bible (Tusi Pa'ia, Sacred Book) in the Samoan language was completed and published in 1862.^[15]

The first problem which faced the missionaries in Polynesia was that of learning the language of the island which they intended to convert to Christianity. The second was that of identifying the sounds in the local languages with the symbols employed in their own languages to establish alphabets for recording the spelling of native words. Having established more or less satisfactory alphabets and spelling, it was next necessary to teach the indigenous people how to write and read their own language. A printing press, with the alphabet keys used only in the English language, was part of the mission equipment, and it was possible not only to translate and write out portions of the Bible scriptures and hymns in the local language, but to print them for use as texts in teaching. Thus, the missionaries introduced writing for the first time within Polynesia, they were the first printers, and they established the first schools in villages.^[16]

[edit] Alphabet

The alphabet proper consists of only fourteen letters:—5 vowels - a, e, i, o, u  and 9 consonants - f, g, l, m, n, p, s, t, v.^[17] In addition, the language uses another letter, the phonetic glottal stop, ʔ (koma liliu or 'okina), used in many other Polynesian languages. The letters h, k, r are only used in foreign loan words, although the sound k commonly replaces t in colloquial speech. Vowel length is phonemic, that is, it changes the meaning of otherwise identical words, eg manu 'bird', mānu 'float, afloat'.  Long vowels are marked in writing by a macron (fa'amamafa) e.g. ā.

The first grammar and dictionary of the Samoan language, A Grammar and Dictionary of the Samoan Language, with English and Samoan Vocabulary, was written by Reverend George Pratt in 1862.^[12] 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 proverbs and poetry, and an extensive grammatical sketch.^[17] Pratt was a missionary for the London Missionary Society and lived for forty years in Matautu on the island of Savai'i.

[edit] Phonology

The Samoan alphabet consists of 15 letters excluding three (H, K, R) that are used only in loanwords (with K also used in colloquial spoken Samoan).

Aa, Āā	Ee, Ēē	Ii, Īī	Oo, Ōō	Uu, Ūū	Ff	Gg	Ll	Mm	Nn	Pp	Ss	Tt	Vv	(Hh)	(Kk)	(Rr)	‘
/a/, /aː/	/ɛ/, /eː/	/iː/	/o/, /ɔː/	/ʊ, w/, /uː/	/f/	/ŋ/	/l, ɾ/	/m/	/n, ŋ/	/p/	/s/	/t, k/	/v/	(/h/)	(/k/)	(/ɾ/)	/ʔ/

[edit] Vowels

The 5 vowels also have a long form denoted by the macron which affects the meaning of words with the exact same spelling.^[9]

eg tama = child or boy; tamā = father.

The combination of u followed by a vowel in some words creates the sound of the English w, a letter not part of the Samoan alphabet.

eg uaua (artery, tendon) = wawa (pronunciation)

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/.

[edit] Consonants

In formal Samoan, used for example in news broadcasts or sermons, the consonants /t n ŋ/ are used. In colloquial Samoan, however, /n ŋ/ merge as [ŋ] and /t/ is pronounced [k].^[18]

The glottal stop /ʔ/ is phonemic in Samoan. The presence or absence of the glottal stop affects the meaning of words with the same spelling,^[9] eg mai = from, originate from; ma'i = sickness, illness.^[19]

/l/ is pronounced as a flap [ɾ] following a back vowel (/a, o, u/) and preceding an /i/; otherwise it is [l]. /s/ is less sibilant (hissing) than in English. /ɾ h/ are found in loan words.

[edit] Stress

Stress is somewhat variable, but 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.

[edit] Pronunciation

Every vowel is pronounced distinctly, whether short or long, similar to the sounds of the vowels of Japanese or Spanish. 

Short /a/ is pronounced [ə] in a few words, such as mate or maliu 'dead', vave 'be quick'.

Consonants are pronounced as in English, with the exception of g, which is pronounced like the ng in the English word sing rather than the g in go. The incorrect pronunciation of g results in Pago Pago sounding like Pay-go Pay-go rather than the correct form, Pah-ngo Pah-ngo.

The glottal stop is pronounced in the same way as the interruption between the vowels in the word "uh-oh".

[edit] Foreign words

In foreign loanwords, the sound of letters remains similar:^[12]

k and r are retained, eg Keriso - Christ; kalapu - club

d becomes t eg Tavita - David 

ph becomes f eg telefoni - telephone

g and hard c become k eg kesi - gas; kamupani - company 

h is also retained at the beginning of some proper names, eg Herota -  Herod; 

z becomes s eg Zachariah - Sakaria

w becomes u eg Uiliamu or Viliamu - William; uaea - wire

b becomes p eg Patania -  Bethany or pata - butter

[edit] Phonotactics

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.

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, and afi, fire, the hearth, making to attend to the fire.^[12]

[edit] 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.^[12]

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.^[12]

[edit] Vocabulary

[edit] Numerals

The cardinals are:

Numeral	Samoan	English
0	selo	zero
1	tasi	one
2	lua	two
3	tolu	three
4	fa	four
5	lima	five
6	ono	six
7	fitu	seven
8	valu	eight
9	iva	nine
10	sefulu	ten
11	sefulu ma le tasi	eleven
12	sefulu ma le lua	twelve
20	luafulu or lua sefulu	twenty
30	tolugafulu or tolu sefulu	thirty
40	fagafulu or fa sefulu	forty
50	limagafulu or lima sefulu	fifty
60	onogafulu or ono sefulu	sixty
70	fitugafulu or fitu sefulu	seventy
80	valugafulu or valu sefulu	eighty
90	ivagafulu or iva sefulu	ninety
100	selau	one hundred
200	lua lau or lua selau	two hundred
300	tolugalau or tolu selau	three hundred
1000	afe	one thousand
2000	lua afe	two thousand
10,000	mano or sefulu afe	ten thousand
100,000	Selau afe	one hundred thousand
1,000,000	miliona (loan word)	one million

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.^[12]

The prefix fa'a is also used to indicate the number of times. For example; fa'atolu - three times. Or fa'afia? - how many times?

To denote the number of persons, the term to'a is used.  For example; E to'afitu tagata e o i le pasi. Seven people are going/travelling by bus.

[edit] See also

• Samoan plant names, includes plants used in traditional Samoan medicine.
• Fa'amatai Samoa's chiefly matai system which includes ali'i and orator chief statuses.

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• An Account of Samoan History up to 1918 by Teo Tuvale [2], NZ Licence CC-BY-SA 3.0, Retrieved 8 March 2010.
• Churchward, Spencer. 1951. A Samoan Grammar, 2nd ed. rev. and enl. Melbourne: Spectator Publishing Company.
• 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.

[edit] External links

Samoan language edition of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[edit] Coursebook

• [3]  Gagana Samoa: A Samoan Language Coursebook (2009), Galumalemana Afeleti L. Hunkin (Programme Director, Samoan Studies, Victoria University of Wellington), University of Hawai'i Press.

[edit] Online resources

• Samoan Grammar
• Online Samoan Dictionary
• Basic Samoan Vocabulary
• Samoan Language Audio Recordings

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