Samoan language

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The Sāmoan 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.

There are 370,338 Samoan-speakers worldwide, nearly half of them in the Samoan Islands. Thereafter, the greatest concentration is in New Zealand, where Samoans are the third largest ethnic group after Pākehā and Māori: the 2001 New Zealand census recorded 81,036 speakers of the Samoan language, and 114,435 ethnic Samoans. Separate data showed that 71,769 ethnic Samoans in New Zealand could speak Samoan — 62.7 per cent. The majority of Samoans in New Zealand (76,581 persons or 66.9 per cent), and by implication the greater proportion of Samoan speakers in the country, reside in the commercial capital, Auckland.

According to the 2001 census, there were 22,711 speakers of Samoan in Australia, and 28,091 ethnic Samoans.

Writing systems

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

In formal Samoan, /k/ is only found in puke! 'catch!'. However, in colloquial speech /t/ has come to be pronounced [k], and in addition /n/ has merged with /ŋ/ as [ŋ].

/l/ is pronounced [ɾ] after a back vowel (/a, o, u/) and an /i/. /s/ is less sibilant than in English.

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.

Phonology

Samoan syllable structure is (C)V. Vowels are length-distinct in Samoan.

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-.

Vocabulary

Common phrases and words

The factual accuracy of this section is disputed. Please see the relevant discussion on the talk page.(February 2008)

References

• Milner, G.B. 1993, 1966. Samoan Dictionary. Polynesian Press. ISBN 0 908597 12 6
• Payne, Thomas E. 1997. Describing morphosyntax: a guide for field linguists. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-58224-5.

External links

Samoan language edition of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

• Samoan grammar