Samoan language

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Samoan
gagana Sāmoa
Spoken in	Samoa, American Samoa
Region	Spoken as first language on Samoan Islands Samoa and American Samoa, with substantial communities of speakers in New Zealand, Australia and the U.S.
Total speakers	870,337 total speakers according to Ethnologue (2005)
Language family	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian Oceanic Polynesian Tongan-Samoan Samoan
Official status
Official language in	Samoa (299,377 speakers) and American Samoa (66,700 speakers)
Regulated by	No official regulation
Language codes
ISO 639-1	sm
ISO 639-2	smo
ISO 639-3	smo
Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode.

The Sāmoan^[1] 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 approximately 870,337 Samoan speakers worldwide, 69% of whom live in the Samoan Islands. Thereafter, the greatest concentration is in New Zealand, where people of Samoan ethnicity comprise the fifth 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.

Contents 1 Phonology and alphabet 2 Grammar 2.1 Personal pronouns 3 Vocabulary 3.1 Common phrases and words 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Phonology and alphabet

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

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/, /uː/	/f/	/k/	/l, ɾ/	/m/	/n/, /ŋ/	/p/	/s/	/t/	/v/	(/h/)	(/k/)	(/ɾ/)	/ʔ/

In formal Samoan, with native words, [k] is only found in the interjection puke(ta)! 'gotcha!'. 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] following a back vowel (/a, o, u/) and preceding an /i/. /s/ is less sibilant than in English. /h/ and /r/ are only found in borrowings, and /s/ and /l/ may be substituted for them.

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

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, on the second-last syllable otherwise.

Samoan syllable structure is (C)V, where V may be long or a diphthong. A sequence VV may only occur 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.

[edit] Grammar

[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] Vocabulary

[edit] Common phrases and words

English	Samoan	Approximate IPA[dubious – discuss]
Yes	‘ioe	[ʔi.jo.ɛ]
No	Leai	[lɛ.ɑ.i]
Please	Fa‘amolemole	[fɑ.ʔɑ.mo.lɛ.mo.lɛ]
Thank you	Fa‘afetai	[fɑ.ʔɑ.fɛ.taɪ]
That's all right	‘Ua lelei	[ʔu.wɑ lɛ.lɛɪ]
big - small	tele - la‘itiiti	[tɛ.lɛ] - [lɑ.ʔi.tiː.ti]
quick - slow	vave/tope - gese	[vɑ.vɛ] [to-bɛ] - [ŋɛ.sɛ]
early - late	vave - tuai	[vɑ.vɛ] - [tu.waɪ]
cheap - expensive	taugōfie - taugatā	[tɑ.u.ŋoː.fi.ɛ] - [tɑ.u.ŋɑ.tɑː]
near - far	latalata - mamao	[lɑ.tɑ.lɑ.tɑ] - [mɑ.mɑ.ɔ]
hot - cold	vevela - malulū	[vɛ.vɛ.lɑ] - [mɑ.lu.luː]
full - empty	tumu - gaogao	[tu.mu] - [ŋɑ.o.ŋɑ.o]
easy - difficult	faigōfie - faigatā	[fɑ.i.ŋoː.fi.ɛ] - [fɑ.i.ŋɑ.tɑː]
heavy - light	mamafa - māma	[mɑ.mɑ.fɑ] - [mɑː.mɑ]
open - shut	tatala - tapuni	[tɑ.tɑ.lɑ] - [tɑ.bu.ni]
right - wrong	sa‘o - sesē	[sɑ.ʔɔ] - [sɛ.seː]
old - new	tuai - fou	[tu.waɪ] - [fɔʊ]
old - young	matua - talavou	[mɑ.tu.wə] - [tɑ.lɑ.vo.u]
beautiful - ugly	'aulelei / 'auleaga	[ʔɑʊ.lɛ.leɪ] - [ʔɑʊ.lɛ.ɑ.ŋɑ]
good - bad	lelei - leaga	[lɛ.leɪ] - [lɛ.ɑ.ŋɑ]
better - worse	feoloolo - leaga tele	[fɛ.ɔ.loː.lo] - [lɛ.ɑ.ŋɑ.tɛ.lɛ]
One	Tasi	[tɑ.si]
Two	Lua	[lu.ɑ]
Three	Tolu	[to.lu]
Four	Fa	[fɑ]
Five	Lima	[li.mɑ]
Six	Ono	[ɔ.no]
Seven	Fitu	[fi.tʌ]
Eight	Valu	[vɑ.lʌ]
Nine	Iva	[i.vɑ]
Ten	Sefulu	[sɛ.fʌ.lʌ]

[edit] 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.

[edit] External links

• Samoan Grammar
• Online Samoan Dictionary
• Basic Samoan Vocabulary