Samoan language
You must add a |reason= parameter to this Cleanup template – replace it with {{Cleanup|reason=<Fill reason here>}}, or remove the Cleanup template.
error: ISO 639 code is required (help)
The Sāmoan or Samoan language is the traditional language of Samoa and American Samoa and is an official language in both political bodies. It is a member of the Austronesian family, and more specifically the Samoic branch of the Polynesian subphylum. There are 370,337 Samoan-speakers worldwide, nearly half of them in the Samoan Islands.
Grammar
Pronouns
Like many Austronesian languages, Samoan has separate words for inclusive we 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.
Samoan personal pronouns
| singular | dual | plural | |
|---|---|---|---|
| First person exclusive | a’u | 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-.
English Samoan Pronunciation Yes Ioe Eeoeh No Leai Le-eye Please Faamolemole Fa-aah- moly-moly Thank you Faafetai Fa-ah-fe-tie That's all right Ua lelei Oo-a lelay big / small lapoa / laititi larpoh-ah / lar ee-tee-tee quick / slow tope / gese tor-peh / nge-seh early / late vave / tuai varveh / two eye cheap / expensive taugofie / taugata tar-oo-ngo-fee eh / tar-oo-nga-tar near / far latalata / mamao lar-tah-lar-tar / mar-mar-oh hot / cold vevela / malulu veh-veh-lar / mar-loo-loo full / empty tumu / gaogao too-moo / nga-oh-nga-oh easy / difficult faigofie / faigata fye-ngo-fee-eh / fye-nga-tar heavy / light mamafa / mama marmarfar / mar-mar open / shut tatala / tapuni tartarlar / tarpoo-tartarlar / tarpoo-nee right / wrong sa'o / sese sar-oh / seh-seh old / new tuai / fou too-eye/foe old / young matua / laititi mar-too-ah / lar-ee-tee-tee beautiful / ugly matagofie / mataga mar-tar-ngo- fee-eh / mar tar ngah good / bad lelei / leaga leh-leh-ee / leh leh-ar-ngah better / worse feololo / leaga tele fur-oh-loh-loh / leh-ar -ngah-teh leh
http://www.samoa.ws/dictionary/common-words.cfm
Reference
- Payne, Thomas E. 1997. Describing morphosyntax: a guide for field linguists. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-58224-5.
External links
- Ethnologue main Samoan page
- Samoan - English Dictionary
- Samoan Dictionary - An online Samoan dictionary. Samoan to English, English to Samoan.
.jpg){kind=small} | This Austronesian languages-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |