Samoan language
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| Samoan gagana Samoa | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spoken in: | Samoa, American Samoa | |
| Region: | Spoken as first language on Samoa and American Samoa, with substantial communities of speakers in New Zealand, Australia and the U.S. | |
| Total speakers: | 370,337 total speakers | |
| Language family: | Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian (MP) Nuclear MP Central-Eastern MP Eastern MP Oceanic Central-Eastern Central Pacific East Fijian-Polynesian Samoic Samoan | |
| Official status | ||
| Official language in: | Samoa (199,377 speakers) and American Samoa (56,700 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 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 Pakeha and Maori: 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.
Contents |
[edit] Grammar
[edit] 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 , '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-.
| English | Samoan | Pronounce |
|---|---|---|
| Yes | 'Ioe | Eeoeh |
| No | Leai | Le-eye |
| Please | Fa'amolemole | Fa'ah-mo-leh-moleh |
| Thank you | Fa'afetai | Fa'ah-feh-tye |
| That's all right | 'Ua lelei | Oo-a lelay |
| big / small | tele / la'itiiti | teh-leh / lah ee-tee-tee |
| quick / slow | tope / gese | toh-peh / nge-seh |
| early / late | vave / tuai | vahveh / two eye |
| cheap / expensive | taugōfie / taugatā | tah-oo-ngo-fee eh / tah-oo-nga-tah |
| near / far | latalata / mamao | lah-tah-lah-tah / mah-mah-oh |
| hot / cold | vevela / mālūlū | vehveh-lah/mah-loo-loo |
| full / empty | tumu / gaogao | too-moo / nga-oh-nga-oh |
| easy / difficult | faigoōfie / faigatā | fye-ngo-fee-eh / fye-nga-tah |
| heavy / light | mamafa / māma | mahmahfah / mah-mah |
| open / shut | tatala / tapuni | tahtahlah / tahpoo-nee |
| right / wrong | sa'o / sesē | sah-oh / seh-seh |
| old / new | tuai / fou | too-eye / foh oo |
| old / young | matua / la'itiiti | mah-too-ah / lah-ee-tee-tee |
| beautiful / ugly | matagōfie / mataga | mah-tah-ngo- fee-eh / mah tah ngah |
| good / bad | lelei / leaga | leh-leh-ee / leh-ah-ngah |
| better / worse | feoloolo / leaga tele | feh-oh-loh-loh / leh-ah-ngah-teh leh |
[edit] 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.
[edit] External links
- Ethnologue main Samoan page
- Samoan - English Dictionary
- Samoan Dictionary - An online Samoan dictionary. Samoan to English, English to Samoan.
- Common words reference
- Samoan Language Information - Samoan Language Information with a small Dictionary.br:Samoaeg
bg:Самоански език ca:Samoà de:Samoische Sprache es:Idioma samoano eo:Samoa lingvo fr:Samoan haw:‘Ōlelo Sāmoa it:Lingua samoana lij:Lengua samoann-a ja:サモア語 no:Samoansk pl:Język samoański sm:Gagana fa'a Sāmoa fi:Samoan kieli sv:Samoanska to:Lea fakahaʻamoa zh:萨摩亚语
