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Samoan language
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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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 on neighboring islands, and the USA | |
| 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 |
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| Official status | ||
| Official language of: | 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. See IPA chart for English for an English-based pronunciation key. | ||
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.
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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 | Pronounce |
|---|---|---|
| Yes | 'Ioe | Eeoeh |
| No | Leai | Le-eye |
| Please | Fa'amolemole | Fa'ah-mo-le-mole |
| Thank you | Fa'afetai | Fa'ah-feh-ti |
| That's all right | 'Ua lelei | Oo-a lelay |
| big / small | lāpo'a / la'itiiti | lahpoh-ah / 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 / māmā | 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 leh-ar-ngah |
| better / worse | feoloolo / leaga tele | feh-oh-loh-loh / leh-ah -ngah-teh leh |
- Payne, Thomas E. 1997. Describing morphosyntax: a guide for field linguists. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-58224-5.
Samoan language edition of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Ethnologue main Samoan page
- Samoan - English Dictionary
- Samoan Dictionary - An online Samoan dictionary. Samoan to English, English to Samoan.
- Common words reference
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