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==Description== | ==Description== | ||
There are 165,000 people in Western Samoa. All are Polynesian and speak Samoan. American Samoans also have a rich language that remains the main language of the people. | There are 165,000 people in Western Samoa. All are Polynesian and speak Samoan. American Samoans also have a rich language that remains the main language of the people. | ||
English is the second language and all islanders can speak English as well. There are several levels of spoken language. The high talking chiefs have a high oratory of rhetoric that only the indoctrinated can understand. They are the politicians and negotiators. There are regular chiefs that speak the everyday language of the people and get things done. Many have noticed how similar this is to mainland American society. | English is the second language and all islanders can speak English as well. There are several levels of spoken language. The high talking chiefs have a high oratory of rhetoric that only the indoctrinated can understand. They are the politicians and negotiators. There are regular chiefs that speak the everyday language of the people and get things done. Many have noticed how similar this is to mainland American society. | ||
==Word List(s)== | |||
== Brief Vocabulary == | == Brief Vocabulary == | ||
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'''LEARNING TO COUNT''' | '''LEARNING TO COUNT'''<br> | ||
1. tasi<br> | |||
1. tasi | 2. lua<br> | ||
3. tolu<br> | |||
2. lua | 4. fa<br> | ||
5. lima<br> | |||
3. tolu | 6 ono<br> | ||
7. fitu<br> | |||
4. fa | 8. valu<br> | ||
9. iva<br> | |||
5. lima | 10. sefulu<br> | ||
11. sefulutasi, 12. sefululua, 13. sefulutolu, 14. sefulufa, etc.<br> | |||
6 ono | 20. luasefulu, 30. tolusefulu, 40. fasefulu, 50. limasefulu, etc.<br> | ||
21. luasefulutasi, 22. luasefululua, 23. luasefulutolu, etc.<br> | |||
7. fitu | 100. tasi selau, 200. lua selau, etc.<br> | ||
8. valu | |||
9. iva | |||
10. sefulu | |||
11. sefulutasi, 12. sefululua, 13. sefulutolu, 14. sefulufa, etc. | |||
20. luasefulu, 30. tolusefulu, 40. fasefulu, 50. limasefulu, etc. | |||
21. luasefulutasi, 22. luasefululua, 23. luasefulutolu, etc. | |||
100. tasi selau, 200. lua selau, etc. | |||
'''A FEW WORDS BORROWED FROM ENGLISH''' | '''A FEW WORDS BORROWED FROM ENGLISH''' | ||
{| class="plain FCK__ShowTableBorders" | {| class="plain FCK__ShowTableBorders" | ||
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'''COLORS''' | '''COLORS''' | ||
{| class="plain FCK__ShowTableBorders" | {| class="plain FCK__ShowTableBorders" | ||
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| viole, mumu pa'auli | | viole, mumu pa'auli | ||
| | | purple | ||
|} | |||
==Alphabet and Pronunciation== | |||
Samoan is from the Austronesian family of languages. It is closely related to other Polynesian languages, especially Tongan. Here is a very cursory overview of the language and some vocabulary. | |||
Consonants: p,t,m,n,g,f,v,s, and a glottal stop, ' | |||
A glottal stop is when you start a vowel with your throat closed, as usually is done in English. If you didn't, the word 'apple' would sound like 'happle.' | |||
More letters k,h and r were added to the Samoan alphabet for foreign or borrowed words. To complicate things for the beginner, in the common vernacular some consonants are transposed when spoken: l for r and k for t. Thus the name Maria can become Malia and telefoni can become kelefoni. | |||
The "g" is pronounced with "ng" sound, so Pago Pago is pronounced Pahngo Pahngo. You can have fun correcting your educated friends with this one. | |||
Vowels: a,e, i, o, u pronounced generally as in romantic languages such as Spanish and Italian. | |||
==Language Aids and Dictionaries== | |||
==Additional Resources== | |||
==References== | |||
[[Category:Samoa]] [[Category:Language and Handwriting]] | [[Category:Samoa]] [[Category:Language and Handwriting]] | ||