Samoan Language Guide

Official language in
Samoa
Script
Latin

Where it's spoken

Samoa's constitution provides, in Article 54, that "all debates and discussions in the Legislative Assembly shall be conducted in the Samoan language and the English language," and requires the Assembly's minutes, bills, and papers to be kept in both languages as well, making Samoan one of the two languages used in Samoa's Legislative Assembly.

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Script & pronunciation

Samoan is written with the Latin alphabet: the Ministry for Pacific Peoples' orthography guidelines list seventeen letters — a, e, i, o, u, f, g, l, m, n, p, s, t, v, h, k, r. The last three consonants, h, k, and r, were added to the alphabet to accommodate biblical names and foreign terms. A separate mark, the koma liliu (an apostrophe), represents the glottal stop and is treated as a consonant by speakers even though it is not formally part of the alphabet. Long vowels are marked with a macron — ā, ē, ī, ō, ū — distinguishing pairs such as toto ("blood") from totō ("to plant"). This app's cards mark these same features in their romanization, as in Fa-'a-fe-tai for Fa'afetai ("Thank you"), where the apostrophe is the koma liliu, and 'O lo-'o la-ta-la-ta mai le a-fā te-le for "A big storm is approaching," where the macron in afā ("storm") marks the long vowel.

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Grammar essentials

Samoan's basic word order places the verb first: according to Pratt's grammar, the nominative (the subject) usually follows the verb. When the subject is placed before the verb instead, this fronting is emphatic and requires a pronoun to be repeated after the verb. This app's card for "'O lo'o latalata mai le afā tele" ("A big storm is approaching") follows this pattern: the verb phrase 'o lo'o latalata mai ("is approaching") comes first, and the subject le afā tele ("the big storm") follows it.

Pratt's grammar describes leai as signifying non-existence and being used for denial; combined with the particle sa it gives sa leai ("there was not"), and with the particle ua it gives ua leai ("there is not"). This app's card for "E leai se fesoasoani o le initaneti" ("There is no internet connection") uses leai the same way, to negate a whole clause. A separate particle, lē, negates an ordinary verb by standing directly before it: this app's card for "Ou te lē mana'o i se 'ato, fa'afetai" ("No bag, thank you") places lē directly before the verb mana'o ("want").

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Politeness & etiquette

Spoken Samoan has two registers distinguished by pronunciation: tautala lelei ("good speech"), the formal register that uses t, and tautala leaga ("bad speech"), the colloquial register that substitutes other consonants for some of the same sounds. Because colloquial pronunciation is not reflected in writing, tautala lelei is the register used for written Samoan. A separate register, gagana fa'aaloalo (also called chiefly language or dignified language), uses a distinct set of words reserved for individuals of high status such as chiefs; rather than a whole conversation being held in this register, respect is usually shown by substituting a single different word for an ordinary one, as in maota or laoa for fale ("house"), or alaala for nofo ("to sit"). This app's card for "Afio mai" ("Welcome," honorific) notes that afio is the ceremonial word for "come," used in place of the everyday sau when welcoming a guest or a person of high status.

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