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Samoa Gotoarrow.png Language and Languages

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.

Palagis (Caucasians) who try to learn are a great source of entertainment to native speakers. Learn to laugh along with them and be grateful their English is better than your Samoan!

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.







a of, particle used in many ways
a'oga school
ai eat
a'u I, me
ali'i man of rank, chief
alofa love
asu smoke from a fire
Atua God
alu go
aumai get or bring
fa'a In the way of, fa'a Samoa, the Samoan way
fa'afetai thank you
fa'amolemole please
faia'oga teacher
fale house, falea'oga- school house
galuega work
i in, particle denoting position
ie togafine mat
lava commonly used like saying "enough" in English
lavalava clothes, particularly a wrap-around cloth
le the, definite article, plural e
leaga bad
leai no, none, gone
lelei good
lei ivory
matua parent
mai from
motu island
moa chicken
manuia happy, lucky, Manuia le aso
manuia le kerisimasi merry christmas
matai title of extended family chief
o of
oka okaoka, exclamation of surprise
papalagi also palagi, anglos
sa sacred, forbidden
sami sea
sau come
talofa hello
tapu forbidden
taupou title for position of village maiden
timu rain
tofa goodbye
toga fine mat, very valuable
tupe money
tusi write, tusitala, person who writes stories
'ukulele small stringed instrument, you know it!
'ula garland of flowers, 'ulalei, garland of ivory
ulaula smoke
ulu breadfruit
va'a canoe
va'alele airplane, 'flying canoe'
vai water


1. tasi

2. lua

3. tolu

4. fa

5. lima

6 ono

7. fitu

8. valu

9. iva

10. sefulu




100. tasi selau, 200. lua selau, etc.


Kerisimasi Christmas
kolisi college
moa lawn mower
musika music
nusipepa newspaper
sikareti cigarette
telefoni telephone
televise television


enaena brown
lanumeamata green
lanumoli orange
lanumoana blue
mumu red
pa'epa'e white
piniki pink
samasama yellow
uliuli black
viole, mumu pa'auli




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  • This page was last modified on 2 February 2015, at 19:32.
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