NCEA Level 2 Samoan flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Glottal stop (koma liliu)

The glottal stop (koma liliu), written ʻ, is a full consonant: fa'i means banana while fai means to do. Long vowels marked with a macron, as in tamā (father) versus tama (child), are equally meaningful.

Tense particles sa, ua, e

A particle placed directly before the verb shows time: sa for past events, ua for completed actions or present states, e for future or habitual actions, and o lo'o for actions in progress.

Progressive marker o lo'o

O lo'o before a verb shows an action happening now: O lo'o sau le pasi means the bus is coming. Ua sau means has come, and e sau means will come.

Verb-initial Samoan clause order

Samoan clauses begin with the predicate, then the subject, then objects or prepositional phrases: Sā alu le tama i le fale (the boy went to the house). Placing 'o before a noun fronts it for emphasis.

Singular and plural verb pairs

Samoan verbs often change form for number: sau (one comes) versus ō mai (several come); alu and ō (go); tū and tutū (stand); savali and sāvavali (walk); nofo and nonofo (sit). The verb form signals how many actors.

Question words: ai, ā, fea

O ai asks who, o le ā asks what, o fea asks where, ānafea asks when, aiseā asks why, fa'apefea asks how, and e fia asks how many.

Reverential vocabulary (upu fa'aaloalo)

Formal words used about chiefs and elders: 'ai (eat) becomes taumafa, sau (come) becomes susū mai, va'ai (look) becomes silasila, tautala (speak) becomes fetalai, and oti (die) becomes maliu.

Sequencing words in Samoan narrative

'Ona ... ai marks then or so; ina ua marks when in past time; a'o marks while; ae marks but; mulimuli ane means afterwards. These signal the order of events in a spoken account.

Greetings and farewells in Samoan

Tālofa lava is the standard greeting and mālō a casual one. Leave-taking uses Tōfā soifua, answered with Soifua. Fa'afetai means thank you, fa'amolemole means please, and tulou is an apology when passing people.

Terms of address: afioga, susuga

Lau afioga addresses a high chief, lau tofa a chief, lau susuga an orator or honoured guest, and lau faia'oga a teacher. Choosing the right term sets the register of a speech.

a-class and o-class possession

Samoan possessives split in two. A-class covers things a person controls or owns, such as la'u tusi (my book) and la'u mea'ai (my food). O-class covers kin, body parts, houses and land: lo'u tamā, lo'u lima, lo'u fale.

Inclusive and exclusive first person

Tāua means we two including the listener; māua means we two excluding the listener. Tātou means we all including the listener; mātou means we excluding the listener.

Stating an opinion in Samoan

Use Ou te manatu... (I think), I lo'u manatu... (in my opinion), or E sili atu... (it is better). Agreement is Ioe, e sa'o (yes, that is correct).

Asking someone to repeat

Say Fa'amolemole, toe fai mai (please say that again) or Tulou, e te mālamalama? (excuse me, do you understand?). Tulou is also said when passing in front of people or interrupting.

Identifying with 'O in replies

Replies that identify someone or something place 'o before the noun: O ai lea? (who is that?) is answered O Siaki; O le ā lena? (what is that?) is answered O se tusi.

Long vowels and glottal stops

Long vowels, marked with a macron, are held about twice as long as short ones, and the glottal stop is a clear break: tamā (father) versus tama (child), fa'i (banana) versus fai (to do).

Articles le, se, ni

Le marks a definite singular noun (the), se an indefinite or nonspecific one (a, some, any), and ni a nonspecific plural. Definite plurals take no article: Ua ō mai tagata means the people are coming.

Ergative particle e

In transitive clauses the person doing the action is marked by e, while the thing acted on is unmarked or takes i: Na faia e Mele le 'ato means the basket was made by Mele.

Topic marker 'o

'O precedes proper nouns and fronted topics: 'O lo'u igoa o Mele means my name is Mele, and 'O le tamaloa, ua sau means as for the man, he has arrived.

Preposition iā for people

Iā marks a human recipient or goal, while i is used for places and things: Na ou avatu le tusi iā Tevita means I gave the book to Tevita.

Causative prefix fa'a-

Fa'a- before a base word makes a causative: malosi (strong) becomes fa'amalosi (to strengthen), sāvali (walk) becomes fa'asāvali (to make walk), and fa'a Samoa means in the Samoan way.

Reciprocal prefix fe-

Fe-, often with a final -'i, forms verbs meaning one another: fe'alofa'i (greet each other), fesoasoani (help one another), and fetaui (meet or fit together).

Noun-forming suffix -ga

Adding -ga to a verb or adjective makes a noun: fai (do) gives faiga (deed, way of doing), nofo (stay) gives nofoaga (place to stay), and tausi gives tausiga (care).

Fa'alavelave in Samoan texts

A fa'alavelave is a family ceremonial occasion or obligation, such as a funeral, wedding or title bestowal, where fine mats ('ie toga) and food are exchanged. In reading texts it rarely means simply trouble.

Samoan formal letter structure

A formal letter opens with the addressee after iā, then a salutation such as Lau afioga or Lau susuga, states its purpose, and closes with Fa'afetai, Tōfā soifua and the writer's name.

Negation: lē and leai

E lē before a verb negates future or habitual actions (E lē sau means will not come), sā lē negates past ones, and leai se... means there is no...: Leai se pese.

Connectives ae, a'o, auā

Ae means but, a'o means while or whereas, auā means because, ona...ai means then or so, fo'i means also, and lava means indeed or very. They link sentences in written Samoan.

Ulutala and fa'ai'uga in a text

Ulutala is the title or heading of a piece of writing, and fa'ai'uga is its ending or conclusion. A well-shaped tala states its subject early and comments on it at the close.

Proverbs: muagagana and alagaupu

Proverbs are quoted in writing after Fai mai le muagagana... (the proverb says...). A common one is O le ala i le pule o le tautua, meaning the path to authority is service.

Counting people with to'a

Cardinal numbers are tasi, lua, tolu, fā, lima, ono, fitu, valu, iva, sefulu; tens add a unit (sefulu lima = 15). People are counted with to'a: e to'a lima tagata means five people.

Macrons and glottal stops in writing

Formal Samoan writing marks long vowels with macrons (ā, ē, ī, ō, ū) and the glottal stop with ʻ. Omitting them alters meaning, as tama (child) and tamā (father) show, and loses accuracy marks.

Tense consistency in narratives

Narratives usually use sa or na for past events, ua for a state reached by now, and e for habitual or general statements. Keeping one time frame per paragraph makes the sequence clear.