Gagana Samoa| Samoan Language
Musings about our beautiful Samoan language – its stunning poetry, its stinging power and all the tricky metaphors, especially in our ‘higher’ speak.
A few years ago I told you about my grandfather's api (notebook) full of alagaupu that I wanted to study and really understand. I was going to look at twelve of those proverbs, consult with the Samoan cultural experts in my life then share with you what I had learned....
Today's Samoa is founded on Christianity, so it's very common for us to give our children Bible names. Because of our Samoan pronunciation, though, it's not always clear to the western ear which Biblical characters our names refer to. And some of these names are so...
What is your favourite loved up pet name for your significant other? It is babe? Baby? Bae? Honey? Hun? Sweetheart? Sweetie? Darling? Dear? So many Samoan couples I know have adopted these English terms of affection, but until quite recently, I had no idea how many...
Another one of my most favourite Samoan jams is Afai Ua e Musu (I love the version by the Five Stars). It's basically a guy telling a girl, "If you don't want me, just tell me. I'm cool. I can hack it. Let's just get this over with." And then he quotes Samoan proverbs...
Uso is the Samoan word for either brother or sister, depending on your gender. In the Samoan language, if you are female, your uso is your sister. If you are male, your uso is your brother. You'll see/hear the word uso thrown around a lot - "Eh, uso!" or "Ua 'li'i,...
My grandfather was a diligent note-keeper. He was a faiava, which means he lived with my grandmother in her village (rather than his own), and he kept several notebooks worth of hand-written records on her family's history and titles. This grandfather was also a...
As the heart of the Pacific ocean, it makes sense that so many of Samoa's alagaupu & muagagana (proverbs & idioms) use the imagery of fishing. Like this one: O le upega e fili i le po, 'ae tatala i le ao Its literal translation: The fishing net is knotted (or...
When I started calling myself Hamo Geek Girl (omg, almost 10 years ago) it made some people uncomfortable. "Do you know the history of the word 'hamo'?" some asked. "Isn't that offensive to Samoans?" asked others. Yes I know. Hamo was not my most favourite word,...
I've been hanging out with my uncle lately. He's a pretty intense kinda guy. He's loud, laughs like thunderclaps - or sometimes suffocation - and he tells those long, drawn out jokes with such conviction the anticipation kills you... and then the punchline is hit or...
While I was slowly picking up Samoan from my family and friends, I'd hear references to another, mysterious, 'higher' version of the language. 'It's different from our everyday Samoan,' ...they would say. 'It's the language that matais and ministers use'. And I would...
Fa'alupega is often the first building block of a Samoan lauga (speech). When addressing a gathering of people, it is custom for the speaker to acknowledge all the other matai in the room, to greet each of them not just by title name, but with an acknowledgement of...
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