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....
I was hanging out with some new friends today over at the Auckland museum (they were celebrating the end of Samoan Language Week in New Zealand) when someone heated up a plate of mmmmmmm German buns. In case you don't know what they are, German buns are a deep fried,...
Our Samoan etiquette series is for people who are new to our culture or just want to brush up on the kind of behavior expected from 'good' Samoans. It's especially helpful if you want to make a good impression on Samoan elders, perhaps the parents of your (hope to be)...
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...
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...
A few days ago, someone asked me why in our Samoan Lyrics database, the categories for Felise Mikaele and Kapena are both empty. Well, it's an interesting and a kinda touchy story. If you're Samoan, especially if you've got any interest in our rugby then you've most...
In our more formal Samoan language, when someone accepts an offer of food or a meal, we refer to that as, “le taliga o le sua.” (Imperative: Tali le sua)
I only fully understood the use of the phrase when my mother shared a memory about my grandfather, from back in the day.
So Google Translate speaks Samoan now.
How amazing is that?
We make up such a small percentage of the world’s population, and so many of us are raised outside of Samoan-speaking communities, that we’re at risk of losing our basic language skills.
And then Google blesses us with this gift.
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...
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,...
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