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.
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...
A couple years ago, an expectant mother asked the natives in the The Ville (One Samoana's social network at the time) to suggest Samoan names for her new baby girl. The discussion received a handful of genuine attempts to be helpful, but the other 5 pages of replies...
Part 1: Sa fiafia tele Anita ina ua maua tala mai le fomai o ia ua ma'itaga. Ua savali le lua o ona vaiaso. O le tina o Anita ma le tama ia Epati e toatasi si o la alo tamaitai. O le teine o Rosalia ua savali lona fa tausaga. Sa fiafia tele Rosalia ina ua ta'u atu e...
Na uma le mavaega a le alii matua o Pili i ona atalii, ona taitasi lea o le tama ma lau i le vaega o Upolu (po o Manono) ua tofia i ai. Sa tausia pea i nisi tausaga lo latou fealofani ma le filemu i le va o o latou itumalo. Ae peitai, na maliu loa lo latou tama, ona...
Talofa lava! E lua tala o Pili na tusia. O le tala na tusia e Kramer ma le tala sa tusia e Mr. Stuebel. O le tala lenei sa tusia e Mr. Stuebel ua lau silafia e faitau laulu o le atunu’u. E toalua afafine o Faleaseu, o Tinopoula ma Sinaafalua. Na alu Sina i...
Toe faatalofa atu i le mamalu o Samoa atoa e amata mai Saua se’ia pa’ia le Fafa o Saualii. O se tasi lenei o tala ta’uta’ua i le Tala Faasolopito o Samoa. Usi mai loa lau faafofoga. O Feepo le tupuaga o le Malietoa, e to’atolu lana...
Ua uma ona outou silafia o Asoaitu na ia mua’i faatoilaloina Samoa. Na mavae atu ia, ae solo lelei pea le faiga a ona sui ia Samoa. O le avea o Talaaifeii ma tupu o le malo o Toga, na liliu ai le tulaga o mea, ma ua vevesi ona o le saua o lenei tupu, e faapea...
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...
You know how at the end of a long Samoan (usually family) function, someone says the closing prayer then everybody gets up to sing a song together? I love that. Not just because it means we can go home soon and eat the food we’ve already loaded in the car (who does...
Music has been a huge part of my life since, as a very young child, I couldn't go to sleep without somebody singing to me… and then they must have got sick of it cause next minute I get this portable radio thing for my birthday… To this day I STILL find it easier to...
It's been a crazy several weeks on this side of the One Samoana screen. I could write a very boring book about the 'technical issues' that took this entire site off the interwebs for over a month. (Summary: if you're going to run a website, find a webhost who loves...
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