[1]. ON THE MALAY LANGUAGE

The Malay language was inundated in the 12th century by the Arabic. Some letters were then introduced; and all words beginning with those letters are Arabic. There are besides "multitudes of pure Sanscrit word." [Marsden's Malay Dictionary.]

In introducing Arabic the words have been softened in accordance with the genius of the Malay. May not the Malayan words also have been hardened to bring them into accordance with the genius of the Arabic, as iku to ikur; langi to langit.

The Malayan abounds in reduplicated words as lakilaki. Reduplication is a characteristic feature of the Samoan verb. Nouns have no cases. Case is indicated by a preposition. e.g. ka langit, to the sky. An is suffixed to form the noun as pilian, choice, from pili; compare ga in Samoan. Gender is denoted by adding male or female. The adjective follows the noun, and is not otherwise distinguished. Numerals have many resemblances; lima puluh, five feathers, or fifty. In Samoan lima fulu, fifty.

In the verb the causative is indicated by men; as diya men jabat. All tenses in Javanese and in Malay are indicated by adverbs; and this is probably the origin of the verbal particles of the Samoan.

Syntax - The subject generally follows the verb, and the agent precedes; as A horse cats grass. Sometimes the subject precedes; as My plantation the elephants have destroyed. So the Samoan. In the imperfect the agent mostly follows the verb; thus Hear thou. Numerals precede the noun, as, Six men; Samoan, E to'a ono tagata. Sometimes they follow, as, 'O manu e fa, four birds.

Malay has a language of politeness; so. also the Samoan. The Polynesians must have migrated before the Malay became corrupted. Their language, probably, is now nearer to the old Malay than the language at present in use by the Malays. Samoans have lost the, h and softened the k, and changed r into l; but they almost alone have retained the s, and the language of politeness.

[2]. PRACTICAL DIRECTIONS TO EUROPEANS WHO ARE BEGINNING TO LEARN SAMOAN

Letters:

[1] Pronounce vowels as in the Continental languages, not as in English.

[2] Pronounce every vowel distinctly, whether short or long. A difference in the quantity or accent of a vowel makes a difference in the meaning of the word; e.g. manu, a bird; mänu, to rise above.

[3] Of the consonants g is sounded like ng in the English word sing; l, with a or u before it, and i after it, is sounded as a soft r, almost as ad.

[4] The "break." which stands for the dropping out of a consonant, usually k, must be carefully observed.!!

Accent

The accent falls on the penultimate syllable. Names of places at a distance, of families, and some other words have a long vowel at the end. A contracted syllable is always long, as lë for le e. The voice is raised on the last word of a sentence.

The Article

Se is equal to a or an, Eng; but le is often used by Samoans where a is used in English,: as, 'O le ali'i Pai. Pai is a chief.

Nouns

Verbs and adjectives, in their simple form, with, 'o le put before them, are used as nouns. When a noun formed from a verb by adding a suffix [ga &c.] is used to express the idea of agency or action. it takes the genitive preposition a, not o, after it; as, 'O le faiga o le fale, the building of the house; but 'O le faiga a fale, the builders of the house. This rule generally regulates also the vowels of the possessive pronouns lona, lana &c. and the dative preposition mo, ma.

I. ON THE ALPHABET AND ON PRONUNCIATION

1. The Samoan Alphabet proper consists of only fourteen letters:- a, e, i, o, u, f, g, l, m, n, p, s, t, v. The Samoan names of the consonants are: fa, nga, la, mo, nu, pi, sa, ti, vi.

2. VOWELS, - a is pronounced, - [1] long, as a in father, pa, a wall; [2] rather short, as a in mat: patilima, to clap hands; [3] very short, very nearly like u in smut: as mate, dead maliu, dead; vave, quick, be quick.

The difference between the long and short sounds of a is very important, as a great many words, spelt in the same way, have widely different meanings, only known by the pronunciation and quantity of the vowel sound, as -- tama, father; tama, boy, child; tina, mother; tinä, wedge; auä, because; 'aua, don't; aüa, a fish; fa'amoega, a sheath; fä'amoega, a war feast; manu, a bird, animal; mänu, to appear above [on the surface] ; mätua, a parent; matua, elder, ripe; afa, sinnet; afä, storm; tagata, man; tagatä, full of people; fai, to do; fäi to abuse.

3. E, i, o, u, are pronounced as in Continental languages. Each of these letters has both a long and short quantity, as pepë, pl. of pë, dead; tigä, pain; tïti, a girdle of ti leaves; pöpö, to pat; popo, dry; pupu, ironbound coast.

The vowels e and i are carefully distinguished in pronunciation, although the distinction between them is not always detected by a foreigner unaccustomed to the difference. Even in conjunction with a as a diphthong, as ai, ae, they are by no means confounded to a native ear.

E is pronounced --

[1] like the final e in café, or

[2] as in the words, poetical, there.

But the final e in most Samoan words is not very distinguishable from i, i.e., it is not pronounced as a final e in German words. I is pronounced like ee in sheep, sleep. The following are apt to be mispronounced by foreigners: vai, water; vae, leg; Mate, dead, is erroneously pronounced as mati, fig. Important also is the distinction between tai, tide, and tae, excrements.

U, is never pronounced like the diphthongal u in cube, tube, etc. It always corresponds to the oo of book. The following words illustrate another slight difference in pronunciation, üa, rain; ua, [verbal particle].

4. CONSONANTS,

[1]. G [nga] is always nasal, as ng in sing, i.e., the n and g intimately coalesce. Its pronunciation is easily caught by those who have learnt how to pronounce the French word encore. Some foreigners have difficulty with this sound at the beginning of syllables: galuega, work; agaga, spirit, gataaga, end; i gatai, seawards; i gauta, inland.

[2]. L [La] is the same as in English, except when preceded by a, o, or u, and followed by i, when it is pronounced by most natives like a soft r, almost approaching a d sound, for which it is substituted, in similar situations in New Zealand [Maori] words, as kirikiri, pronounced kidikidi; so in Samoan aliali is pronounced ariari; olioli, is pronounced oriori; uliuli, as uriuri.

Although this rule is uniform, it is better to keep the letter l in the word and not write r. For example, the name of the island, Apolima, pronounced Aporima, is derived from apo and lima. But r is both written and pronounced in foreign introduced names and words, Roma not Loma; Farane [France], not Falane.

[3]. S is not quite so sibilant as in English. It is called Sa.

[4]. The letters, f, m, n, p, t, v, are pronounced as in English.

[5]. In addition to these fourteen letters, there is a sound, something between h and k, which has the value of a consonant and represents in Samoan the k of other kindred dialects. This sound is called "a break," and is represented by an inverted comma, as u'a, paper-mulberry. This word is in Niuean, uka.

The 'break" is a very important distinction between words otherwise similar in spelling, and must be carefully observed: ulu, head [of men, etc.] ; 'ulu, a breadfruit; i'a, fish; ia, precative particle] ; ta'e, to break; tae, excrements; fua, fruit; fu'a, flag, ensign; läu, thy; la'u, my.

[6]. In foreign introduced words k and r are retained, as Keriso, [Greek, Christos] ; karite, barley, from krithe [Greek]

-But

d becomes t, as Tavita, David;

ph becomes f, as Ferukia, Phrygia.

G and c hard, become k, as Kerika, Greek, [more frequently however Eleni,from Hellene represents Greece, Greek, Grecian.] Kanana, Canaan.

H is also retained at the beginning of some proper names, as Herota, Herod.

Z becomes s, Sakaria;

w becomes u, or v, Uiliamu, William;

b becomes p, as Petania, Bethany.

In some foreign names h is changed to s, as Sapai for Hapai.

NOTE: Many natives are exceedingly, careless and incorrect in the pronunciation of consonants, and even exchange or transpose them without confusion and almost unnoticed by their hearers, as manu for namu a scent; lagoga for lagona, to understand; lava'au for vala'au, to call; but they are very particular about the pronunciation of the vowels.

[7]. Two similar vowels cannot occur together without a "break" between, except in a few cases of compound words; as mataala [pronounced almost as if it were matäla, but not quite] ; mataali, to fall blighted; mataafi, a large fire. These words are pronounced without the "break," but the two vowels are distinguishable. But agaaga is both written and pronounced agaga, spirit; so alaala is pronounced alälaa. When two such vowels come together in forming new words, or in commencing a word with the vowel which terminates the preceding word and with which it stands in close connection, are pronounced by a single impulse of the voice, as one long vowel; as mata alofa [matälofa], benevolent-looking; alofa atu, to love, pronounced alofätu.

A few cases occur of the coalescence of different vowels; as ma ona, for him, pronounced mona and often so written; ave atu, to take, contracted to avatu; tosina, drawn, contracted from tosoina.

[8]. Every letter is distinctly sounded, so that there are no improper diphthongs.

The proper diphthongs are au, as in sau, to come; ai as in fai, to do; ae as in mae, to be stale; ei as in lelei, good; ou, as in outou, you.

Au may be pronounced like ou in the English word trout; ei almost like ai in pail, [care must he taken not to suppress the i], lelei differs from lele. Ou must not be pronounced as if it were simply o. Ao must be kept from au. The latter is a proper diphthong; the former is not. Each letter is carefully sounded although the two may appear to coalesce. The beginner would do well to listen to a native and pronounce to his satisfaction the word 'aua, don't; ao, day light; aoauli, before noon; otaota, rubbish;

II. ON SYLLABLES AND ACCENT.

[1]. Every syllable must end in a vowel. No syllable can consist of more than three letters, one consonant and two vowels, the two vowels making a diphthong, as fai, mai, tau. No two consonants can come together without a vowel between. Roots are sometimes monosyllabic, but mostly disyllabic.

Polysyllabic words are nearly all derived or compound words; as nofogati, difficult of access, from nofo, to sit or dwell, and gata, difficult; ta'igaafi, the hearth, from ta'i, to attend to the fire, and afi, fire.

[2]. The general rule is that the accent is on the penultima, but to this there are many exceptions of words which take the accent on the ultima, and of words which take more than one accent, and there are unaccented words. When a word receives an addition by means of an affixed particle, the accent is shifted forward; as alofa, love; alofäga, loving, or showing love; alofagia, beloved. Many words ending in a long vowel take the accent on the ultima; as ma'elega, zealous; 'onä, to be intoxicated; faigatä, difficult to do.

Verbs formed from nouns ending in a, and meaning "to abound in" "have abundance of" have properly two a's, as pua'ä [pua'aa] , to have plenty of pigs, ponä'[ponaa], full of faults, tagatä, well-peopled; these words are all written with one a accented. In speaking of a place at some distance, the accent of the name is shifted to the last syllable; as "o loo i Safotü." he is at Safotu." The same thing is done in referring to a family; as "sa Muliagä", the family of Muliaga. Most words ending in -ga [not being in these cases verbal nouns with the noun ending –ga], take accent on the last syllable, as tiga, pain; puapuagä, distress; pologä, mouldy; ugä, rotten [of teeth]. So also all words ending in a diphthong, as mamaü, [v. pl. of mau]. mafai, to be able.

Reduplicated words have two accents; as palapala, mud; Agisigi, twilight. Compound words may have even three or four accents, according to the number of words and affixes of which the compound word is composed as töfatumoanaina. To be engulfed. The articles to and so are unaccented. When used to form a pronoun or participle, lë and së are contractions le e and se e and are accented words; O lë ana le mea, the owner, literally: the [person whose [is] the thing.] The ewhich in this case coalesces with the article is the verbal particle.

The sign of the nominative [See §III.] 'o, the prepositions o, a, i, e and the euphonic particles i and te, are unaccented. Ina, the imperative particle is accented on the ultima; ina. The subjunctive particle, is accented on the penultima. The proposition iä is accented on the ultima, the pronoun ia on the penultima.

III. ON THE PARTICLE 'O AS THE SIGN OF THE NOMINATIVE.

If an Article be defined as "an index to the Noun," then this important particle 'o may be so classed. It is the "ko" of other Polynesian dialects.

In Hawaiian it is defined as a prefix to nouns to render them emphatic or definite, [Andrews]. In Tahitian it is called "an Article prefixed to proper names and to pronouns in the Nominative Case," and also to adjectives when used substantively [Jaussen]. Appearing in Tongan, Mangarevan, Rarotongan and even in Fijian, as ko, it performs a precisiely similar function.

In Samoan, the following are the functions performed by the particle 'o:-

[1] It is the sign of the Nominative absolute: "'O a'u, 'o Ieova lou Atua, 'o lë na aumaia 'oe nai le nu'u 'o Aikupito, 'o le mea sa nofo pologa ai," [Exodus xx. 2]. [I, Jehovah thy God, he who brought thee from the land, Egypt, the place where [thou wert] enslavedJ 'O i matia, ma te o atu ia te 'oe.

[2] It is the prefix to proper nouns in the Nominative Case: 'o Ieova; o Tahiti.

[3] It is the prefix to pronouns in the Nominative Case.

[a] to Relative pronouns as 'o le na aumaia oe, etc. 'O e sa nofo pologa [Those who were enslaved].

[b] To Interrogative pronouns: 'O ai 'ea lenei? [Who is this?] 'O fea o i ai o ia? [Where is he?] 'O le lea mea na e faasino mai ai? [Which thing did you point out?]

[c] To Personal pronouns in the Nominative Case:- 'O a'u, 'O i mäua, we two [exclusive of person addressed] ; 'o i täuia, we two [inclusive of person addressed] ; 'o i mätou, we [more than two and exclusive of person or persons adderssed]; 'o 'oe, thou. 'o 'oulua, you [two] ; ‘o ia, he, she; 'o i läua, they [two] ; ‘o i latou, they [more than two].

[d] Demonstrative pronouns in the Nominative Case: as 'o lenei, this; 'o lea. o lenä, that.

[e] Indefinite pronouns, 'o isi [or 'o nisi], some, others.

[4]. Where the particle 'o [to be distinguished from the preposition o] occurs in the sentence prefixed to a noun, pronoun or clause, it is invariably the sign of the Nominative, but the Nominative after the verb [the usual construction in Samoan] does not require the particle ‘o prefixed, as ‘Ua alu le vaa, the canoe is gone [gone is the canoe]. But with the grammatical construction required in logical sequence in a narrative, i.e., in the verbal form ona followed by ai lea, the noun or pronoun may either take the 'o or omit it, as Ona alu ai lea 'o le tamaloa. Then the man went. Ona fai atu lea lo latou tuafafine, Then their sister said.

The function of the particle 'o is illustrated by the following quotation from Exodus xxi. 6: "Ona ta'ita’iina ane lea 'o ia e lona matai i faamasino; e ta'ita'iina foi e ia i le puipui, po 'o le pou o le faitotoa; ona tui lea 'o lona matai i lona taliga i le äu, ona 'au'auna pea lava lea 'o ia ia te ia."

IV. ON THE ARTICLES LE AND SE.

The Articles are le and se. Except when occurring in composition, when used to form a pronoun or a participle, they are unaccented.

1. The Article le is used whenever the idea is definite to the mind. Any object present to the mind of the speaker, even though it be one of many, and, in the sense in which the Indefinite Article is used in English may be indefinite, yet takes the Samoan Definite Article. In narrative and folksong the Indefinite Article is seldom [probably never] used except with the meaning, anyone or anything indefinitely. Even when the Indefinite se would naturally be expected a native will use the Definite Article implying that a definite idea is present to his mind. As, Ua tu mai le vaa, A canoe appears. O le alii, Muliaga, Muliaga is a chief.

To avoid confusion le tasi [the one] would be used where in. English with the same precision "a certain" would be the expression employed, as "O le tasi tagata e aiga ma le tane a Naomi," etc. A certain man related to the husband of Naorni, etc.