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A Grammar and Dictionary of the Samoan Language, with English and Samoan vocabulary
Notes
Notes
(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 words.” (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 resemblanecs: 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 the 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 eats 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 toa ono tagata. Sometimes they follow, as, ʻO 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. Thier 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 lauguage 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 distinetly, 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. mánu, a bird; manu, to rise above. (3) Of the consonants g is sounded like page viii 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 le 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 aliʻi Pai, Pai is a chief.
Nouns.—Verbs and adjectives, in their simple form, with ʻo le put before them, are used as nouns. When a noun formed from a verb by adding a suflix (ga, &c.) is used to express the idea of agency or action, it takes the genitive preposition a, not o, after it; as, ʻO le faiga o le fale, the building of the house; but ʻO 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.