Grammar and Vocabulary of the Samoan Language, Together With Remarks on Some of the Points of Similarity Between the Samoan and the Tahitian and Maori Languages (Classic Reprint)

The Samoan is a branch of theM alay-P olynesian language, which is spread over the whole island world of the Pacific Ocean fromM adagascar to South A merica, and is to be found (with its various dialects) in theM elanesian, Malayan, and Polynesian groups of islands. It is one of the numerous Polynesian tongues which are in use over the eastern and south-eastern area of Malay-P olynesia, extending, roughly, from New Zealand to the Hawaiian I slands. From the standpoint of grammar the Polynesian languages cannot be regarded as strong, and few letters of the alphabet are utilized. Dand Bare never used; H, R, and Kare of rare occurrence, and then only in words that have been introduced. All words have a vowel termination, and their etymological forms are constructed by the employment of particles attached to the roots, thereby forming agglutinative or polysynthetic words, the particles being sometimes strung one after the other throughout an entire sentence. For example: fa a, to cause, and ima, quite, all faa uma, to finish, terminate ;fia, to be willing ;inU yto drink; fiainu, to be thirsty ;fa a, to induce; oo, to go; fa ao o, to lead, and so on.
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