Fwd: Re: Dialects of Polynesia

[David Lewis]

>X-From_: owner-kanakamaoliallies-l at hawaii.edu  Sat Dec 18 22:03:19 1999
>From: Malpropre at aol.com
>Date:   Sat, 18 Dec 1999 20:02:38 -1000
>Subject: Re: Dialects of Polynesia
>To: kanakamaoliallies-l at hawaii.edu
>X-Mailer: AOL 4.0 for Windows 95 sub 228
>Reply-To: kanakamaoliallies-l at hawaii.edu
>Sender: owner-kanakamaoliallies-l at hawaii.edu
>
>In a message dated 12/18/99 8:58:21 PM Pacific Standard Time,
>Teauai at xtra.co.nz writes:
><< In Samoa
>   k in place of t
>  r in place of l >>
>
>In Samoa there is a difference between formal pronunciation and colloquial.
>In formal the T is used rather than the colloquial K.  Samoans say the K came
>to Samoa from Hawaii in the early 19th century.  Also in formal speech the N
>and G (pronounced NG) are separate but in colloquial the G is used for N and
>G.  Thus the word faafafine becomes faafafige and the word tama becomes kama.
>  I understand the L replaced the R in Hawaiian but I'm not sure about
> Samoan;
>I've rarely heard the R replace the L, but growing up in Europe and
>California I'm not fluent.  I learned Samoan from my mother who would read
>the Samoan Bible with me (which uses the T and L and is based on formal
>Samoan as used by the to'oto'o, the talking chiefs.)  The first missionaries
>to Samoa were from Tahiti and I'm not sure but I believe the Samoan Bible was
>translated by Samoan, Tahitian and European Christians.
>    Mom taught me the importance of soft melodic speech in polite
>conversation.  All the vowels blend into one another which is the reason for
>differentiating the glottal stop vowels; and the T was almost a D, and the P
>was almost a B.  In formal speech in Samoan there are many words which are
>changed from colloquial, thus tatau becomes tapulu or other formal words.
>Metaphor is very important and also the use of phrases from the oral
>literature.  Incidentally in written Samoan the glottal stop and long vowel
>are rarely indicated since it's assumed the reader already knows.
>    I've heard of practices of pi in Polynesia [surely we can one day find a
>better word for our related nations] where ali'i only were allowed certain
>pronunciations, or where certain words were forbidden use by tufanua
>(commons).  For instance, manu is used instead of moa in Manu'a because Moa
>is the family name of the Tui Manu'a.
>   That's all I know but always learning.
>    Ia manuia,
>    Summer

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David Lewis                     541.684.9003
P.O. Box 3086           Cell 541.954.2466
Eugene, OR 97403

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