page_title: Samoan language
section_title: Language preservation
hierarchical_section_title: Samoan language / Vocabulary / Language preservation
caption_attribution_description: English: Hauula Elementary, Oahu Hawaii
context_page_description: Samoan is the language of the Samoan Islands, comprising Samoa and the United States territory of American Samoa. It is an official language, alongside English, in both jurisdictions.
  Samoan, a Polynesian language, is the first language for most of the Samoa Islands' population of about 246,000 people. With many Samoan people living in other countries, the total number of speakers worldwide is estimated at 510,000 in 2015. It is the third most widely spoken language in New Zealand, where more than 2% of the population, 86,000 people, were able to speak it as of 2013.
  The language is notable for the phonological differences between formal and informal speech as well as a ceremonial form used in Samoan oratory.
context_section_description: Though it is not the primary language of a number of nations outside of Samoa, there is an effort by the descendants of Samoans to learn the native language of their ancestors and to better understand their origins and history. Much like any language, a shift is occurring in the way words are spoken and pronounced, especially as Samoans further integrate with other languages. Unfortunately, most looking to learn Samoan are forced to turn to written materials instead of living examples. To preserve the language, linguists must use diacritical marks. Without them, the actual pronunciations of words quickly become altered and lost. The marks are commonly found before, under and above letters in words and are especially helpful for students and non-native speakers to realize the difference the vowels and glottal stops can make in the pronunciation of words.
  Examples include:   
  Below is another example of a sentence with and without diacritical marks from the Samoan Bible (O le tusi paia, o le Feagaiga Tuai ma le Feagaiga fou lea) [1]:
  [Original] Faauta, ua e le foai mai ia te au ...
  [With diacritics] Fa'auta 'ua 'e lē fōa'i mai iā te a'u ...
  Samoan diacritical marks may seem confusing at first due to the way the language shifts based on context. Also, the mixed use of diacritical marks in literature and even within the same publication can surprise non-native speakers. This is evident in the Bible translation created by early missionaries and Reverend George Pratt which features markings in some words and not others. Part of it was due to the need to save time on the writing and typesetting and to use the markings as a guideline. Much like the Bible helped improve literacy and understanding of the language throughout Samoan communities, written works continue to be important in much the same way today.
  The use of the diacritical marks are not only prevalent in Samoan but also other proto-Polynesian languages, such as Hawaiian, where similar pronunciation losses exist. Since native speakers understand how a word should be pronounced without the markings, words are commonly written and accepted with the markings absent. To prevent the loss of correct pronunciations, however, language preservation groups and the Samoan and Hawaiian governments, are taking measure to include diacritical markings in signage, television programs, school materials and printed media.
caption: Sign with diacritic mark for Hauʻula elementary school in Hawaii
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