Languages in Samoa

Samoan language is the official language practiced all throughout the Samoan Islands that include Eastern and Western Samoa, alike. English comes next as the secondary language incorporated on higher educational instruction. Hence, the country clearly promotes bilingual language system though the native tongue is always of higher regard.

Local language is believed to be of Southeast Asian origin according to linguistic researches. No wonder, it is closely related to the Polynesian tongue attributed to prevalent phonetic similarities. Based on ancient artifacts, it has been utilized a long time ago dating back 3,000 years from the present. In 1834 though, it has taken the written form through the efforts of British missionaries.

Spoken Samoan language has been widespread with 370,000 speakers worldwide. Undoubtedly, this incident is ascribed to the reputation of Samoans as seafarers (navigating people) introducing the language to the rest of the world. Foreign speakers include nationals from countries such as Australia, Fiji, Hawaii, New Zealand, Tonga, and the United States.

As a dynamic native speech, a dichotomy of spoken dialect can be observed. This holds true in the emergence of the literary Samoan and the colloquial Samoan. The former is considered as good speech incorporated in formal communications while the latter is regarded as speech integrated in informal conversations.

Taking pride of the Samoan tongue, the Samoan Language Week has been launched as an official event even in locations overseas such as Australia, and New Zealand. The celebration aims to build awareness and promotion of the language reaching even international communities with the support of UNESCO.