Sāmoan Noun
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A noun is part of speech or word class that may include a person, place, thing (including plants and animals).
Although nouns can be defined in a word list as individual words, when written or spoken, they are used in combination with other particles/words such as "ʻO" to more clearly communicate the noun.
ʻO + word = The ...s/es (plural)
With ʻO to start and the individual word, together they form the plural noun.
An explanation to consider is that all nouns written with the particle "ʻO" are plural (as written in this context) until they have a specific article such as ʻO + le, "le" meaning "the" that would make the noun singular.
ʻO + le + word = The ...
With ʻO to start, "le" means "the" in this context.
With "ʻO" being a particle, it is the specific determiner or article "le" meaning "the" that would make the noun singular as written in this context.
ʻO + se + noun = "A" (noun)
With ʻO to start, "se" means "a" in this context.
With "ʻO" being a particle, it is the specific determiner or article "se" meaning "a" that would make the noun singular as written in this context.
Sāmoan | English | Noun type |
ʻĀmataga | Begining | Thing (intangible) |
Fale | House | Place |
Maile | Dog | Thing (Animal) |
Puaʻa | Pig | Thing (Animal) |
Taʻavale | Automobile | Thing |
Tamā | Father | Person |
Tinā | Mother | Person |