Samoan

Part of speech: adjective, noun

Definitions

1. Relating to the group of islands in the South Pacific and the native people who inhabit them
2. Characterizing the Austronesian language spoken primarily in Samoa and by Samoans
3. Describing the rich cultural traditions, practices, and arts associated with the Samoan community

Etymology: Samoan is a plain formation: the name of the islands, Samoa, with the suffix "-an" attached, meaning "of or relating to" a place. The suffix itself has a long road into English. It descends from a Proto-Italic ending that became the Latin "-anus", passed into Old French as "-ain", and reached Middle English as "-an", where it became a productive way to turn place names into adjectives and nouns for their people. The islands' own name predates any of this. "Sāmoa" is the name used by the Samoan people for their archipelago in the central Pacific, and English took it up in its European form, "Samoa", to describe the islands and, by extension, everything from them. The word therefore carries a native name wrapped in an English suffix that was itself built from Latin material, a reminder that an everyday adjective can combine several languages in a single form.

Synonyms: Samoan language, Samoan people