Gagana Samoa: A Samoan Language Coursebook, Revised Edition

Lesona 22. More on Adjectives

333333333333333 0 LESoNA 22 More on Adjectives You have learnt earlier that adjectives in Samoan usually follow the noun, and generally agree in number with the nouns they describe. This means that while nouns rarely have a plural form, adjectives often do. for example: ‘o se lā‘au tele — a big tree (singular) ‘o ni lā‘au tetele — big trees (plural) Numerals also follow the noun for example: ‘o le tusi e tasi — one book ‘o tusi e lua — two books ‘o tusi e tolu — three books etc. ‘o tusi e sefulu ma le tasi — eleven books ‘o tusi e lua selau — two hundred books People for example: ‘o tagata e to‘alima — five people ‘o tamāloloa e to‘asefulu — ten men ‘o teine e to‘avalusefulu — eighty girls Colours also follow the noun The word lanu means colour. A number of colours in the Samoan language begin with this word. for example: lanumeamata — green (the colour of unripe things) lanumoana — blue (the colour of the deep sea) lanumoli — orange lanupīniki — pink For all other colours, lanu is often omitted. Lesona   EXAMPLES Singular Plural mūmū red mūmū pa‘epa‘e white papa‘e uliuli black uli ‘ena‘ena brown ‘e‘ena samasama yellow samasama lanumeamata green lanumeamata lanumoana blue lanumoana lanumoli orange lanumoli lanupīniki pink lanupīniki for example: ‘o le fale samasama — the yellow house ‘o le polo pa‘epa‘e — the white ball Note: Adjectives that come before the noun are treated as verbs. for example: colours E ‘ena‘ena le ‘ato. — The basket is brown. E mūmū ‘ofutino. — The shirts are red. numerals E tasi le tusi. — There is one book. E selau ta‘avale. — There are a hundred cars. E lima tā1ā. — There are five dollars. EXERCISE 101 Translate / Fa‘aliliu 1. ‘O le peni mūmū. 2. ‘O le ‘ato ‘ena‘ena. 3. ‘O pasi samasama. 4. ‘O lā‘au lanumeamata. 5. ‘O le fale lanumoana. EXERCISE 102 Translate / Fa‘aliliu 1. one boy 2. two boys 3. three girls 4. four cars 5. five books EXERCISE 103 Translate / Fa‘aliliu 1. The ball is red. 2. The chair is white. 3. The coffee is black. 4. The paper is pink. 5. The book is green. EXERCISE 104 Translate / Fa‘aliliu 1. ‘O le ‘ato ‘ena‘ena lenei. 2. ‘O le pasi mūmū lenā. 3. ‘O le solofanua uliuli lale. 4. ‘O le pusi pa‘epa‘e lea. 5. ‘O le maile pa‘epa‘e le1ā.  Gagana Sāmoa EXERCISE 105 Translate / Fa‘aliliu 1. The books are green. 2. The shirts are blue. 3. The cars are pink. 4. The horses are brown. 5. The pens are white. EXERCISE 106 Translate / Fa‘aliliu 1. E tolu va‘alele. 2. E sefulufitu tālā. 3. E toluselau pepa. 4. E to‘avalu tamāloloa. 5. E limasefulu ‘ato. ‘Ie tōga—fine mat ...