Key Samoan sounds, the 'okina glottal stop, macron vowel length, and stress patterns for accurate pronunciation. Front: the sound pattern or example word. Back: meaning plus a plain-English pronunciation note.
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- ʻOkina
- A glottal stop, written as a reversed apostrophe ʻ; it is a full consonant in Samoan, and dropping it can change a word's meaning.
- Macron (faʻamamafa)
- A bar over a vowel (ā, ē, ī, ō, ū) showing the vowel is held about twice as long as a plain vowel.
- G sound
- Pronounced like the "ng" in English "singer," never like a hard English "g." Example word: tagata (person), said "tang-ata."
- No R sound
- Traditional Samoan has no "r" sound; loanwords containing "r" are usually adapted using "l" instead.
- T-style versus K-style speech
- In formal or careful speech, "t" and "n" are used; in casual everyday speech, they are often replaced by "k" and "ng," a well-known feature of Samoan speech style.
- Open syllables
- Samoan words and syllables almost always end in a vowel, not a consonant.
- Five vowel qualities
- Samoan has five vowels, a, e, i, o, u, each with a short and a long version.
- Penultimate stress
- Word stress in Samoan typically falls on the second-to-last syllable.
- F sound
- Pronounced like the English "f."
- S sound
- Always a plain, voiceless "s" as in English "sun."
- V sound
- Pronounced like the English "v."
- Unaspirated P
- A crisper, less breathy "p" than in English, with no puff of air.
- Unaspirated T
- A crisper, less breathy "t" than in English, with no puff of air.
- Unaspirated K
- A crisper, less breathy "k" than in English, with no puff of air.
- M and N sounds
- Standard nasal sounds, as in English "man" and "no."
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