Samoan Pronunciation for Reading Scripture Aloud

Five vowels, always the same

Samoan vowels never shift the way English ones do. A is 'ah', e is 'eh', i is 'ee', o is 'oh', u is 'oo'. A macron simply holds the same sound longer. Every vowel in a word is pronounced, so 'Ieova' is four syllables: I-e-o-va.

Consonants are few: f, g, l, m, n, p, s, t, v, plus h, k and r in borrowed words. The letter g is always the 'ng' sound in 'singer', never the g in 'go'. So 'agaga' is 'ah-ngah-ngah'.

The glottal stop

The apostrophe marks a real consonant — a catch in the throat, the same sound in the middle of the English 'uh-oh'. It distinguishes words: 'sao' and 'sa'o' are not the same. In scripture reading, dropping glottal stops can change meaning entirely, which is why careful printings restore them.

Formal and colloquial registers

Spoken Samoan has two styles. The colloquial 'k' style replaces t with k and n with g in everyday speech. The formal 't' style keeps t and n and is used in church, in the fono, and when reading scripture aloud. When you read a verse in worship, use the t style: 'talofa', not 'kalofa'.

Stress usually falls on the second-to-last syllable, unless a macron pulls it to a lengthened vowel. Read slowly; Samoan scripture reading is unhurried by tradition.