Pages 123 to 125.
The first person singular of the verb “to know,” used in the negative,
has two forms:
Ta ilo (Contraction of Ta te lē iloa)
I euphonic neg. know
particle
and
Ua le iloa a’u
Pres. neg. know I
Part.
The former of these expressions has a very different meaning from
the latter although linguistically they represent optional syntactic
forms, the second being literally, “I do not know,” while the first can
best be rendered by the slang phrase, “Search me.” This “Search me”
carries no implication of lack of actual knowledge or information about
the subject in question but is merely an indication either of lack
of interest or unwillingness to explain. That the Samoans feel this
distinction very clearly is shown by the frequent use of both forms in
the same sentence: _Ta ilo ua lē iloa a’u_. “Search me, I don’t know.”
Page 126.
+Sample Character Sketches Given of Members of Their
Households by Adolescent Girls+
(Literal translations from dictated texts)
I
He is an untitled man. He works hard on the plantation. He is tall,
thin and dark-skinned. He is not easily angered. He goes to work
and comes again at night. He is a policeman. He does work for the
government. He is not filled with unwillingness. He is attractive
looking. He is not married.
II
She is an old woman. She is very old. She is weak. She is not able
to work. She can only remain in the house. Her hair is black. She is
fat. She has elephantiasis in one leg. She has no teeth. She is not
irritable. She does not hate. She is clever at weaving mats, fishing
baskets and food trays.
III
She is strong and able to work. She goes inland. She weeds and makes
the oven and picks breadfruit and gathers paper mulberry bark. She is
kind. She is of good conduct. She is clever at weaving baskets and mats
and fine mats and food trays, and painting tapa cloth and scraping and
pounding and pasting paper mulberry bark. She is short, black-haired
and dark-skinned. She is fat. She is good. If any one passes by she is
kindly disposed towards them and calls out, “Po’o fea ’e te maliu i
ai?” (a most courteous way of asking, “Where are you going?”)
IV
She is fat. She has long hair. She is dark-skinned. She is blind in
one eye. She is of good behaviour. She is clever at weeding taro and
weaving floor mats and fine mats. She is short. She has borne children.
There is a baby. She remains in the house on some days and on other
days she goes inland. She also knows how to weave baskets.
V
He is a boy. His skin is dark. So is his hair. He goes to the bush
to work. He works on the taro plantation. He likes every one. He is
clever at weaving baskets. He sings in the choir of the young men on
Sunday. He likes very much to consort with the girls. He was expelled
from the pastor’s house.
VI
Portrait of herself
I am a girl. I am short. I have long hair. I love my sisters and all
the people. I know how to weave baskets and fishing baskets and how to
prepare paper mulberry bark. I live in the house of the pastor.
VII
He is a man. He is strong. He goes inland and works upon the plantation
of his relatives. He goes fishing. He goes to gather cocoanuts and
breadfruit and cooking leaves and makes the oven. He is tall. He
is dark-skinned. He is rather fat. His hair is short. He is clever
at weaving baskets. He braids the palm leaf thatching mats for the
house.[11] He is also clever at house-building. He is of good conduct
and has a loving countenance.
[11] Women’s work.
VIII
She is a woman. She can’t work hard enough (to suit herself). She is
also clever at weaving baskets and fine mats and at bark cloth making.
She also makes the ovens and clears away the rubbish around the house.
She keeps her house in fine condition. She makes the fire. She smokes.
She goes fishing and gets octopuses and _tu’itu’i_ (sea eggs) and comes
back and eats them raw. She is kind-hearted and of loving countenance.
She is never angry. She also loves her children.
IX
She is a woman. She has a son, ———— is his name. She is lazy. She is
tall. She is thin. Her hair is long. She is clever at weaving baskets,
making bark cloth and weaving fine mats. Her husband is dead. She does
not laugh often. She stays in the house some days and other days she
goes inland. She keeps everything clean. She lives well upon bananas.
She has a loving face. She is not easily out of temper. She makes the
oven.
X
She is the daughter of ————. She is a little girl about my age. She is
also clever at weaving baskets and mats and fine mats and blinds and
floor mats. She is good in school. She also goes to get leaves and
breadfruit. She also goes fishing when the tide is out. She gets crabs
and jelly fish. She is very loving. She does not eat up all her food if
others ask her for it. She shows a loving face to all who come to her
house. She also spreads food for all visitors.
XI
Portrait of herself
I am clever at weaving mats and fine mats and baskets and blinds and
floor mats. I go and carry water for all of my household to drink and
for others also. I go and gather bananas and breadfruit and leaves and
make the oven with my sisters. Then we (herself and her sisters) go
fishing together and then it is night.