Samoan (All Terms): Difference between revisions
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Created page with "Authors: {{PAGEAUTHORS}} ---- Formerly known as the ''Navigator Islands'', the Samoan archipelago has been the launch site for countless ocean voyages since its settlement 3,000 years ago by the ancestors of today’s Polynesians. Like other Pacific Islander societies, the Samoans possessed an incredible body of astronomical knowledge, cultivated through generations of scientific observational study (tofāmamao). Over time, indigenous wayfinding science has been almost c..." Tags: Visual edit Disambiguation links |
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Latest revision as of 07:41, 8 June 2026
Authors: Youla Azkarrula
Formerly known as the Navigator Islands, the Samoan archipelago has been the launch site for countless ocean voyages since its settlement 3,000 years ago by the ancestors of today’s Polynesians. Like other Pacific Islander societies, the Samoans possessed an incredible body of astronomical knowledge, cultivated through generations of scientific observational study (tofāmamao). Over time, indigenous wayfinding science has been almost completely replaced by digital navigation technologies, but the names and stories attached to some celestial features have persisted through oral traditions and colonial era publications. Beside their value as nautical aids, the moon, stars, and planets also marked the lunar months, annual socioreligious festivals, and the timing of agricultural cycles.[1]
Solar System Names
| Samoan | English | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| lā | Sun | |
| māsina | Moon | |
| Tāʻelo | Mercury | Brownish |
| Tapuʻitea | Venus | Forbidden Radiance |
| Fētūao | Morning Star | |
| Matamemea | Mars | Reddish Face/Surface |
| Tupualēgase | Jupiter | Undying Mystery |
| Fētūʻāsoa | Saturn | Garland Star |
List of Generic Terms
| Samoan Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| ʻemoʻemo, ʻemaʻema | twinkling |
| fanoloa | period of time when star/moon/planet is not visible |
| fetāileliʻi | navigational path formed by a series of constellations/stars rising in sequence |
| fētū | star |
| fētūafi/fētūlele/fētūatiafi | meteor/shooting star ("fire star"/"flying star"/"fire-carrying star") |
| fotu | appearance of star/moon/sun/planet |
| fuifuifētū | constellation ("star clusters") |
| galo | disappearance of star/moon/sun/planet |
| gālouluvao | obstructed view of star/moon |
| gaseʻeleʻele | lunar eclipse |
| gasetoto | solar eclipse |
| goto/ifo/paʻū | to set (descent of star/moon/sun/planet below the horizon) |
| itūlagi | spatial division of the sky/horizon |
| lā | sun |
| lagi e mamā/lagilelei/lagimā | clear view of sky |
| lagi | sky |
| lagivalea | view of sky obstructed by clouds |
| liʻo | observed halo or reflective ring around star/moon |
| maluopeaua | the moment at which a star/moon/planet becomes visible at the horizon ("obscured in the sea mist") |
| māsina | moon |
| mataʻaga | the act of watching the sky for stars/signs |
| nuanua | rainbow |
| oso/aʻe/fānaʻe/aufasa | to rise (ascent of star/moon/sun /planet above the horizon) |
| pale/faliu | to descend from zenith position toward horizon |
| pulou | zenith position |
| pupula | light emitted by sun/star, reflected by moon |
| pusaloa | comet ("smoke plume") |
| sila | endpoint of starpath/orbit (point on the horizon where star/sun/moon/planet is seen to rise/set from) |
| sopolagi | starpath/orbit |
| tafatafailagi | horizon |
| tilotilo | to catch a fleeting glance of star/moon during cloudy conditions |
| vaʻaiiliu | to lay down in the hull to observe the sky above |
| vānimonimo/vāteatea/vāuliuli | outer space ("immeasurable space"/"expanse"/"dark void") |
List of terms (asterism names)
| Samoan Term | Meaning | Designation |
|---|---|---|
| Amoga | Carrying pole | constellation stretching from Pi-3 Orionis to Gamma Monocerotis; associated with the legend of Tiʻitiʻiatalaga; zenith star for traveling between Sāmoa and Tonga. |
| ʻAnava | Heirloom Warclub | constellation found largely within Ursa Major. |
| ʻAniva | Expanse | Milky Way. |
| Aolele | Flying Cloud | Small Magellanic Cloud. |
| Aotea | Pale Cloud | Large Magellanic Cloud. |
| Faipā | Fishhook lure | the entire hook shaped constellation of Scorpius; associated with the legend of ʻAloʻalolelā and the magic fishhook (pā). |
| Fētūsolonuʻu | Gliding Star | Sirius; considered zenith star for traveling between Sāmoa and Fiji. |
| Filo/Mea | Fishing for sumu | Alpha and Beta Centauri individually (no distinction between the two) |
| Iʻofi | Tongs | Taurus; associated with the legend of Tiʻitiʻiatalaga/Maui. |
| Luatagata | Two Men | Alpha and Beta Centauri collectively |
| Matāliʻi | Face of Liʻi | Pleiades |
| Sē | Grasshopper | constellation found within Pegasus; associated with the legend of the tiʻotala (kingfisher) ambushing the grasshopper (sē). |
| Suga/Pae | M4 and M80 within Scorpius (no distinction between the two) | |
| Sumu | Triggerfish | Crux, Southern Cross |
| Tanifā | Sea monster | Cetus (tail of Cetus is the head of Tanifā), pursuing Liʻi (Pleiades). |
| Tanifā | Cetus | |
| Taʻulua | Two Salutations | refers to Sirius during the part of the year when it is visible both at sunrise and sunset (thus "greeted twice" on the same day). |
| Taʻuluaalofi | Taʻulua Westward | Sirius seen at sunset. |
| Taʻuluatuāfanua | Taʻulua Eastward | Sirius seen at sunrise. |
| Telegese | Slow Moving | Sirius; considered zenith star for traveling between Sāmoa and Fiji. |
| Tiʻotala | Kingfisher | Delphinus; associated with the legend of the tiʻotala (kingfisher) ambushing the grasshopper (sē). |
| Toʻivā | Great Adze | Sickle of Leo; associated with the legend of Tapuʻitea (Venus) and her son Toʻivāitotonuoleʻatoatufuga ("Great Adze Within the Builderʻs Tool Basket"). |
| Toloa | Wild duck | asterism within Faipā, representing a flying duck (head of Scorpius); associated with the legend of Suga and Pae (M4 and M80) hunting the Toloa; the duckʻs head (Antares) is recorded as having been used to sail from Pukapuka to ʻUpolu when the star was "low in the sky to the westward". |
| Toloa | head of Scorpius | |
| Tolugāmāuli | Triad of moons | asterism within Amoga (three stars of Orionʻs Belt); associated with legend of Tiʻitiʻiatalaga; noted as the "star course" to sail from Manuʻa to Pukapuka. |
| Tuigālama | Candlenut torch | Orionʻs arm/club; associated with the legend of Tiʻitiʻiatalaga. |
| Tūlālupe | Pigeon Perch | asterism within Faipā (distal tail of Scorpius); associated with the chiefly sport of pigeon snaring. |
References
- References (general)
- References (Samoan)
- ↑ Jake, Fitisemanu (online). Anutan sky culture in Stellarium, https://github.com/stellarium/stellarium , printed in Hoffmann and Wolfschmidt (eds., 2022), Astronomy in Culture --Cultures of Astronomy. Astronomie in der Kultur--Kulturen der Astronomie.: Featuring the Proceedings of the Splinter Meeting at the Annual Conference of the Astronomische Gesselschafb Sept. 14-16, 2021, tredition, Ahrensburg (Germany): 684-689.
