The Samoan Fono: a Sociolinguistic Study
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PACIFIC LINGUISTICS S e.1t-te..6 B - No.8 0 THE SAMOAN FONO: A SOCIOLINGUISTIC STUDY by Alessandro Durant; Department of Linguistics Research School of Pacific Studies THE AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY Duranti, A. The Samoan fono: A sociolinguistic study. B-80, xii + 206 pages. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1981. DOI:10.15144/PL-B80.cover ©1981 Pacific Linguistics and/or the author(s). Online edition licensed 2015 CC BY-SA 4.0, with permission of PL. A sealang.net/CRCL initiative. PAC IFIC LINGUISTICS is issued through the Lingui4tic Ci�cie 06 Canbe��a and consists of four series: SERIES A - OCCASIONAL PAPERS SERIES B - MONOGRAPHS SERIES C - BOOKS SERIES V - SPECIAL PUBL ICAT IONS EDITOR: S.A. Wurm. ASSOCIATE EDITORS: D.C. Laycock, C.L. Voorhoeve, D.T. Tryon, T.E. Dutton. EDITORIAL ADVISERS: B. Bender, University of Hawaii K.A. McElhanon, University of Texas D. Bradley, University of Melbourne H. McKaughan, University of Hawaii A. Capell, University of Sydney P. Muhlhausler, Linacre College, Oxford S. Elbert, University of Hawaii G.N. O'Grady, University of Victoria, K. Franklin, Summer Institute of B.C. Linguistics A.K. Pawley, University of Hawaii W.W. Glover, Summer Institute of K. Pike, University of Michigan: Summer Linguistics Institute of Linguistics G. Grace, University of Hawaii E.C. Polome, University of Texas M.A.K. Halliday, University of Sydney G. Sankoff, Universite de Montreal A. Healey, Summer Institute of W.A.L. Stokhof, National Center for Linguistics Language Development, Jakarta: L. Hercus, Australian National University University of Leiden N.D. Liem, University of Hawaii J.W.M. Verhaar, University of Indonesia, J. Lynch, University of Papua New Guinea Jakarta ALL CORRESPONDENCE concerning PACIFIC LINGUISTICS, including orders and subscriptions, should be addressed to: The Secretary, PACIFIC LINGUISTICS, Department of Linguistics, Research School of Pacific Studies, The Aus tralian National University , Box 4, P.O. , Canberra , A.C.T. 2600. Australia . Copyright (§) Alessandro Duranti First published 1981 The editors are indebted to the Australian National Un�versity for help in the production of this series. This publication was made possible by an initial grant from the Hunter Douglas Fund. National Library of Australia Card Number and ISBN 0 85883 248 8 TABLE OF CONTENTS page Acknowledgments vii List of Figures x List of Tables xi CHAPTER ONE: Goals and Orientati ons 1.1. Introduction 1 1. 2. The Dependency Hypothesis 2 1. 3. The Social Event as Social Context 3 1.4. Social Events as Speech Events 5 1. 5. Plan of this Study 7 1. 6. The Village 9 1. 7. Different Kinds of Fono 13 Notes 18 CHAPTER TWO: Methodol ogy, Data Base, Transcription Conventi ons 2.1. Methods 19 2. 1.1. Direct Participant Observation of Everyday 19 Village Life 2.1. 2. Audio-Re cording of Spontaneous Verbal 20 Interaction in a Number of Settings 2.1. 3. Elicitation of Linguistic Material in 20 Informant Sessions 2.1. 4. Informal Interviews with Village Matai 21 2.1. 5. Transcription of Audio Material 21 2.1. 6. Interpretation of the Fono Speeches and 22 of the Events Behind Them 2.1. 7. Field Notes 23 2. 1 .8. Journal 23 2.1.9. Photographic Documentation 23 2. 2. The Data 23 iii iv 2.3. Transcription Conventions 24 Notes 27 CHAPTER THREE: The Fono as a Soci al Event 3.1. Introduction 28 3. 2. The Purpose of a Fono 29 3.3. The Actors: Interpreting the Ceremonial 30 Greeting 3.3.1. Short Version of Falefa's Fa ' alupega 31 3.3. 2. Other Shortened Version of the Fa ' alupega 36 3.4. The Nature of the Crisis : The Elections 37 3.5. Convocation of a Fono 39 3.5.1. Participants 40 3. 6. Conclusions 42 Notes 44 CHAP TER FOUR: Sitti ng. Dri nking. and Spe ak ing in a Fono 4.1. Introduction 47 4. 2. The Organisation of Space in a Fono: 48 Sitting and Speaking 4. 2 .1. The Ideal Plan 48 4. 2.2. The Actual Seating Arrangement 50 4.2 .3. Status Position and Status Negotiation 57 4. 2 .4. Conclusions to the Organisation of Space in 59 a Fono 4.3. The Organisation of Time in a Fono: 60 Orders of Drinking and Speaking 4.3.1. The Kava Ceremony at the Beginning of the 61 Meeting 4.3. 2. Drinking and Speaking 62 Notes 72 CHAPTER FIVE: Language and Temporal Boundari es 5.1. Introduction 74 5.2. Verbal Interaction Be fore and During a Fono 75 5.2.1. Turn-taking 78 5.2.2. The Lexicon 86 5.2.3. Morphosyntax 88 5.2.4. Prosody' 91 5.3. Closing the Event 91 Notes 99 v CHAPTER SI X: La uga an d Talan oaga: Two Genres in One Eve nt 6.1. A Homology 101 6.2. Land T: A First Distinction 104 6.3. The Organisation of an L in a Fono 104 6.3. l. 'Ava or Acknowledgment of Previous Speakers 106 6.3.2. Fa ' afetai or Everyone is the Same in Front 109 of God 6.3.3. Taeao and Pa' ia: Two Interchangeable Parts 112 6.3.4 . Tulouga 115 6.3. 5. The Agenda of the Day 116 6.3. 6. Closing with a 'Clear Sky ' 117 6.3.7. A Summary of the Lauga Plan 119 6.4. Talanoaga 121 6.4. l. The Overall Organisation of the Discussion 121 6.4.2. Telescoping 122 6.4.3. How to Remedy a Loss of Balance 126 6.5. Linguistic Correlates of the Change from 129 L to T 6.5.l. Taking of Turns 129 6.5.2. Titles and Names in the Fono Speeches 132 6.5.3. Inclusiveness, Exclusiveness and Personal News 133 Notes 140 CHAPTER SEVEN: Lau ga In and Out of a Fono: A Genre Across Soci al Events 7.1. Cross-events Systematic Variation 142 7.2. Purpose-bound Variat ions 144 7.3. Sequence-bound Variations 153 7.4. Participant-bound Variations 155 7.5. Key-bound Variations 156 Notes 160 CHAPTER EIGHT : Eli ci ted Se ntences and Spontaneous Speech. A Criti que of Li nguistic Methods 8.1 . Introduction 162 8.2. Elicited and Spontaneous Speech Data 164 8.2.1. 'Good Speech' and 'Bad Speech ' 165 8.2.2. Lexical- Choice and Sentence Structure 169 8.2.3. Word Order and Semantic Roles 170 8.2.4. Nominalisations in Discourse 175 vi 8.2.5. Other Differences Between Elicited and 178 Spontaneous Speech 8.3. Implicat ions 178 Notes 180 CHAPTER NINE: Concl usions 181 Bibliography 185 Appendix A: List of Abbreviations used in the English Glosses 193 Appendix B: Glossary 194 Maps: 1.1. 10 1.2. 11 4.1. 51 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS One of the most important concepts in Samoan culture is that of " tapua ' i, some times translated in English as 8upporter. Whether driving a car or performing an important ceremonial task , whether building a house or going to the district hospital , in all kinds of daily activities, Samoans know that they could count on the sympathetic company of one or more tapua ' i. Right after avoiding a big hole in the muddy road , the driver would receive the deserved recognition from the passengers . Malo! they would say . Malo fo' i! the driver would answer. One malo would recognize the driver's skills , the other malo would acknowledge the supporters ' sympathy and appreciation . For Samoans , in fact, there is almost no difference between the one who performs a certain task and those who are with him as his supporters . The most skilled speechmaker knows that , at the end of his speech, he will have to share his prize with his tapua ' i. Sometimes a tapua ' i might gain even more than the one who was per forming the task . If the performance went well , in the Samoan view, it is the tapua ' I 's merit as much as it is the performer's. In the writing of this monograph and , much before then, in my fieldwork experience, I had the advantage of having always next to me many tapua 'i, ready to cheer me up or make me feel accomplished. At the end of a difficult negotiation , in the middle of a challenging translation, at the beginning of a new chapter, my tapua ' i always knew when the time had corne for a ma lo! These acknowledgments are my late , but sincere ma lo fo' i! to them . The research on which this study is based was conducted in the village of Falefa , on the island of Upolu, in Western Samoa. I was part of a reserach group from the University of Southern California also comprising Elinor Ochs and Martha Platt . Many people in the village helped us in many different ways and made our work and our participation in the village life possible . In particular, I would vii viii like to thank Rev Fa ' atau 'oloa Mauala and his wife Sauiluma , who accepted our research group as part of their extended family and helped us throughout our whole stay (July 1978 - July 1979) . I learned a great deal about Samoan language and culture from several chiefs and orators in Falefa . In particular, I wish to thank 'Alo Eti , Iuli Sefo, Lua Veni , Savea Savelio, TavQ Utulei , and Tula 'i Tino . They all very generously shared with me much of their knowledge and experience of the fa 'aSamoa . Without their help and patience, I could have never made sense out of the. fono speeches I recorded. I must also thank the younger people who helped me with the tapes of more casual interaction .