Savaiʻi
/səˈvaɪ.iː/noun
Savaiʻi is the largest island of Samoa, in the South Pacific.
Did you know?Savaiʻi is sometimes compared with the Polynesian ancestral-place names Hawaiʻi and Hawaiki, although scholars caution that the exact relationship and meaning remain debated.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Polynesian period
Proto-Polynesian
*Sawaiki
“A reconstructed ancestral or homeland name proposed as a possible source for related Polynesian place names; the reconstruction is debated.”
Early Polynesian settlement
Polynesian
Savaiʻi
“A traditional island name preserved in the Samoan language.”
Pre-European Samoa
Samoan
Savaiʻi
“Name of the major western Samoan island in oral and geographic tradition.”
18th Century
European records
Savaii
“A European spelling of the Samoan island name, generally written without the glottal marker.”
Modern English
English
Savaiʻi
“The standard modern English form for Samoa’s largest island, also written Savaii.”