Tagata
/taˈŋata/noun
A Samoan word meaning a person, human being, or man.
Did you know?Tagata belongs to a widespread Polynesian family of words for “person,” including Māori tangata and Hawaiian kanaka, reflecting deep shared ancestry across the Pacific.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Austronesian
PAN
*taŋata
“Reconstructed ancestral form associated with a person or human being”
Proto-Oceanic
POC
*taŋata
“Person or human being”
Proto-Polynesian
PPN
*taŋata
“Person, human, or man”
Early Samoan
Samoan
tagata
“Person, human being, or man”
Modern English descriptions
English
tagata
“A Samoan cultural or linguistic term meaning person or human being”