k-style

In a formal setting with an unknown papālagi visitor, a Samoan would be expected to use the formal t-style, but Ali’imalemanu started his performance in k-style and then switched over to t-style after a few minutes. Later on when he knew me better he mixed the two styles when he told me stories (and, of course, always used the k-style when we talked together with no recorder on, no matter what the subject was).

1987, Even Hovdhaugen, “The Story about Tigilauma’olo”, in From the Land of Nāfanua: Samoan Oral Texts in Transcription with Translation, Notes, and Vocabulary (Series B; 72), Oslo: Norwegian University Press; Institute for Comparative Research in Human Culture, →ISBN, page 19

This study shows that there are two important linguistic styles in modern Samoan which are marked primarily through the alternation of phonological features. These two styles have been termed the t-style and the k-style. Most past descriptions of Samoan have failed to account for linguistic variation in Samoan, and in particular, for the k-style of modern Samoan.

2001 August, John F. Mayer, “Introduction”, in Code-Switching in Samoan: T-style and K-style (Theses for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy; 4121), Honolulu, Haw.: University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, →OCLC, page ix

The two styles are in a diglossic relationship to one another, with the t-style used to mark respect and formality in contexts such as preaching, prayer and radio broadcasts, and in conjunction with use of “chiefly language”, while the colloquial k-style is used in more intimate and/or informal contexts such as the home, when joking, and in casual conversation. […] There are numerous examples from our factory data where code-switching serves to establish solidarity or minimise face threats between Samoan team members. In all these examples, the speakers use the informal k-style of Samoan.

2004, Janet Holmes, Maria Stubbe, “Strategic code-switching in New Zealand workplaces: Scaffolding, solidarity and identity construction”, in Multilingual Communication (Hamburg Studies on Multilingualism; 3), Amsterdam; Philadelphia, Pa.: John Benjamins Publishing Company, →ISBN, part II (Code-switching), pages 140 and 143