Palagi

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Palagi (pronounced Palangi) or Papalagi is the Samoan word for a white person or Caucasian. The term has gained widespread use (usually as "palagi") throughout much of the south Pacific.

The term is now also used in New Zealand in a similar way to the Māori term Pākehā, but carries the implied meaning of a white person within Pacific island surroundings, rather than a white person within largely Māori surroundings.

1 Meaning and origin of term
2 Cultural ramifications
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] Meaning and origin of term

The etymology of the term palagi is disputed. Some linguists suggest that the origin may be in the words papa-lagi, meaning "bursting or piercing the sky", possibly a name derived from the tall "sky-piercing" masts of European explorers' ships. Others suggest that the Niuean words "papa-lagi" meaning 'to shut in the head" (from the European habit of wearing hats - previously unknown to many islanders - may be the origin.

Jan Tent, a Macquarie University linguist, and Dr Paul Geraghty, Director of the Institute of Fijian Language and Culture in Suva, suggest that the word may have its origins in the travels of the Polynesians themselves. They believe that the Polynesian islanders may have encountered Malay travellers prior to contact with Europeans, and adopted the Malay word "barang" (meaning imported cloth). Alternatively, they may have picked up the words from the East indian crew of Abel Tasman in the 1640s. Whichever is the case, in 1777 Captain James Cook reported that Tongans called his men " 'Tangata no papalangie', that is ... cloth men."

These researchers also suggest another possible etymology - the Malay word for European, as used in the 17th and 18th centuries, was 'faranggi'. However, they discount this possibility as the word palangi seems to have originally referred to cloth; only later was the word transferred to the people.