Word.ws English Dictionary

k-style

k-style noun: the consonant system of colloquial Samoan, differing from that of formal Samoan in a few particulars, among them the pronunciation of /t/ as [k].

Noun

k-style (uncountable)

  1. The consonant system of colloquial Samoan, differing from that of formal Samoan in a few particulars, among them the pronunciation of /t/ as [k].
    • 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...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...
    • 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...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...

Examples of k-style in a sentence

  • 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...
  • These two styles have been termed the t-style and the k-style.2001 August, John F. Mayer, “Introduction”, in Code-Switching in Samoan: T-style and K-style (Theses for the degree of Doctor of...
  • 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”...

Questions about k-style

What does k-style mean?
K-style means the consonant system of colloquial Samoan, differing from that of formal Samoan in a few particulars, among them the pronunciation of /t/ as [k].
How do you use k-style in a sentence?
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).
What part of speech is k-style?
K-style is a noun.

Words near k-style in the dictionary

  1. K-shaped
  2. K-spar
  3. K-spars
  4. K-State
  5. K-Stew
  6. k-style
  7. K-swap
  8. K-swapped
  9. K-swapping
  10. K-swaps
  11. K-T

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: k-style (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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