Greek to Samoan: no, not yet, and there is none need different constructions
A negative answer does not specify the whole negative sentence
Greek όχι can answer no, but a longer sentence normally expresses negation within its own construction, such as δεν for an ordinary negative statement. Samoan likewise distinguishes a negative answer from the grammar of a negative clause. Treating one familiar word for no as an all-purpose replacement would obscure the source’s meaning.
The Hawaii Department of Education’s Samoan Language Program Guide distinguishes leai as a negative response, an existential construction for there being none, ordinary verbal negation, and not yet. These distinctions are useful in a status conversation because denying that something exists is not the same as saying that an expected action has not happened.
Not yet leaves an expected event open
Compare the original Greek statements Δεν έφυγε, he or she did not leave, and Δεν έχει φύγει ακόμα, he or she has not left yet. The second explicitly locates an expected departure beyond the present situation. A target sentence that only denies departure may lose that expectation, even when it remains grammatically negative.
The program guide illustrates a departure question followed by a not-yet reply. That example distinguishes the status of an action from the simple answer no. In a travel exchange, the recipient may need to know that a person is still available now rather than infer that the trip has been canceled altogether.
Greek ακόμα in this negative context is therefore not decorative emphasis. A message that someone has not left yet can support a request to wait or deliver something before departure. Translating it as the person never leaves would change both the event pattern and the immediate opportunity described.
An absent object is not an object refusing to act
Alderete and Bradshaw’s Samoan grammar synopsis identifies iai as an existential verb and leai as its negative counterpart. It states that these verbs are not constructed simply by adding an ordinary negative particle. A Greek source Δεν υπάρχει λεωφορείο, there is no bus, should consequently be understood as an availability or existence claim before the target clause is built.
That bus example differs from Δεν έφυγε το λεωφορείο, the bus did not leave. One says that no relevant bus is available or exists in the context; the other denies an action by a bus. Substituting an existential negative for every source sentence containing δεν would erase this practical difference.
A command introduces a third relation. Greek Μην φύγεις, do not leave, addresses somebody’s behavior rather than reporting a departure. The program guide lists negative command constructions separately. A status report that someone has not departed should not be transformed into an instruction for them to stay merely because both sentences involve negation.
The guide is a historical teaching source, and its scanned transcription distorts several Samoan characters. The examples here therefore use its clear grammatical distinctions without reproducing uncertain scanned sentences as modern spelling models. The source-to-target decision is concrete: identify whether the Greek message answers a question, denies existence, reports an action not yet completed, or prohibits an action.
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