[1] Talofa echoes in such phrases as ta'alofa in Tuvalu, aloha in Hawaiian and aro'a in Cook Islands Māori.
Another Samoan salutation To life, live long!
also echoes in places such as Aotearoa (New Zealand), where the formal greeting in Māori is Kia ora and in Tahiti (French Polynesia) where it is 'Ia orana.
The word was brought to Lifou by the Samoan teachers of the London Missionary Society who converted the population from 1841.
[2] The Official Government Website of American Samoa says: "Talofa is short for 'Si o ta alofa atu,' – which means, 'I am happy and delighted to give you my love.'