Mālō e lelei mo e fakamālō
Mālō e lelei mo e fakamālō is the Tongan way to say hello and thank you.
This phrase is used when a person wants to acknowledge someone's presence and simultaneously express appreciation for a service or gift in a single polite gesture.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is composed of Mālō e lelei (a standard greeting) and fakamālō (the act of giving thanks), joined by the conjunction mo (and). A literal translation is "goodness is well and the thanks/gratitude".
Did you know?
- The root mālō appears in both the greeting Mālō e lelei and the word for thanks fakamālō, as it originally relates to being strong or healthy.
- While the phrase is polite, in extremely formal settings involving royalty, different, highly specific honorifics are used instead of standard greetings.
- The word lelei is used in many other Pacific languages, such as Tuvaluan, meaning almost the exact same thing.
