Tusi'upu Sāmoa is the pinnacle of over four decades of work - yoked in tandem with the author's principal engagement in a medical career both in and out of Sāmoa - dedicated to following in sentiment the footsteps of pioneers: those early missionaries and Sāmoan contributors who developed such works as Pratt's Grammar and Dictionary of the Sāmoan Language. The author's interest in the Sāmoan language has been widespread, but his three main requirements - to be able to understand the syntax of the language, its phonology and the semantics of Sāmoan words - have become his most compelling considerations.