Say It In Fijian
Extracted from Say it in Fijian by A.J. Schutz
The Fijian language is part of a widely-scattered language family known as Austronesian or Malayo-Polynesian, reaching west to Madagascar and east to Easter Island.
Fijian spelling comes as rather a surprise to most newcomers to the islands, since it uses some familiar letters in an unfamiliar way. But the system was due neither to any perversity on the part of the first linguists, nor to chance.
Instead, several systems were devised, experimented with, and one was found that was simple, regular and very satisfying to the Fijians, who were learning to read for the first time. The consonant letters that seem unusual to English speakers are these:
b, which represents mb, as in member.
d, which represents nd, as in Monday.
q, which represents ng+g, as in finger.
g, which represents ng, as in singer.
c, which represents th, as in father.
The vowels:
a as in father
e as in day, but without the glide at the end.
i as in see, but without the glide at the end.
o as in go, but without the glide at the end.
u as in zoo, but without the glide at the end.
The consonants:
Most of the consonants other than b, d, q, g and c hold no surprises, but there are some differences from the way the English counterparts are usually pronounced. The letters dr, like b, d and q, are pronounced with a nasal sound in front of them - i.e. ndr. R is rolled or trilled, as in Spanish. And y has not nearly as much glide quality to it as does the English y, as in 'yes'.
Stress:
Unless words end in a long vowel, (that is, long in time, not quality) the stress is always on the next-to-last syllable:
vináka - good, thank you
móce - sleep, good bye
The long vowels receive stress, wherever they appear in a word:
mácáwa - week, sky
kilá - know
Some place names fall into this group; for instance, Nadrogá, a province in the southwet of Viti Levo. Since the last vowel is long, it receives the stress. Unfortunately, only teaching materials and dictionaries mark the long vowels regularly.
Greetings:
The simplest way to begin using Fijian is with the greetings, and the most common is:
Ni sa bula. Bula means literally 'health' or 'life'. Ni refers to a number of people, but it is also a respectful way of referring to just one person. The singular form, sa bula, can be used among close frineds, rather in the same way as tu and du in French and German. You can repeat the phrase for a reply, or say, Ia, vinaka na bula.
Other greetings and common phrases:
Ni sa yadra, which means 'Good morning'.
(Don't forget the n sound before the dr.)
An informal morning greeting is to just say yandra.
Ni sa moce. Literally, this means 'sleep', but it also means 'good-bye' or 'good night'. (Don't forget that c is pronounced th.)
An informal good-bye is just to say moce.
Vinaka means 'good', but it is a way of saying 'thank you'. Vinaka vaka-levu means 'thank you very much'.
English-Fijian vocabulary:
no - sega
yes - io, ia
one - dua
two - rua
three - tolu
four - va
five - lima
six - ono
seven - vitu
eight - walu
nine - ciwa
ten - tini
airplane - waqavuka
and - kei, ka, ia
angry - cudru
animal - manumanu
arrive - yaco
ashamed - madua
awake - yadra
away - yani, tani
back - daku, ki muri
bad - ca
banana - jaina
bar - vale ni yaqona
bashful - madua
bed - i-mocemoce
beer - bia
book - i-vola
bowl - tanoa
bread - madrai
busy - osooso
bus - basi
Caucasian - vavalagi
chief - turaga
child - gone
church - vale ni lotu, vale tabu
cigarettes - tavako
clean - savata
clock - kaloko
clothes - i-sulu
cloud - o
coast - baravi
coconut - niu, bu
cold - batabata
cook - vaka-sasaqa
cost - i-sau
dinner - vaka-yakavi
disease - mate
doctor - vuniwai
dog - koli
don't - kakua
drink - gunu-va
each - dui
English - vaka-valagi
enter - curu
evening - yakavi
fast - totolo, vaka-totolo
father - tama
Fijian - vaka-viti
fly - vuku
food - kakana
forbidden - tabu
forest - veikau
friend - i-tau
friends - veitau
fruit - vua
God - Kalou
good - vinaka
goodbye - moce
good morning - yadra
government - matanitu
great - levu
hair - drau ni ulu
half - veimama
hand - liga
handshake - lululu
handsome - totoka
happy - marau
he - koya
healthy - bula
help - veivuke
hello - bula
hot - katakata
hotel - otela
house - vale
I - au
in - e
island - yanuyanu
kitchen - vale ni kuro
lady - marama
lamp - cina
male - tagane
market - makete
marriage - vaka-mau
matches - masese
meaning - i-balebale
mile - maile
money - i-lavo
month - vula
moon - vula
morning - mataka
mother - tina
name - yaca
news - i-tukutuku
night - bogi
noon - sigalevu
old - makawa
open - dola-va
outside - tuba
pardon me - tulou, vosoti au
payment - i-sau
pen - peni
please - yalo vinaka, beka, mada
pleasure - marau
plant - tea
post office - positovesi
power - mana
pretty - totoka
radio - walesi
rain - uca
reef - cakau
rest - cegu, vaka-cegu
restaurant - vale ni kana
right - dodonu
right (side) - i-matau
ripe - matua
river - iciwai
road - sala, gaunisala
room - rumu
run - cici
sand - nuku
school - koro ni vuli
see - rai-ca
she - koya
shirt - sote
shoe - i-vava
short - lekaleka
sing - laga sere
sir - saka
sit - dabe, tiko
skin - kuli
sleep - moce
slow - bera
smoke - vaka-tavako
soap - sovu
soul - yalo
spouse - wati
stand - tu
stay - tiko
student - gone vuli
stomach - kete
story - i-talanoa
strong - kaukaua
sugar - suka
sunny - siga
sweet - kamikamica
swim - qalo
table - teveli
talk - vosa
tall - balavu
tapa - masi
tapioca - tavioka
taro - dalo
tea - ti
teacher - qase ni vuli
thank you - vinaka
there - keri, kea, koya, oqori
thing - ka
think - nanuma
thousand udolu
time - gauna
tired - oca
tobacco - tavako
today - daidai
toilet - vale lailai
tomorrow - ni mataka
too much - rui
tooth - bati
top - dela
torch - cina
trousers - tarausese
true - dina
turtle - vonu
unhappiness - rarawa
up - cake
very - sara
village - koro
visitor - vulagi
walk - gade, taubale
wash - sava-ta
waste time - moku siga
water - wai
weather - draki
week - macawa
wet - suasua
what - cava
when - naica, ni
where - vei
whether - se
which - cava
white - vulavula
who - cei
wide - raraba
wind - cagi
woman - yalewa
work - cakcaka
yesterday - nanoa
you - iko, drau, dou, koni, ni
youth - cauravou
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