Today, I will be teaching you some basic Fijian that you can use to get around the island of Fiji, First, let me say that there are (at least) 14 different dialects, but this is the main dialect of Buaun. This dialect is spoken all over Fiji and used in the government, the dialect from my province (or state for those of you in the USA) is the Nadroga dialect. Marau na vuli tiko!
Let’s start with the alphabet:
A- ah, in between “cat” and “caught”
B- mb, as in “numb”
C- th, as in “the”
D- ndr, as in “thunder”
E- eh, as in the way canadians speak
F- this depends on the dialect, but normally its F or V sounding
G- ng- as in “sing”
I- ee, as in “see”
J- ch, as in chacos
K- normal
L- nomal
M- normal
N- normal
O- oh, as in “oh my”
P- normal
Q- nga, as in long, this is a hard G sound
R- normal
S- normal
T- normal
U- oo, as in “boot”
V- normal, but sometimes “p” or "f" is used depending on the dialect (Pussycat vs. vussycat)
W- normal
Y- rarely used, “i” is used instead
After you have practiced that through once… Start combining them!
Bula- mBoo-lah- Hello!
Vinaka- vee-nah-kah- Good, welcome or thanks
Io- ee-oh, Yes
Sega- Seh-ngah- No
Vale- vah-lay- house
Valelailai- vah-lay-lie-lie- bathroom
Set- Seht- okay
Set Tiko- Seht Teekoh- Doing well (tiko is -ing, so technically this is “okaying”)
vaka- turns a word into an adjective and some nouns into verbs
sa- indicates present tense
cava- th-ah-vah- what
na- nah- the
o- article for people
iko- you
ni- indicates formal speech
Ivei?- ee-vay-where
Phrases:
Bula Vinaka- Very Welcome or BIG hello!
Sa vakacava tiko- How are you doing?
Set Tiko- Doing well
O Iko? And you?
Ivei na valelailai- Where is the bathroom?
Oqo- ohn-go- there!
Ka- And for verbs and adjectives
Kei- And for nouns
Masu mada- Mah-soo mahn-dah- let’s pray!
Veivuke au! (Vey-ee-voo-kay- ow) Help me!
Lesu Mai- lay-su my- coming from
Lako Mai- Lah-koh my- going to
Slang:
Seji- Seh-chee- oh my! say what?
Sobo- So-mb-oh- oh my! so sad!
Oi Lei- can mean oh my or a word of exasperation
Isa- How very sad, but can also be a term of endearment
Loloma Yani- References communal care
Now, you can navigate a little bit around Fiji. There are just a couple of apps that teach Fijian, too. Every once in a while, I won’t know a Fijian word, so I’ll fill in the blank with the Spanish word and will get funny looks. Example, you use the word “want” instead of “need” and I will forget and say “necesito” instead… every single time! Haha. But don’t worry if you don’t understand… almost everyone speaks English, too.
Lesu Mai, Amigos ;)
*Props to Tom Courtright, PCV, Group 91 for the help for this blog page
