Fijian language

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Na Vosa Vakaviti
Native to Fiji
Native speakers
340,000  (1996 census)[1]
320,000 second-language users (1991)
Official status
Official language in
Fiji Fiji
Language codes
ISO 639-1 fj
ISO 639-2 fij
ISO 639-3 fij
Glottolog fiji1243[2]

Fijian (Fijian: Na Vosa Vakaviti) is an Austronesian language of the Malayo-Polynesian family spoken in Fiji. It has 450,000 first-language speakers,[citation needed] which is more than half the population of Fiji, but another 200,000 speak it as a second language. The 1997 Constitution established Fijian as an official language of Fiji, along with English and Hindustani, and there is discussion about establishing it as the "national language", though English and Hindustani would remain official. Fijian is a VOS language.[3]



The consonant phonemes of Fijian are as shown in the following table:

  Labial Coronal Palatal Velar
Nasal m n   ŋ
Plosive voiceless (p) t   k
prenasalized mb nd   ŋɡ
Fricative voiceless (f) s   (x)
voiced β ð  
Trill plain   r    
prenasalized   ɳɖr    
Approximant   l j w

The consonant written nr has been described as a prenasalized trill [nr] or trilled fricative [ndr]. However, it is only rarely pronounced with a trilled release; the primary feature distinguishing it from nd is that it is postalveolar, [ɳɖ], rather than dental/alveolar.[4]

The sounds [p] and [f] occur only in loanwords from other languages. The sounds [x] and [h] only occur for speakers from certain regions of the country.

Note the asymmetry between the fricative pairs: bilabial [β] vs. labiodental [f], and dental [ð] vs. alveolar [s].

The vowel phonemes are:

Front Central Back
short long short long short long
Close i u
Mid e o
Open a
to /i/
to /u/
First component is /e/ ei̯ eu̯
First component is /o/ oi̯ ou̯
First component is /a/ ai̯ au̯

In addition, there is the rising diphthong i̯u.

Syllables can consist of a consonant followed by a vowel (CV) or a single vowel (V).[5] Word stress is based on moras; a short vowel counts as one mora, diphthongs and long vowels count as two moras. Primary word stress then goes to the penultimate mora of the phonological word. That is, if the last syllable of a word is short, then the penultimate syllable will be stressed. If the last syllable consists of either a long vowel or a diphthong, the last syllable receives primary stress. That is, stress is on the penultimate mora. Stress is not lexical and can shift when suffixes are attached to the root. Examples:

  • Stress on the penultimate syllable (final short vowel): síga, "day";
  • Stress on the final syllable (diphthong): cauravóu, "youth" (the stress extends over the whole diphthong).
  • Stress shift: rábe, "kick" → rabé-ta, "kick-TR"[6]


The Fijian alphabet is based on the Latin script and consists of the following letters.

a b c d e f g i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w y

Among the consonants, there is almost a one-to-one correspondence between letters and phonemes:

  • b = [mb]
  • c = [ð]
  • d = [nd] (di = [ndʒi])
  • f = [f]
  • g = [ŋ]
  • j = [tʃ] ~ [ndʒ]
  • k = [k]
  • l = [l]
  • m = [m]
  • n = [n] nr = [ɳɖ]
  • p = [p]
  • q = [ŋɡ]
  • r = [r]
  • s = [s]
  • t = [t] (ti = [tʃi])
  • v = [β]
  • w = [ɰ]
  • y = [j] or silent

Note that for phonological reasons ti and di are pronounced [tʃi], [ndʒi] rather than [ti], [ndi] (cf. Japanese chi kana). Hence, the Fijian name for Fiji, Viti, from an allophonic pronunciation of [βitʃi] as [ɸidʒi].

In addition, the digraph dr stands for postalveolar [n̠d̠], or a prenasalized trill [n̠ᵈ̠r̠] in careful pronunciation, or more commonly for some people and in some dialects.

The vowel letters a e i o u have roughly their IPA values, [a ɛ~e i ɔ~o u]. The vowel length contrast is not usually indicated in writing, except in dictionaries and textbooks for learners of the language, where it is indicated by a macron over the vowel in question; Dixon, in the work cited below, doubles all long vowels in his spelling system. Diphthongs are ai au ei eu oi ou and iu, pronounced [ɛi̯ ɔu̯ ei̯ eu̯ oi̯ ou̯ i̯u].


The normal Fijian word order is VOS (verb–object–subject):

  • E rai-c-a (1) na no-na (2) vale (3) na gone (4).
  • 3-sg.-sub. see-trans.-3-sg.-obj. (1) the 3-sg.-poss. (2) house (3) the child (4).
  • (The child sees his house.)

The national language debate[edit]


Fiji Labour Party leader Mahendra Chaudhry also endorsed the call for Fijian to be made a national language and a compulsory school subject, provided that the same status be given to Fiji Hindi—a position echoed by Krishna Vilas of the National Reconciliation Committee.


  1. ^ Fijian at Ethnologue (17th ed., 2013)
  2. ^ Nordhoff, Sebastian; Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2013). "Fijian". Glottolog 2.2. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. 
  3. ^ [1] WALS - Fijian
  4. ^ Ladefoged, Peter; Maddieson, Ian (1996). The Sounds of the World's Languages. Oxford: Blackwell. ISBN 0-631-19814-8.  p 122, 131. The authors use the transcription nḍ, where the sub-dot is their convention for a postalveolar stop that is not prototypically retroflex.
  5. ^ Dixon 1988:15.
  6. ^ Dixon 1988:17


See also[edit]

External links[edit]