#fijian language

[goblinindenial]

Readin' an intro book on Fijian, thoughtfully gi'n tae mich by a lovely kumpy o' mahn, und came 'cross this section, splainen a story of a missionary mixin' up their grammar for clusivity

Auch, Fijian hath trial ‽ Damn!

Neat!

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A i matai ni Lēsoni 1

Based on this document.

Fijian - English

Sā yadra - Good morning Nī sā bula - Greetings Onī sā lako ki vei? - Where are you going? Ki na mākete. - To the market. E vei beka na mākete? - Where perhaps is the market? Oyā. Daru lako. - Over there. Let’s go. Io. Sā vinaka. - Ok. Good. Sā bula - Greetings Sā bula vinaka - Greetings Sā yadra, saka - Good morning, sir Drau bula - Hello to you (dual) Dou bula - Hello to you (plural) Ni sā bula, na marama kei na tūraga - Hello, ladies and gentlemen Sā moce - Goodbye

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Taking apart sentences.

Au se vasaqa qo. - I am cooking right now.

Au - I

Se - particle meaning the verb is happening right now

Vasaqa - to cook

Qo (oqo) - this, or now 

Oiau na taubale. - I am going to walk. (I will walk.)

Oiau - I

Na - future particle

Taubale - to walk

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Fijian Tenses

Based on this page.

“Sa” is present tense: the action described in the sentence is about or has already happened. “A” is the past tense: the action has already happened. "Na” is the future tense: the action has not yet taken place. “Se” is an emphatic present tense. It is to say that the action is in motion while speaking.

Oiau sa lako. - I am going. Oiau a lako. - I went.   Oiau na lako. - I will go. Oiau se lako qo. - I am going right now.  Keitou na cici. - We will run

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Ocei?

Based on this page.

“Ocei” means “who”.

Ocei beka na yacamuni? - What perhaps is your name? (formal) Ocei na taukei ni motoka oqo? - Who is the owner of this car? Ocei beka oiko? - Who are you?

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Getting started in Fijian

This section is based on this page.

Fijian - English

Kedatou (tou) - We (inclusive) Keitou - We (exclusive) Kemudou (dou) - You (plural) Iratou - They (plural)

Tou lako! - Let’s go!  Keitou sa liu. - We’re taking the lead.

Dou tiko evei? - Where are you? (Where are you all?) Ratou sa lialia. - They are stupid.

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Getting Started with Fijian

This section is based on this page.

Fijian - English

Kedaru - We (dual, inclusive)  Keirau - We (dual, exclusive)

Daru lako! - Let’s go! (Spoken from one person to another) Keirau sa lako. - We are going. (Spoken to someone who is not going)

It would seem that the “ke” in “kedaru” can be dropped for one reason or another. The inclusion of “sa” in the second sentence would imply that the particle doesn’t always mark the past tense. Or, “Keirau sa lako” could also mean “We already left.”

Kemudrau - You (dual) Orau - They (dual)

Drau sa lako? - Are you going? (Are the two of you going?) Rau sa lako! - They have gone! (The two of them have gone!)

“Kemudrau” can be shortened to “drau”, and “orau” can be shortened to “rau”. Not sure yet if that affects the meaning of a sentence in any particular way.

[learn-na-vosa-vakaviti-blog]

Getting Started with Fijian

There isn’t really a great deal of material available to study Fijian, but there’s enough to begin learning the basics. This section is based on this site.

Fijian - English

Oiau (au) - I or me Oiko (iko) - you Okoya (koya) - he/she or him/her

Oiau via moce. - I want to sleep.  Oiko via kana? - Do you want to eat? Okoya sa lako. - He left already. The pronouns are straight forward enough, and it appears that verbs don’t conjugate. From this, it seems that “sa” is a past-tense marker of some sort, implying a completed action. Assuming that’s true, you could say: Oiko via lako? - Do you want to leave? Okoya sa kana. - He already ate. Oiau sa moce. - I already slept.