Fijian language

Fijian
Na Vosa Vakaviti
Native to Fiji
Native speakers
 340,000  (1996 census)[1]
320,000 second-language users (1991)
Latin-based
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 (Na Vosa Vakaviti) is an Austronesian language of the Malayo-Polynesian family spoken in Fiji. It has 450,000 first-language speakers, 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]

Standard Fijian is based on the language of Bau, which is an East Fijian language.

Phonology

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:

Monophthongs
Front Central Back
short long short long short long
Close i iː u uː
Mid e eː o oː
Open a aː
Diphthongs
Closing
to /i/		 Closing
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:

Orthography

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
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].

Morphology

Pronouns and Person Markers

The pronominal system of Fijian is remarkably rich. Like many other languages, it recognises three persons; first person (speaker), second person (addressee), and third person (all other). In the third person, Fijian makes no distinction between human, non-human, animate, or inanimate[7]. Four numbers are represented; singular, dual, paucal, and plural. Like many Austronesian languages, Fijian pronouns are marked for number and clusivity.

Fijian Pronouns[8]
Person Number
singular dual paucal plural
1INCL subject (e)taru tou (e)ta
object 'eetaru 'etatou 'eta
cardinal 'eetaru 'etatou 'eta
1EXCL subject au~u 'eirau 'eitou 'eimami
object au 'eirau 'eitou 'eimami
cardinal yau 'eirau 'eitou 'eimami
2 subject o (o)mudrau

~(o)drau

 (o)mudou

~(o)dou

 (o)munuu

~(o)nuu

object i'o 'emudrau 'emudou 'emunuu
cardinal i'o 'emudrau 'emudou 'emunuu
3 subject e (e)rau (e)ratou (e)ra
object 'ea rau iratou ira
cardinal 'ea (i)rau (i)ratou (i)ra

Forms and Function

Each pronoun can have five forms, though some person-number combinations may have the same form for more than one function[9] as can be seen in the table above.

The forms are:

Cardinal - used when a pronoun occurs as the head of a NP. A cardinal pronoun is usually preceded by the proper article 'o', except when preceded by a preposition:

(1)[9]

era

sa

la'o

[o

ira]

3PL

ASP

go

ART

3PL

"They are going"

(2)[9]

au

aa

soli-a

[a

niu]

[vei

ira]

1SG

PAST

give-TR

ART

coconut

PREP

3PL

"I gave [the coconut] [to them]

Subject - the first constituent of a predicate, acts as person marking. Examples of these can be seen in examples (1) and (2) above: 'era' and 'au', and (3) below: 'o'

Object - follows the -i-final form of a transitive verb:

(3)[9]

o

aa

biu-ti

ira

2SG

PAST

leave-TR

3PL

"You left them"

Possessive suffix - attaches to inalienable nouns, and

Possessive - precedes the NP head of the 'possessed' constituent in a possessive construction.

(For more information on the form and function of these possessive pronouns, see Possession.)

Use

The major clausal structure in Fijian minimally includes a predicate, which usually (but not always) has a verb at its head[10]. The initial element in the predicate is the subject form pronoun:

(4a)[10]

au

la'o

1SG

go

"I am going"

(4b)

era

la'o

3PL

go

"They are going"

This 'subject marker + verb' predicate construction is obligatory, every other constituent is optional. The subject may be expanded upon by a NP following the predicate:

(5)[10]

era

la'o

[a

gone]

3PL

go

ART

child

"[the children] are going"

"They [the children] are going"

The subject pronoun constituent of a predicate acts mainly as a person marker. Fijian is a VOS language, and while we may translate the subject pronoun as its equivalent in English, the subject NP of a clause in Fijian follows the verb and object when included.

The social use of pronouns is largely driven by respect and hierarchy. Each of the non-singular second person pronouns can be used for a singular addressee. For example, when addressing ones actual or potential in-laws, the 2DU pronoun should be used. Similarly, when addressing a brother or sister of the opposite sex, speakers should use the 2PA pronoun; this can also be used for same sex siblings when the speaker wishes to show respect. The 2PL pronoun can be used to show respect to elders, particularly the village chief.[9]

Syntax

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

The national language debate

In May and June 2005, a number of prominent Fiji Islanders called for the status of Fijian to be upgraded. It was not an official language before the adoption of the 1997 Constitution, which made it co-official with English and Hindustani. It is still not a compulsory subject in schools, however; the present Education Minister, Ro Teimumu Kepa, has endorsed calls for it to be made so, as has Great Council of Chiefs Chairman Ratu Ovini Bokini. Similar calls came from Misiwini Qereqeretabua, the Director of the Institute of Fijian Language and Culture, and from Apolonia Tamata, a linguistics lecturer at Suva’s University of the South Pacific, who both said that recognition of the Fijian language is essential to the nation’s basic identity, as a unifying factor in Fiji’s multicultural society.

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.

Notes

  1. ↑ Fijian at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
  2. ↑ Nordhoff, Sebastian; Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2013). "Fijian". Glottolog. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
  3. ↑ 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
  7. ↑ Dixon 1988: 52
  8. ↑ Dixon 1988: 54-55
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 Dixon 1988: 53
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Dixon 1988: 33

Sources

See also

External links

Fijian edition of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia