Fijian is an Austronesian language of the Malayo-Polynesian family spoken in Fiji. It has 350,000 first-language speakers, which is less than half the population of Fiji. Fijian is a VOS language.

Fijian
Spoken in:	Fiji
Region:	Spoken as first language on Vanua Levu, the eastern half of Viti Levu, and on the lesser islands of Kadavu, Nayau, Lakeba, Oneata, Moce, Komo, Namuka, Kabara, Vulaga, Ogea and Vatoa. In the rest of Fiji, spoken as a second language.
Total speakers:	350,000 native speakers, 200,000 second-language users
Ranking:	Not in top 100
Genetic classification:	Austronesian  Malayo-Polynesian   Central-Eastern    Eastern Malayo-Polynesian     Oceanic      Central-Eastern Oceanic       Remote Oceanic        Central Pacific         East Fijian-Polynesian          East Fijian           Fijian
Language codes
ISO 639-2	fij
SIL	FJI

Contents

1 Fijian alphabet 2 Pronunciation 3 Description 4 External link

Fijian alphabet

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

Pronunciation

There are some consonants that are pronounced significantly differently from English:

• "b" is pronounced /mb/ as in [bamboo];
• "c" is pronounced /ð/ like "th" in [this];
• "d" is pronounced /nd/ as in [candy];
• "dr" is pronounced /nr̃/;
• "g" is pronounced /ŋ/ like "ng" in [singer];
• "q" is pronounced /ŋg/ like "ng" in [finger];
• "v" is pronounced bilabially (/β/).

Vowels may be long or short, but this distinction is not indicated in normal writing.

Word stress falls on the next to last vowel in the word (counting a long vowel as two vowels): itukutuku ("story"), kedatou ("we").

Description

The normal Fijian word order is VOS (Verb Object Subject):

• E rai (1) na no-dra (2) vale (3) na gone (4).
• Sees (1) his (2) house (3) the child (4).
• (The child sees his house.)

External link

• Ethnologue on Fijian