Language

Bula! This is the common Fijian greeting used when meeting friends or welcoming guests. It goes beyond the simple hello, though, to incorporate spirit and literally means “life” So Bula! And Welcome to the Fijian language section.

Communication

English is the main medium of communication. It is the language the government uses and is the main language of education, commerce and the courts. Fijians do, however, have a constitutional right to communicate with the government in any one of the three official language

Fiji has three official languages that are recognized by their constitution; English, Bau Fijian and Hindustani.

Fijian belongs to the Austronesian family of languages. There are many dialects, but the official standard is the speech of Bau. The Austronesian languages are a family of languages that are found throughout the islands of Southeast Asia and the Pacific and continental Asia. It is one of the largest language families in the world. The word Austronesian comes from the Greek word Austronesia meaning southern islands.

Alphabet

The Fijian alphabet is made up of all of the English letters, except ‘x’. The letters ‘h’ and ‘z’ are rarely used and are usually found only in borrowed words.

Some Fijian Words and Phrases

Family
Mother	nana
Father	tata
Grandmother	bubu yalewa (mother’s mother)
	bubu yalewa (father’s mother)
Grandfather	bubu tagane (father’s father)
	bubu tagane (mother’s father)
Son	luvequ tagane
Daughter	luvequ yalewa
Sister	tuakaqu yalewa (older sister)
	taciqu yalewa (younger sister)
Brother	tuakaqu tagane (older brother)
	taciqu tagane (younger brother)
Aunt	nana levu (mother's older sister)
	nana lailai (mother's younger sister)
	nei (father’s sister)
Uncle	tata levu (father's older brother)
	tata lailai (father's younger brother)
	momo (mother's brother)
Colours
black	loaloa
green	droka.droka, kara.karawa
orange	moli
brown	braun, raradamu
blue	kara.karawa
Numbers
Zero	saiva
One	dua
Two	rua
Three	tolu
Four	va
Five	lima
Six	ono
Seven	vitu
Eight	walu
Nine	ciwa
Ten	ciwa