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The Fijian language is spoken as the first language by most indigenous Fijians who make up around 54% of the population. Indo-Fijians make up 37% of the population and speak Fiji-Hindi. English was the sole official language until 1997 and is widely used in government, business, and education as a lingua franca . [ 4 ]
The Fijian language was introduced to Fiji c. 3500 years ago by the islands' first settlers. For millennia, it was the only spoken language in Fiji. In 1835, Methodist missionaries from Australia worked in Fiji to develop a written form of the language.
The majority of Indo-Fijians came from northern, northern eastern and southeastern part of India and converse in what is known as Fiji Hindi (also known as 'Fiji Baat'), this language has been constructed from eastern Hindi dialects mixed with some native Fijian and some English loan words, [32] with some minorities speaking Gujarati, and ...
Australia has the largest Fijian expatriate population, according to the Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs. According to the Australian census, the largest ethnic backgrounds that Fijians identified with were Indian/Indo-Fijian and Indigenous Fijian origins. [2] Fijian New Zealand are also the fifth largest Pacific ethnic group living in New ...
Fiji Hindi is also understood and even spoken by Indigenous Fijians in areas of Fiji where there are large Indo-Fijian communities. A pidgin form of the language is used by rural ethnic Fijians, as well as Chinese on the islands, while Pidgin Fijian is spoken by Indo-Fijians.
The Tongan influence brought Polynesian customs and language into Fiji. The empire began to decline in the 13th century. Across 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) from east to west, Fiji has been a nation of many languages. Fiji's history was one of settlement but also of mobility and over the centuries, a unique Fijian culture developed.
Surnames of Fijian origin (3 P) Pages in category "Fijian-language surnames" The following 16 pages are in this category, out of 16 total.
Topics in Fijian Language History (PhD thesis). Mānoa: University of Hawai'i. Geraghty, Paul A. (1983). The History of the Fijian Language. Oceanic Linguistics Special Publications. Vol. 19. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. Schütz, Albert J. (1962). A dialect survey of Viti Levu (PhD thesis). Ithaca, NY: Cornell University.