Fiji Hindi

Fiji Hindī
Native to	Fiji, with significant minorities in the Australia, New Zealand, USA, Canada
Language family	Indo-European Indo-Iranian Indo-Aryan Fiji Hindī
Writing system	Latin, Devanagari script
Language codes
ISO 639-3	hif

Fiji Hindi (Devanagari: फ़िजि हिन्दि)is a language derived from Hindi and other North Indian dialects, which is spoken in Fiji by most Fijian citizens of Indian descent. It has borrowed a large number of words from Fijian and English and is spoken with the musical lilt of the Pacific languages. First generation Fiji Indians who used the language as a lingua franca in Fiji referred to the language as Fiji Baat (Fiji Talk). Recent studies by linguists have confirmed that Fiji Hindi "is a distinct dialect based on Hindi as spoken in India but with its own special grammar and vocabulary suited for Fiji."

The Development of Fiji Hindi

Indian indentured labourers were initially brought to Fiji mainly from districts of eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. They spoke numerous, mainly Hindi, dialects and languages depending on their district of origin. These have been grouped, into related dialects and summarised in the table below:

Dialects spoken by early Indentured Labourers

Language/Dialect	Number	Percentage
Bihari	17,868	39.3%
Eastern Hindi	16,871	37.1%
Western Hindi	6,903	15.2%
Rajasthani	1,111	2.4%
Other Languages	1,546	3.4%
Overseas Colonies	640	1.4%
Unknown	500	1.1%
TOTAL	45,439	100%

Note that Bhojpuri, spoken by 35.4% of north Indian migrants, has been included in the Bihari group and Awadhi, spoken by 32.9%, has been included in the Eastern Hindi group.

A language soon developed in Fiji that combined the common elements of the dialects of Hindi spoken in these areas as well as some Fijian and English words to form a unique language known as Fiji Hindi, which has diverged significantly from the varieties of Hindi and Urdu spoken on the Indian sub-continent.

Common Language for All Indians in Fiji

Later, approximately 15,000 Indian indentured labourers, were brought from South India, who were mainly speakers of Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam languages. By this time Fiji Hindi was well established as the lingua franca of Fiji Indians and the South Indian labourers had to learn it to communicate with the more numerous North Indians and European overseers. After the end of the indenture system, Indians who spoke Gujarati and Punjabi arrived in Fiji as free immigrants. At present a few Indians in Fiji speak Tamil, Telugu and Gujarati at home but all speak and communicate with each other in Fiji Hindi.

Fiji Hindi is also understood by native Fijians in areas of Fiji with large Indian majorities. Following the recent political upheaval in Fiji, a large number of Fiji Indians have migrated to Australia, New Zealand, United States and Canada. They have largely maintained their culture and language, Fiji Hindi.

Unlike Hindustani (an omnibus term covering both Hindi and Urdu), which is mandated in the Constitution of Fiji as one of three official languages, the others being English and Fijian, Fiji Hindi has no formal recognition, and is not used in the Fijian education system or in religious ceremonies or other formal contexts, but is the patois of the people of Indian origin in their day-to-day conversations.

Some writers have begun to use Fiji Hindi, which until recently was used as a spoken language only, as a literary language. The Bible has been translated into Fiji Hindi, and the University of the South Pacific has recently begun offering courses in the language. Fiji Hindi is written using both the Latin alphabet and the Devanagari script.

A Fiji Hindi movie has also been produced depicting Fiji Indian life style and is based on a play be a Fiji Indian writer, Raymond Pillai.

It should be noted that there are large number of Hindi words used in English.

English Words used in Fiji Hindi

book, friend, boat, boil, bull, kick, school, flood, building, busy, bottle, game, garden, town, side, taxi, bus, phone, mobile, table, striker, goal keeper, referee, free kick, soccer, rugby, bag, door, gate, ball, fence, grass, pen, tv, video game, computer, radio, program, draw, cupboard, tap, box, van, cement, block, engine, fan, news, aeroplane, island, lock, ice-cream, fight, boxing, wrestling, bouncer, heart attack

Fijian Words used in Fiji Hindi

Fiji Hindi Word in Latin Script	Fiji Hindi Word in Devanagari Script	Fijian Origin	Meaning
nangona	नंगोना	yagona	kava
tabale	तबाले	tavale	wife's brother
bilo	बिलो	bilo	cup made of coconut, used to drink kava

Fiji Hindi words derived from English

Fiji Hindi Word in Latin Script	Fiji Hindi Word in Devanagari Script	English Origin	Meaning
apul	आपुल	apple	apple
aspatal	अस्पताल	hospital	hospital
baggi	बग्गि	buggy	two wheeled bullock or horse drawn cart
bakas	बोक्ष	box	box
belfoot	बेल्फ़ुट	breadfruit	a tropical fruit
bulut	बोल्ट	bolt	bolt
falawa	फ़लावा	plow	plow
filam	फ़िलाम	film	movie, cinema
gilas	गिलास	glass	tumbler or sheet glass
giras	गिरास	grass	grass
girmit	गिर्मित	agreement	agreemnet signed by indentured labourers
gwan	गुआन	go on	to shoo away an animal
hamma	हामा	hammer	hammer
kantap	कन्टाप	canetop	the leafy part of the sugar cane plant used as cattle fodder
kichin	किचिन	kitchen	kitchen
kulambar	कुलम्बर	overseer	overseers used to ask labourers to "call number"
motar	मोटर	car	car
palet	पलेट	plate	plate
paraka	पराका	(fire)cracker	fire cracker
sabbal	सब्बल	shovel	shovel
sakis	साकिस	cinema	cinema
sat	साट	shirt	shirt
tamaku	तमकु	tobacco	cigerattes or tobacco
tanki	टन्कि	tank	tank
taul	टौल	towel	towel

Numbers in Fiji Hindi

For numbers less than ten, the Hindi words are used with slight changes in pronunciation and for numbers larger than 10, English words are used. Most older Fiji Indians, and those living in rural areas, are able to count up to 20 in Hindi, which has two differences from Fiji Hindi: the number six in standard Hindi is chhah (छह) while in Fiji Hindi it is chhe (छे), while the number two in standard Hindi is do (दो), while in Fiji Hindi it is dui (दुइ). The first twenty numbers are shown below:

Number in English	Number in Standard Hindi Devanagri Script	Number in Standard Hindi Roman Script	Number in Fiji Hindi Roman Script
one	एक	ek	ek
two	दो	do	dui
three	तीन	teen	teen
four	चार	chaar	chaar
five	पांच	paanch	paanch
six	छ	chah	che
seven	सात	saat	saat
eight	आठ	aath	aath
nine	नौ	nau	nau
ten	थस	das	das
eleven	ग्यरह	gyarah	gyarah
twelve	बारह	baarah	baarah
thirteen	तेह्रह	tehrah	tehrah
fourteen	चौदह	chaodah	chaodah
fifteen	पन्द्रह	pandhrah	pandhrah
sixteen	सोलह	solah	solah
seventeen	सत्रह	satrah	satrah
eighteen	आठारा	atharah	atharah
nineteen	ऊन्निस	unnis	unnis
twenty	बिस	bis	bis
thirty	तिस	tiis	tiis
forty	चालिस	chaalis	chaalis
fifty	पाचास	pachchas	pachchas
sixty	साठ	saath	saath
seventy	सत्तर	satthar	satthar
eighty	आस्सि	assi	assi
ninety	नब्ब्य	nabbay	nabbay
hundred	सौ	sau	sau
thousand	हज़ार	harar	harar
million	दस लाख	das lakh	million

Numbers greater than 20 are made up of a combination of the Hindi multiple of ten plus the Hindi number between one and nine. For example, the number twenty-one in Fiji Hindi is a translation of "twenty and one". Thus in Fiji Hindi twenty-one in biis aur ek ( बिस और एक) and thirty - seven is tiis aur saat ( तिस और सात). Hindi numbers lakh (100,000) and karor(10 million) are not used.

See also

• Fiji
• India
• Hindustani
• Indo-Fijian

External links

• The first ever novel written in Fiji Hindi
• Fiji Hindi version of the Gospels and Romans
• Robert Kay's Fiji Guide
• An expired lease
• Hindustani, Fijian

Bibliography

• J. Siegel, Plantation Languages in Fiji, Australian National University, 1985
• R. F. Moag, Fiji Hindi: A basic course and reference grammar, Australian National University, 1977