Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Hello and Goodbye

In the Fijian language to say hello, you say bula.

To say goodbye you say moce.

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Daily Fijian Word

kana

To eat.

Au via kana.

I'm hungry.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Daily Fijian Word

qasi

To crawl

E qasi tiko ko koya.

He is crawling.

Monday, July 28, 2008

Mother and father

Tinaqu

My mother.

Tamaqu

My father.

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Numbers: 51 - 60

Fifty one
Lima saga vulu ka dua
Fifty two
Lima saga vulu ka rua
Fifty three
Lima saga vulu ka tolu
Fifty four
Lima saga vulu ka va
Fifty five
Lima saga vulu ka lima
Fifty six
Lima saga vulu ka ono
Fifty seven
Lima a saga vulu ka vitu
Fifty eight
Lima saga vulu ka walu
Fifty nine
Lima saga vulu ka ciwa
SixtyOno saga vulu

Friday, July 18, 2008

Daily Fijian Word

qito

To play

E rau qito na gone.

The children (two) are playing.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Young and old

Bula,

To denote age for people in Fijian, as in young and old we use qase and gone:

qase

old


gone

child



E qase ko tamaqu.

My father is old.


E gone ko luvequ.

My child is young.

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Here, there, and everywhere!

Here
Oqo
There
Oqori (for something close to the speaker's audience)
There
Oya (for something distant)



Oqo e dua na vale.

This is a house.


Oqori na nomu i sele.

That is your knife.


Oya na nona vale.

That is his house.

Monday, July 14, 2008

Daily Fijian Word

Ika

Fish

Oqo na kequ ika.

This is my fish.

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Numbers: 41 - 50

Forty one
Va saga vulu ka dua
Forty two
Va saga vulu ka rua
Forty three
Va saga vulu ka tolu
Forty four
Va saga vulu ka va
Forty five
Va saga vulu ka lima
Forty six
Va saga vulu ka ono
Forty seven
Va a saga vulu ka vitu
Forty eight
Va saga vulu ka walu
Forty nine
Va saga vulu ka ciwa
FiftyLima saga vulu

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Fijian Dates

Bula!

On the top of the right hand side menu bar, I've added the current date with the month and day in Fijian. Check it out daily to help learn the months and days in Fijian!

Moce,
Chris.

Friday, July 11, 2008

Yesterday, today, and tomorrow

Yesterday
Nanoa
Today
Nikua
Tomorrow
Mataka

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Numbers: 31 - 40

Thirty one
Tolu saga vulu ka dua
Thirty two
Tolu saga vulu ka rua
Thirty three
Tolu saga vulu ka tolu
Thirty four
Tolu saga vulu ka va
Thirty five
Tolu saga vulu ka lima
Thirty six
Tolu saga vulu ka ono
Thirty seven
Tolu a saga vulu ka vitu
Thirty eight
Tolu saga vulu ka walu
Thirty nine
Tolu saga vulu ka ciwa
FortyVa saga vulu

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Daily Fijian Word

taubale

To walk.


Au taubale ki na noqu cakacaka.

I walk to my work.

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

The sun and the moon

Bula vinaka!

I just learned a few interesting Fijian phrases today, dealing with the sun and the moon:

Sa dromu na mata ni siga.

The sun is rising.

Sa cadra na mata ni siga.

The sun is setting.

Sa dromu na vula.

The moon is rising.

Sa cadra na vula.

The moon is setting.


Notice that vula is used to represent both moon and month.

Monday, July 7, 2008

Possessions - Drink

Ni sa bula!

Yesterday (nanoa), we covered possessives when dealing with food. Today (nikua) we will look at possessives and drink:

Oqo na mequ wai.
This is my water.

Oqo na memu wai.
This is your water.

Oqo na mena wai.
This is his water.
When referring to drink, we use "me". To identify a singular owner, we use one of the following:
mequmine
memuyours
menahis, hers, or its

Sunday, July 6, 2008

Possessions - Food

Ni sa bula!

Yesterday (nanoa), we covered possessives when dealing with things. Today (nikua) we will look at possessives and food:

Oqo na kequ kakana.
This is my food.

Oqo na kemu kakana.
This is your food.

Oqo na kena kakana.
This is his food.
When referring to food, we use "ke". To identify a singular owner, we use one of the following:
kequmine
kemuyours
kenahis, hers, or its

Saturday, July 5, 2008

Possessions - Things

Ni sa bula!

In the Fijian language there are three broad categories of possession. They are:
  1. Things
  2. Food
  3. Drink
Today, we'll be looking at the first category for things. different suffixes are used depending upon the number of owners. For example:

Oqo na noqu vale.
This is my house.

Oqo na nomu vale.
This is your house.

Oqo na nona vale.
This is her house.
There are three important notes here:
  1. When referring to things, we use "no".
  2. The owner is identified by what is attached after "no":
  3. There is no gender inferred by possessives. So nona may be used for his, her, or its.
To identify a singular owner, we use one of the following:
noqumine
nomuyours
nonahis, hers, or its

Friday, July 4, 2008

Numbers: 21 - 30

Twenty one
Rua saga vulu ka dua
Twenty two
Rua saga vulu ka rua
Twenty three
Rua saga vulu ka tolu
Twenty four
Rua saga vulu ka va
Twenty five
Rua saga vulu ka lima
Twenty six
Rua saga vulu ka ono
Twenty seven
Rua saga vulu ka vitu
Twenty eight
Rua saga vulu ka walu
Twenty nine
Rua saga vulu ka ciwa
ThirtyTolu saga vulu

Thursday, July 3, 2008

Months

January
Janueri
FebruaryFeperuari
MarchMaji
AprilEpereli
MayMe
JuneJune
JulyJulai
August
Okosita
SeptemberSepiteba
OctoberOktova
NovemberNoveba
DecemberTiseba

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Eating and drinking

Au sa via gunu.

I'm thirsty.

Au sa via kana.

I'm hungry.

Au sa via gunu na wai.

I want to drink water.

Au sa via kana na ika.

I want to eat fish.

Au sa vinakata e dua na bilo ni wai.

I want a cup of water.

Au sa vinakata e dua na ika.

I want a fish.

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Days

Monday
Moniti
TuesdayTusiti
WednesdayVukelulu
ThursdayLotulevu
FridayVakaraubuka
SaturdayVakarauwai
SundaySiga Tabu

Monday, June 30, 2008

Numbers: 11 - 20

Eleven
Tini ka dua
TwelveTini ka rua
ThirteenTini ka tolu
FourteenTini ka va
FifteenTini ka lima
SixteenTini ka ono
SeventeenTini ka vitu
EighteenTini ka walu
NineteenTini ka ciwa
TwentyRua saga vulu

Friday, June 27, 2008

Ni Sa Bula!

Welcome to my blog!

My name is Chris and I'm endeavouring to learn to speak Fijian.

I've started this blog to disseminate my learning, encourage dialogue in the Fijian language, and to have other Fijian language speakers correct and enhance my learning experience.

I'm not Fijian, but I'm married to a beautiful Fijian lady. We both would like to become fluent in Fijian and ensure our children learn and speak Fijian also. We live in Sydney, Australia and unfortunately there is almost no support here for those who would like to learn Fijian.

I aim to post random snippets of what I learn everyday and I would encourage others (especially native speakers) to add any comments and corrections.

Chris.

Numbers: 1 - 10

OneDua
TwoRua
ThreeTolu
FourVa
FiveLima
SixOno
SevenVitu
EightWalu
NineCiwa
TenTini