Fiji is most definitely one of the friendliest countries on earth! With her magnificent and welcoming people you can’t help but to fall in love with this place. And what better way to experience it than to learn a bit of Fijian so that you can speak it with the locals?
Dan and I don’t know a lot of Fijian but just using these few words and phrases always brings a smile to the locals. They love the fact that we try to assimilate even if it’s in the smallest of ways.
First it’s important to understand a few of the sounds and things like that so you will actually pronounce the words correctly. Here’s little information we got from ….
When speaking Fijian it’s important to know that words have different vowel sounds to how you read words in English. On top of that, there are a few differences worth mentioning between how to pronounce letters in Fijian compared to English. For example:
“D” has an unwritten “n” in front of it, so Nadi is pronounced “Nandi or the tasty marinated seafood dish called kokoda, is pronounced kokonda”.
“G” has an unwritten “n” in front, so “Sigatoka” pronounced “Singatoka”.
“C” is pronounced “th”, so the “Mamanucas” is pronounced “Mamanuthas”.
“B” has an unwritten “m” in front for some words, so Toberua is pronounced “Tomberua” and “Bula” is pronounced “mbula”.
Below we’ve tried to give you an idea of how to pronounce the words. If you’re unsure, just as a local. They love to share their language with you.
Kalougata! (Good Luck)
| Hello | Bula Bula or Bula Vinaka (mbūla mbūla or mbūla ve naka) |
| Good Morning | Ni sa yadra (nē sa yondra) |
| Good Evening | Ni sa bula |
| Goodbye | Moce (Mō thay) |
| See You Later | Sota Tale (Sōta Tallay) |
| Nice to meet you | la bula |
| Thank You | Vinaka (Vē naka) |
| Thank You Very Much | Vinaka vaka levu (Vē naka vaka ley vū) |
| Please | Kerekere (Kerry Kerry) |
| Cheers | Bula Bula (mbūla mbūla) |
| Excuse Me | Jilou (Chee low) or Tolou (too low) |
| Yes | Eo (ēē ōō) |
| No | Sega (Sang a) |
| No Worries…You can also use this when a watier or bartender asks if you want something else and you do not. | Sega na lega (Sang a na lang a) |
| Numbers | |
| 1 | dua |
| 2 | rua |
| 3 | tolu |
| 4 | va |
| 5 | lima |
| 6 | ono |
| 7 | vitu |
| 8 | walu |
| 9 | ciwa |
| 10 | tini |
| 11 | tini ka dua |
| 12 | tini ka rua |
| 13 | tini ka tolu |
| 14 | tini ka va |
| 15 | tini ka lima |
| 16 | tini ka ono |
| 17 | tini ka vitu |
| 18 | tini ka walu |
| 19 | tini ka ciwa |
| 20 | rua saga vulu |
| 21 | ruasagavulu ka dua |
| 22 | ruasagavulu ka rua |
| 23 | ruasagavulu ka tolu |
| 24 | ruasagavulu ka va |
| 25 | ruasagavulu ka lima |
| 26 | ruasagavulu ka ono |
| 27 | ruasagavulu ka vitu |
| 28 | ruasagavulu ka walu |
| 29 | ruasagavulu ka ciwa |
| 30 | tolu saga vulu |
| 40 | va saga vulu |
| 50 | lima saga vulu |
| 60 | ono saga vulu |
| 70 | vitu saga vulu |
| 80 | walu saga vulu |
| 90 | ciwa saga vulu |
| 100 | drau / e dua na drau |
| 200 | e rua na drau |
| 300 | e tolu na drau |
| 400 | e va na drau |
| 500 | e lima na drau |
| 600 | e ono na drau |
| 700 | e vitu na drau |
| 800 | e walu na drau |
| 900 | e ciwa na drau |
| 1,000 | udolu |
| 5,000 | lima saga udolu |
