Albert Schutz for offering visitors this primer on useful Fijian words and phrases. Ni sa bula. Ni refers to a number of people, but it is also a respectful way of referring to just one person. The singular form, sa bula, can be used among close friends, rather in the same way as tu and du in French and German.
You can repeat the phrase for a reply, or say la, vinaka na bula,. Ni sa moce. In Fijian, no rudeness is intended, even though being asked this immediately sounds abrupt to a speaker of English:. E vei ko? Tamavua Korolevu Nausori. O ni tiko e Vei? Where do you live? Au tiko e Viti. I live in Fiji. Au tiko mai Ositerelia. I live in Australia. Au tiko mai na otela I live at the hotel. Many directionals work just like nouns โ that is, they follow the directional particles.
Here are a few: wai seaward liu ahead cake up vanua landward muri behind sobu down dela top of tuba outside i matau right ruku underneath loma inside i mawi left. As in English, Fijian can use directionals to indicate the past and the future. But whereas English looks back to the past, Fijian looks ahead:. In , the Reverend W. His technique โ not a bad one โ was to engage in a constant dialogue like this:. A cava oqo? Evidently, the Reverend Moore was not much concerned about politeness, for his questions do not contain the words that make them less abrupt.
It is much better to use the polite words, as in the following question:. What are you doing? The answer may be:. For example:. Some of them are:. Note the two translations for the first item. E vica na kena i-sau? E vica na i-vodovodo?
How much is the fare? E yalima na sede. E yava na dola ka tini na sede. For items of great cultural importance , Fijian has words that include definite quantities. For example: ten mats e dua na sas3 e dua na buru. E na tekivu e na gauna cava na meke?
