Fiji Hindi
This article needs additional citations for verification. (April 2013) |
Fiji Hindi | |
---|---|
Fiji Baat • Fiji Hindustani | |
फ़िजी हिंदी ( Indo-Fijian diaspora | |
Native speakers | (380,000 cited 1991)[1] |
| |
Early forms | |
Dialects | |
Official status | |
Official language in | Fiji |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | hif |
Glottolog | fiji1242 |
Linguasphere | 59-AAF-raf |
Fiji Hindi (
History
These are the percentages of each language and dialect spoken by indentured labourers who came to Fiji.
Language/Dialect | Number | Percentage |
---|---|---|
Bihari languages (Mainly Magahi ) |
17,868 | 39.3% |
Eastern Hindi dialects (Mainly Chhattisgarhi ) |
16,871 | 37.1% |
Western Hindi dialects ( Haryanvi , etc.) |
6,903 | 15.2% |
Rajasthani dialects (Marwari) | 1,111 | 2.4% |
Dravidian languages (Tamil, Telugu, etc.) | 2,186 | 4.8% |
Indian
in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.Over time, a distinct
Indian children born in Fiji will have a mixed language; there are many different dialects amongst the Indian population, and of course much intercourse with the Fijians. The children pick up a little of each language, and do not know which is the one originally spoken by their parents.[3]
Other writers, including Burton[4] (1914) and Lenwood[5] (1917), made similar observations. By the late 1920s all Fiji Indian children born in Fiji learned Fiji Hindi, which became the common language in Fiji of North and South Indians alike.[6]
Status
Pidgin Hindustani | |
---|---|
Fiji Hindi-based pidgin | |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | None (mis ) |
Glottolog | pidg1251 |
Later, approximately 15,000 Indian indentured labourers, who were mainly speakers of
Language | Number of households in 1956 | Number of households in 1966 |
---|---|---|
Fijian Hindustani | 17,164 | 30,726 |
Hindi | 3,644 | 783 |
Tamil | 1,498 | 999 |
Urdu | 1,233 | 534 |
Gujarati | 830 | 930 |
Telugu | 797 | 301 |
Punjabi | 468 | 175 |
Malayalam | 134 | 47 |
Other | 90 | 359 |
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.
Following the recent political upheaval in Fiji, many Indo-Fijians have emigrated to Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United States, where they have largely maintained their traditional Indo-Fijian culture, language, and religion.[citation needed]
Some writers have begun to use Fiji Hindi, until very recently a spoken language only, as a literary language. The Bible has now been translated into Fiji Hindi, and the
A Fiji Hindi movie has also been produced depicting Indo-Fijian life and is based on a play by local playwright, Raymond Pillai.[9]
Phonology
The
- Pronunciation of the vowels ai and au as diphthongs /ɐɪ ɐʊ/, rather than monophthongs /ɛː ɔː/ (as in standard Hindi). For example, bhauji (sister-in-law) and gaiya (cow).
- Coda clusters are removed with the use of epenthetic vowels. For example, dharm (religion) is pronounced as dharam.
- Shortening of long vowels before a stressed syllable. For example, Raajen (a common name) is pronounced as Rajen.[11]
Pronouns
Pronoun | Fiji Hindi | Standard Hindi-Urdu |
---|---|---|
I | Hum | Main |
You (Informal) | Tum | Tu/Tum |
You (Formal) | Aap | Aap |
We | Hum log | Hum/Hum log |
Morphology
Verb
Etymology
In Fiji Hindi verb forms have been influenced by a number of Hindi dialects in India. First and second person forms of verbs in Fiji Hindi are the same. There is no gender distinction and number distinction is only in the third person past tense. Although, gender is used in third person past tense by the usage of "raha" for a male versus "rahi" for a female.
The use of the first and second person
While the third person imperfective suffix -e is of
The third person
The third person definite future suffix -ii is found in both Awadhi and Bhojpuri. Example: प्रधानमंत्री हमलोग के पैसा दई। "Pradhanamantri humlog ke paisa daii" (The prime minister will give us money).
The influence of Hindustani is evident in the first and second person perfective suffix -aa and the first and second person future suffix -ega. Example: हम करा। तुम करेगा। "Hum karaa, tum karega." (I did, you will do).
The origin of the imperative suffix -o can be traced to the
Fiji Hindi has developed its own polite imperative suffix -naa. Example: आप घर के सफा कर लेना। "Aap ghar ke sapha kar Lena." (You clean the house (polite)).
The suffix -be, from Bhojpuri, is used in Fiji Hindi in emphatic sentences.
Another suffix originating from Awadhi is -it. Example: ई लोगन पानी काहे नहीं पीत हैं। "Ee logan paani kahey nahi peet hai." (Why aren't these people drinking water?), but is at present going out of use.[citation needed]
Tenses
Fiji Hindi tenses are relatively similar to tenses in
Sentence | Fiji Hindi | Standard Hindi |
---|---|---|
To come | आना Aana |
आना ānā |
Come! | आओ Aao! |
आओ! āo! |
(I) am coming | हम Ham आत aat (आवत) (aawat) हैं hai |
मैं ma͠i आ ā रहा rahā हूँ hū̃ |
(I) came | हम Ham आया aaya रहा raha |
मैं ma͠i आया āyā |
(I) will come | हम Ham आयेगा aayega |
मैं ma͠i आऊंगा āūṅgā |
(I) was coming | हम Ham आत aat (आवत) (aawat) रहा raha |
मैं ma͠i आ ā रहा rahā था thā |
(I) used to play | हम Ham खेलत khelat रहा raha |
मैं ma͠i खेला khelā करता kartā था thā |
(He/she/they) is/are coming | ऊ oo आवे aawe हैं hai / / ऊ oo लोगन logan आत aat हैं hai |
वो vo आ ā रहा rahā है hai / / वह vah आ ā रही rahī है hai / / वे ve आ ā रहे rahe हैं ha͠i |
(He/she) came | ऊ Oo आईस Aais |
वह vah आया āyā / / वह vah आई āī |
(They) came | ऊ Oo लोगन logan आईन Aain |
वे ve आये āye |
Grammatical features
- Fiji Hindi does not have plurals. For example, one house is ek gharr and two houses is dui gharr. In this example, the number is used to denote plurality. Plurals can also be stated with the use of log. For example, ee means "this person" (singular) and ee log means "these people" (plural). Sabb (all) and dHerr (many) are also used to denote plural. There are some exceptions, however. For example, a boy is larrka (single) but boys are larrkan (plural). Older generations still use a similar form of plural, for example, admian, for more than one man (singular: admi).[citation needed]
- There is no definite article ("the") in Fiji Hindi, but definite nouns can be made by adding the suffix wa; for example, larrka (a boy) and larrkwa (the boy). Definite nouns are also created using the suffix "kana"; for example, chhota (small) and chhotkana (the small one). Another way of indicating a definite article is by the use of pronouns: ii (this), uu (that) and wahii (the same one).[citation needed]
Fijian loan words
Indo-Fijians now use native Fijian words for those things that were not found in their ancestral India but which existed in Fiji. These include most fish names and root crops. For example, kanade for mullet (fish) and kumaala for sweet potato or yam. Other examples are:
Fiji Hindi | |||
---|---|---|---|
Latin Script | Devanāgarī Script | Fijian origin | Meaning |
nangona | नंगोना | yaqona | kava |
tabale | तबाले | tavale | wife's brother |
bilo | बिलो | bilo | cup made of coconut, used to drink kava |
marama | मरामा | marama | wife |
Words derived from English
Many English words have also been borrowed into Fiji Hindi with sound changes to fit the Indo-Fijian pronunciation. For example, hutel in Fiji Hindi is borrowed from hotel in English. Some words borrowed from English have a specialised meaning, for example, garaund in Fiji Hindi means a playing field, geng in Fiji Hindi means a "work gang", particularly a cane-cutting gang in the sugar cane growing districts and tichaa in Fiji Hindi specifically means a female teacher. There are also unique Fijian Hindi words created from English words, for example, kantaap taken from cane-top means slap or associated with beating.
Semantic shifts
Indian languages
Many words of Hindustani origin have shifted meaning in Fiji Hindi. These are due to either innovations in Fiji or continued use of the old meaning in Fiji Hindi when the word is either not used in Standard Hindi anymore or has evolved a different meaning altogether.[12] Some examples are:
Fiji Hindi word | Fiji Hindi meaning | Original Hindustani meaning |
---|---|---|
baade | flood | flooding |
bekaar | bad, not good, useless | unemployed, nothing to do, or useless |
bhagao | elope | abduct |
bigha | acre | 1 bigha = 1600 square yards or 0.1338 hectare or 0.3306-acre (1,338 m2) |
bihaan | tomorrow | tomorrow morning (Bhojpuri) |
Bombaiyaa | Marathi/Gujaratis (Indians) | from what is today the former Bombay Presidency |
fokatiyaa | useless | bankrupt |
gap | lie | gossip, idle talk, chit chat |
jaati | race | caste (more often misused/misunderstood as a term to reference a native Fijian) |
jhaap | shed | temporarily built shed |
jor | fast, quick | force, strength, exertion |
juluum | beautiful | tyranny, difficulty, amazing (Hindustani zalim, meaning "cruel", is metaphorically used for a beautiful object of affection) |
kal | yesterday | yesterday or tomorrow |
kamaanii | small spear (for prawns) | wire, spring |
khassi | male goat | castrated animal |
konchij | what | from kaun chij (Awadhi), literally meaning what thing or what stuff |
maalik | god | employer/owner or god |
Mandaraaji | South Indian | original word, Madraasi, meant "from Madras (or Tamil Nadu)" |
palla | door | shutter |
Punjabi | Sikh | native of Punjab, regardless of religion |
English
Many words of English origin have shifted meaning in Fiji Hindi.
English word | Fiji Hindi meaning |
---|---|
purse | wallet |
theatre | cinema |
teacher | female teacher |
engine | locomotive (in addition to usual vehicle/boat engines) |
pipe | tap (faucet) (in addition to artificially made tubes) |
cabbage | Chinese cabbage or bok choy |
set | everything is ok (used as a statement or question) |
right | ok (used as a statement) |
Counting
Though broadly based on standard Hindi, counting in Fiji Hindi reflects a number of cross-language and dialectal influences acquired in the past 125 years.
The pronunciation for numbers between one and ten show slight inflections, seemingly inspired by Eastern Hindi dialects such as Bhojpuri. The number two, consequently, is दो (do) in standard Hindi, while in Fiji Hindi it is dui (दुइ), just as it is in Bhojpuri.
Words for numbers between 10 and 99 present a significant difference between standard and Fiji Hindi. While, as in other north Indian languages, words for numbers in standard Hindustani are formed by mentioning units first and then multiples of ten, Fiji Hindi reverses the order and mentions the tens multiple first and the units next, as is the practice in many European and South-Indian languages. That is to say, while "twenty-one" in Standard Hindi is इक्कीस (ikkīs), an internal sandhi of ek aur biis, or "one-and-twenty", in Fiji Hindi the order would be reversed, and simply be biis aur ek (बिस और एक), without any additional morpho-phonological alteration. Similarly, while the number thirty-seven in standard Hindi is सैंतीस (saintīs), for saat aur tiis or "seven-and-thirty", the number would be tiis aur saat (तिस और सात), or 'thirty-and-seven' in Fiji Hindi.
Additionally, powers of ten beyond ten thousand, such as lakh (100,000) and crore (10 million), are not used in Fiji Hindi.[citation needed]
Numeral | English | Hindi | Fiji Hindi |
---|---|---|---|
21 | twenty-one | इक्कीस (ikkīs) | bis aur ek |
22 | twenty-two | बाईस (bāīs) | bis aur dui |
23 | twenty-three | तेईस (teīs) | bis aur teen |
31 | thirty-one | इकत्तीस (ikattīs) | tiis aur ek |
32 | thirty-two | बत्तीस (battīs) | tiis aur dui |
33 | thirty-three | तैंतीस (taintīs) | tiis aur teen |
41 | forty-one | इकतालीस (iktālīs) | chaalis aur ek |
42 | forty-two | बयालीस (bayālīs) | chaalis aur dui |
43 | forty-three | तैंतालीस (taintālīs) | chaalis aur teen |
Spread overseas
With political upheavals in Fiji, beginning with the first
Country | Number of Fiji-born Indo-Fijians |
---|---|
Fiji | 313,798[13] |
New Zealand | 27,882[14] |
Australia | 27,542[15] |
United States | 24,345[16] |
Canada | 22,770[17] |
Tonga | 310[18] |
Writers
- Rodney F. Moag, who had lived in India before joining the University of the South Pacific as a lecturer. He analysed Fiji Hindi and concluded that it was a unique language with its own distinct grammar, rather than "broken Hindi", as it had been previously referred to. Moag documented his findings and wrote lessons using the Fijian Hindi dialect in the book, Fiji Hindi: a basic course and reference grammar (1977).
- Jeff Siegel, in his thesis on Plantation languages in Fiji (1985), has written a detailed account of the development of Fiji Hindi and its different forms as used by Indo-Fijians and Indigenous Fijians. Earlier, Siegel had written a quick reference guide called Say it in Fiji Hindi (1976).
- Raman Subramani, professor in literature at the University of the South Pacific, who wrote the first Fiji Hindi novel, Duaka Puraan (Devanagari: डउका पुरान, 2001), which is the story of Fiji Lal (an old villager) as told by him to a visiting scholar to his village. The book is written in the style of the Puraans (sacred texts) but in a humorous way. He received a Government of India award for his contribution to Hindi language and literature for this novel. In June 2003, in Suriname at the Seventh World Hindi Conference, Professor Subramani was presented with a special award for this novel.
- Raymond C. Pillai wrote the story for the first Fiji Hindi movie, Adhura Sapna (Devanagari: अधूरा सपना, "Incomplete Dream"), produced in 2007.
- Urmila Prasad, who helped translate the Biblical Gospels of Mark, Luke, Matthew and John into Fiji Hindi, written using Roman script, known as Susamaachaar Aur Romiyo (2002)[19]
See also
- Girmityas, the descendants of late 18th and early 19th century labourers who were brought or emigrated to Fiji from India
- Hindustani language
- Caribbean Hindustani, a similar language developed under similar conditions in the Caribbean
- Sarnami, spoken by people of Indian origin in Suriname.
- .
Footnotes
- ^ Bhojpuri is descended from Magadhi Prakrit and Awadhi is descended from Ardhamagadhi Prakrit
- ^ Bhojpuri is descended from Magadhan Apabhraṃśa and Awadhi is descended from Ardhamagadhi Apabhraṃśa
- ^ Only Bhojpuri is descended from Abahattha, not Awadhi. Awadhi comes straight from Ardhamagadhi Apabhraṃśa
- ^ de facto official script
- ^ Written in the Nastaliq calligraphic hand using the Urdu alphabet.
- ^ a b Fiji Hindi at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ "Hindi Diwas 2018: Hindi travelled to these five countries from India". 14 September 2020. Archived from the original on 29 December 2022. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
- ^ Wright, Percey (1910). Seventy-two years in Australia and the South Pacific. Sydney: Mitchell Library.
- ^ Burton, John W. (1910). The Fiji of Today. London: Charles H. Kelly.
- ^ Lenwood, F. (1917). Pastels from the Pacific. London: Oxford University Press.
- ^ Hands, W. J. (1929). Polynesia. Westminster: Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts.
- ^ "Dauka Puran by Subramani". YouTube. Archived from the original on 7 May 2021. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
- ^ "Academic backs Indo-Fijian 'mother tongue' over formal Hindi". RNZ. 5 March 2020. Archived from the original on 5 May 2021. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
- Fijilive. 9 February 2007. Archivedfrom the original on 4 April 2007. Retrieved 10 July 2007.
- ISBN 3-447-02872-6.
- ^ South Asian bilingualism: Hindi and Bhojpuri
- ISBN 3-447-02872-6.
- ^ Fiji - 2007 census Archived 9 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "New Zealand - 2006 census". Archived from the original on 17 May 2011. Retrieved 11 April 2011.
- ^ "Australian Government - 2006 census" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 September 2006. Retrieved 11 April 2011.
- ^ "United States - 2000 census" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 January 2019. Retrieved 7 December 2017.
- ^ "Migration Facts Stats and Maps". Archived from the original on 23 August 2013. Retrieved 11 April 2011.
- ^ "Tonga census 2006". Archived from the original on 4 February 2010. Retrieved 11 April 2011.
- ^ "Bible using 'Fiji Hindi' sparks debate". Agence France-Presse. 9 August 2002. Archived from the original on 7 May 2021. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
References
Bibliography
- Siegel Jeff, Plantation Languages in Fiji, Australian National University, 1985 (Published as Language Contact in a Plantation Environment: A Sociolinguistic History of Fiji, Cambridge University Press, 1987, recently reprinted in paperback).
- Siegel, Jeff (1977). Say it in Fiji Hindi. Sydney: Pacific Publications (Aust) Pty Ltd. ISBN 0-85807-026-X.
- Moag, Rodney F. (1977). Fiji Hindi: A basic course and reference grammar. Canberra: Australian National University. ISBN 0-7081-1574-8.
- Barz, Richard K.; Jeff Siegel (1988). Language transplanted: the development of overseas Hindi. Wiesbaden: OttoHarrassowitz. ISBN 3-447-02872-6.
External links
- Fiji Hindi Dictionary
- The first novel written in Fiji Hindi (archive link)
- Fiji Hindi version of the Gospels and Romans
- Adhura Sapna - Movie in Fiji Hindi
- Ghar Pardes - Another movie in Fiji Hindi, 2009
- Trailer of Ghar Pardes
- Fiji Hindi-to-Hindi Dictionary
- MyFijiGuide.com
- Fiji Hindi words on Wiktionary Archived 23 December 2020 at the Wayback Machine
- Texan talks the talk (archived)
- Fiji Hindi: A basic course and reference grammar.