Fijian is an Austronesian language of the Malayo-Polynesian family spoken natively by an estimated 350,000 to 450,000 ethnic Fijians. Under Fiji's 2013 constitution it is one of the country's three national languages alongside English and Hindi, and it follows a verb-object-subject word order.
Facts
ISO 639-3 Code Speaker Count1996 census figure for native speakers, cited in the Wikipedia infobox; a broader estimate of 350,000 to 450,000 ethnic Fijian native speakers appears in the lead paragraph. Attested From (Year)Year Methodist missionaries from Australia developed a written form of Fijian, per the Wikipedia History section; earlier isolated European word lists exist but this is the first standardized written form recorded there. Classification
Language Kind Official StatusNational Language (Symbolic, Not Sole Official) 2 Connections
In Family
Source Fijian language, Wikipedia
Source Fijian language, Wikipedia
Written In
Fijian is standardly written in the Latin alphabet.
In the Other Atlases
Cases Where Used
Also in Society and Culture Atlas: used in this subject.
Source Wikipedia: FijiansLead sentence 1Quote, Lead sentence 1
Fijians (Fijian: iTaukei, lit. 'Owners [of the land]') are an Austronesian ethnic group native to Fiji, who speak Fijian and English and share a common history and culture.
Found In
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.
Source Glottolog
Sources
1. Glottolog: Fijian (Glottolog languoid fiji1243)
GlottologEndangerment, AES statusQuote, Endangerment, AES status
AES status: not endangered
2. Fijian language, Wikipedia
Lead paragraph, second sentence
In the 2013 constitution, Fijian (referred to as iTaukei) is a national language of Fiji, along with English and Hindi.
Infobox, ISO 639-3 field
fij
Infobox, Native speakers field
339,210 cited 1996 census
Lead paragraph, first sentence
is an Austronesian language of the Malayo-Polynesian family
History section
In 1835, Methodist missionaries from Australia worked in Fiji to develop a written form of the language.
Article text
Mahendra Chaudhry, the leader of the Fiji Labour Party, also supported the cause to make Fijian a national language and a compulsory subject in schools with the same status as Fiji Hindi, a position echoed by Krishna Vilas of the National Reconciliation Committee. Since 2013, when a new constitution was adopted, Fijian is established as an official language of Fiji alongside Fiji Hindi and English.
In Family: Austronesian, Infobox, Language family
Austronesian
In Family: Central Pacific languages, Infobox, Language family
Central Pacific
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