Laying the Phonetic Foundation (Click Audio Below)

Fiji Alphabet One of the best ways to get comfortable with speaking Fijian is learning how to read it.  We've all seen it, people who are learning English cant understand if an English speaker is talking "to fast".  When you read it, you have time to process each word to decipher its meaning.  Youll find even as you study that you wont be able to understand Fijian conversations right away.  This could be for many reasons, but most likely its because when Fijians talk amongst other Fijians all the words are connected into one stream of never ending gibberish (just how English sounds to non-native speakers)!    Lets take it slow and start by learning how to read the phonetics of the Fijian Alphabet .     


A (a)
B (mb)
C (õ)
D (nd)
E (e)
F (f)
G (g)
I (i)
J (j)
K (k)
L (l)
M (m)
N (n)
O (o)
P (p)
Q (ng)
R (r)
S (s)
T (t)
U (u)
V (v)
W (w)
Y (y)  

From the alphabet above you can see that the C, D, Q, and G all have a different pronunciation than the english counterparts.

Heres a few examples: 

• b as ‘mb’ in member
• d as ‘nd’ in Monday
• q as ‘ng’ plus ‘g’ in finger
• g as ‘ng’ in singer
• c as ‘th’ in father

Here are some Fijian words with these letters for you to practice pronouncing

--Ika Bulabula       (fresh Fish)

--Sa Donu             (Ok)

--Sara Qito            (watching the game)

--katakata na Siga   (the sun is hot)

--Moce Mada          (good night)


(Phonetically)

IKA mBulambula

Sa nDonu

Sara nQito  (Saran Geetoe)

Katakata Na Singa

Moce Manda  (mo-they Monda)


REMEMBER!
C = Th
Q = Ga sound


CLICK the audio above in the side bard to hear these examples spoken. Practice saying them as well.