Most Pacific Island nations aren‘t well known outside of the region—people are usually more likely to know the ones that are territories of larger countries, such as Hawaii, Guam, and Easter Island. One of the independent Pacific Island countries that most people do know is Fiji, one of the most populated countries in the region. About half of the population of Fiji is ethnic Fijians, most of whom speak Fijian, the indigenous language of the island chain.
Fijian is estimated to have roughly 350,000 native speakers, with an additional 320,000-odd second-language speakers. Fijian became an official language of the island nation in 2013, alongside English and Fiji Hindi, and debates about establishing Fijian as the national language are ongoing. There have also been calls to make Fijian a compulsory subject in Fijian schools, with proponents arguing the language is an integral part of the Fijian identity. Unfortunately, most translation firms don’t care about the national identity of countries and are only focused on profits. We at TranslationServices.com stand out because we care about promoting the status and vitality of languages around the world, proudly offering translation services for Fijian and other often overlooked languages.
Curious about our rates for Fijian translation services? Check out a free quote by sending us a message.
Discovering Fiji’s identity through Fijian
Since Fiji is a multiethnic country, with Indo-Fijians accounting for more than 37% of the population, a pidginized form of the language is spoken by many Indo-Fijians and ethnically Chinese people in Fijian-dominated areas. The language comes from the Austronesian language family and is written in the Latin script, just like most other languages in Oceania. With no special characters, Fijian is easy for English speakers to type.
Fijian is a verb-object-subject language, a word order employed by only 3% of languages in the world (although it’s quite common in Oceania). Like most Austronesian languages, there are significant differences from English in the pronoun system, with Fijian using separate forms of the first-person pronouns to mark clusivity (i.e., whether the listener is included). In addition to the singular and plural pronominal forms that most languages have, Fijian also features dual pronouns to describe groups of two people and paucal pronouns to describe groups of more than two people who are part of a larger group, such as a family or a work group.
Fijian may sound difficult, but don’t worry—our Fijian translators are native speakers. They know precisely how to translate smoothly to and from this unique Austronesian language.
With us, you choose the type of Fijian translation services you want.
We’re dedicated to providing maximally flexible Fijian translation services that cater both to clients who need translation from Fijian to English and those looking for translation from English to Fijian. With translators carefully trained in both directions, we can translate all kinds of documents for you—even specialty ones. For example, if you need seamless translations of Fijian-language historical documents or literature, trust our team to render them faithfully into English. We can also translate business and academic content from various fields. Examples of our translation services into Fijian include promotional business materials, academic and educational works, and creative content like books, websites, games, apps, and more.
Let us help you with your Fijian translation project! Get in touch with us whenever you’re ready to discuss your project details.