Hindi, Fiji
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A language of Fiji
ISO 639-3
Alternate Names
Fiji Hindustani, “Fijian Hindi” (pej.), “Fijian Hindustani” (pej.)
Population
380,000 in Fiji (1991 UBS).
Language Status
3 (Wider communication). Statutory language of national identity (2000, Constitution, Article 4(1)).
Classification
Dialects
Typology
SOV; verb conjugations have been simplified from standard Hindi [hin].
Language Use
Used by all of Indian ancestry in Fiji, including ethnic Tamil (6,663), Gujarati (6,203), Urdu, Telugu (2,008), Gurmukhi (Punjabi, 1,167), Bengali (17,875), Malayalam. A small Gujarati community speak Gujarati at home, and a few others, mainly older people, speak their heritage languages. Also use English [eng].
Language Development
Literacy rate in L2: 85%. Newspapers. Radio programs. Bible portions.
Language Resources
Brought by British as indentured laborers from 1879 until 1920s. Hindu, Muslim.