Fiji Hindi in the context of "Indo-Fijians"

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⭐ Core Definition: Fiji Hindi

Fiji Hindi (Devanagari: फ़िजी हिंदी; Kaithi: 𑂣𑂺𑂱𑂔𑂲⸱𑂯𑂱𑂁𑂠𑂲; Perso-Arabic: فجی ہندی) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by Indo-Fijians. It is the mother tongue and indigenous language of Indo-Fijians. It is also looked at as a Creole language based on Awadhi that has also been subject to considerable influence by other languages and language families like Bhojpuri, Maithili, English, iTaukei, Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Bengali, Assamese, Punjabi, Urdu, Marathi and Malayalam. Many words unique to Fiji Hindi have been created to cater for the new environment that Indo-Fijians now live in. First-generation Indo-Fijians in Fiji, who used the language as a lingua franca in Fiji, referred to it as Fiji Baat, "Fiji talk". It is related to and intelligible with the Bhojpuri-Hindustani spoken in Mauritius, South Africa, Caribbean Hindustani but more closely related with Sarnami with the loan words being Dutch instead of iTaukei. It can be interpreted as Hindi-Urdu, but it differs a lot in phonetics and vocabulary from Modern Standard Hindi and Modern Standard Urdu.

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👉 Fiji Hindi in the context of Indo-Fijians

Indo-Fijians (Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी के हिंदुस्तानी / فجی کے ہندوستانی) are Fijians of South Asian descent whose ancestors were indentured labourers. Indo-Fijians trace their ancestry to various regions of the Indian subcontinent.

Although Indo-Fijians constituted a majority of Fiji's population from 1956 through to the late 1980s, discrimination triggered immigration, resulted in them numbering 313,798 (37.6%) (2007 census) out of a total of 827,900 people living in Fiji as of 2007. Although they hailed from various regions in the subcontinent, just about half of Indo-Fijians trace their origins to the Awadh and Bhojpur regions of the Hindi Belt in northern India. Indo-Fijians speak Fiji Hindi in Fiji also known as 'Fiji Baat' which is based on the Awadhi dialect with influence from Bhojpuri. It is a koiné language with its own grammatical features, distinct to the Modern Standard Hindi and Modern Standard Urdu spoken in South Asia. The major home districts of Fiji's North Indian labourers were Basti, Gonda, Lucknow, Kanpur, Faizabad, Ballia, Ghazipur, Gorakhpur, Sultanpur, Siwan, Shahabad, Saran, and Azamgarh, in the present-day Awadh region of Uttar Pradesh and the present-day Bhojpur region of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand. Others (in a smaller quantity) originated in West Bengal, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and the Telugu regions. A small contingent of indentured labourers came from Afghanistan and Nepal. Many of the Muslim Indo-Fijians also came from Sindh, West Punjab and various other parts of South Asia. Fiji's British colonial rulers brought South Asian people to the Colony of Fiji as indentured labourers between 1879 and 1916 to work on Fiji's sugar-cane plantations, with a small minority were also used in Rice farming.

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Fiji Hindi in the context of Bhojpuri language

Bhojpuri (IPA: /ˌbˈpʊəri/; Devanagari: भोजपुरी, Kaithi: 𑂦𑂷𑂔𑂣𑂳𑂩𑂲, (IPA: [bʰoːdʒpʊɾiː])) is an Indo-Aryan language native to the Bhojpur-Purvanchal region of India and the Terai region of Nepal. It is chiefly spoken in eastern Uttar Pradesh, western Bihar, and northwestern Jharkhand in India, as well as western Madhesh, eastern Lumbini. According to the 2011 Census of India, it is spoken by approximately 50.5 million people.

It is also a minority language in Fiji, Mauritius, Suriname and historically primarily in the Natal province of South Africa. Fiji Hindi, an official language of Fiji, is a dialect of Bhojpuri spoken by the Indo-Fijians. Caribbean Hindustani is spoken by the Indo-Caribbean people in Guyana, Suriname, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago. In Mauritius, it is recognised by the government and taught in university as well.

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Fiji Hindi in the context of Fijian language

Fijian (Na vosa vaka-Viti) is an Austronesian language of the Malayo-Polynesian family spoken by some 350,000–450,000 ethnic Fijians as a native language. In the 2013 Constitution, Fijian (referred to as iTaukei) is an official language of Fiji, along with English and Fiji Hindi and there is discussion about establishing it as the "national language". Fijian is a VOS language.

Standard Fijian is based on the Bau dialect, which is an East Fijian language.A pidginized form is used by many Indo-Fijians and Chinese on the islands, while Pidgin Hindustani is used by many rural ethnic Fijians and Chinese in areas dominated by Indo-Fijians.

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Fiji Hindi in the context of Caribbean Hindustani

Caribbean Hindustani (Devanagari: कैरेबियाई हिंदुस्तानी; Kaithi: 𑂍𑂶𑂩𑂵𑂥𑂱𑂨𑂰𑂆⸱𑂯𑂱𑂁𑂠𑂳𑂮𑂹𑂞𑂰𑂢𑂲; Perso-Arabic: کَیریبیائی ہندوستانی) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by Indo-Caribbean people and the Indo-Caribbean diaspora. It is a koiné language mainly based on the Bhojpuri and Awadhi languages. These were the most-spoken languages by the Indians who came as immigrants to the Caribbean from India as indentured laborers. It is closely related to Fiji Hindi and the Bhojpuri-Hindustani spoken in Mauritius and South Africa.

Because a majority of people came from the Bhojpur region in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand, and the Awadh region in Uttar Pradesh, Caribbean Hindustani is most influenced by Bhojpuri, Awadhi and other Eastern Hindi-Bihari dialects. Hindustani (Standard Hindi-Standard Urdu) has also influenced the language due to the arrival of Bollywood films, music, and other media from India. It also has a minor influence from Tamil and other South Asian languages. The language has also borrowed many words from Dutch and English in Suriname and Guyana, and English and French in Trinidad and Tobago. Many words unique to Caribbean Hindustani have been created to cater for the new environment that Indo-Caribbean people now live in. After the introduction of Standard Hindustani to the Caribbean, Caribbean Hindustani was seen by many Indo-Caribbean people as a broken version of Hindi, however due to later academic research it was seen as deriving from Bhojpuri, Awadhi, and other dialects and was in fact not a broken language, but its own unique language mainly deriving from the Bhojpuri and Awadhi dialects, and not the Khariboli dialect like Standard Hindi and Urdu did, thus the difference.

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Fiji Hindi in the context of Bihari languages

Bihari languages are a group of the Indo-Aryan languages. The Bihari languages are mainly spoken in the Indian states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal, and also in Nepal. The most widely spoken languages of the Bihari group are Bajjika, Angika, Bhojpuri, Magahi and Maithili.

Despite the large number of speakers of these languages, only Maithili has been constitutionally recognised in India. Which gained constitutional status via the 92nd amendment to the Constitution of India, of 2003 (gaining assent in 2004). Maithili and Bhojpuri have constitutional recognition in Nepal. Bhojpuri-Awadhi-Magahi mix is also official in Fiji as Fiji Hindi. There are demands for including Bhojpuri and Magahi/Khortha in the 8th schedule of Indian constitution.

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Fiji Hindi in the context of Languages of Fiji

Fiji has three official languages under the 1997 constitution (and not revoked by the 2013 Constitution): English, Fijian and Fiji Hindi. The Fijian language is spoken as the first language by most indigenous Fijians who make up around 54% of the population.

Indo-Fijians make up 37% of the population and speak Fiji-Hindi. English was the sole official language until 1997 and is widely used in government, business, and education as a lingua franca. Considerable business is also done in Fijian, especially away from larger town centers.

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