Talk:Fiji Hindi

If the constitution...

If the constitution mandates “Hindustani,” which encompasses the entire Hindi-Urdu Sprachraum, wouldn’t Fijian Hindi fall under that definition? Maybe that section should be reworded.
Also, I assume the Hindustani translation of the constitution is in Devanagari; would that not basically make it Standard Hindi? In that case, does anybody know why the terminology opted for is Hindustani, instead of Hindi?

I removed the chart of numbers as they were otherwise identical to Hindi, except 2 and 6, which are already mentioned in the text. —Wiki Wikardo 13:20, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

I suspect what separates Fiji “Hindustani” in an official context from Standard Hindi is that the Fijian government hasn’t undertaken a campaign of sanskritization of the language; yeah? —Wiki Wikardo 03:09, 30 July 2008 (UTC)

More Numbers in Fiji Hindi

Wait, the paragraph says numbers above ten use the English words, but goes on to say “[n]umbers greater than twenty are made up of a combination of the Hindi multiple of ten plus the Hindi number between one and nine.” This strikes me as contradictory. —Wiki Wikardo 23:26, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

I recommend asking User:Girmitya, a native speaker, for clarification. BTW, removing the numbers on the basis that most of them are the same as in standard Hindi is akin to removing the numbers from Spanish just because most of them are similar to Portuguese or Italian numbers. It doesn't make sense to me. David Cannon 11:52, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

Firstly Fiji Hindi is a spoken language and has very little literature of its own, although in recent times attempts have been made to write Fiji Indian history in Fiji Hindi. Almost all official publications targeted at Fiji Indians is in Standard Hindi which Fiji Indians learn in schools. Muslims would learn Urdu in schools.

Secondly, the purpose of the article was to explain the Fiji Hindi as a distinct Language, developing in Fiji. From my experience people from India who speak Hindi are unable to understand Fiji Hindi, although a Punjabi (regarded as a different language in India) speaking person will most of the time understand Standard Hindi.

Finally, regarding the numbers. Most Fiji Indians only use the numbers one to ten in a form derived from Standard Hindi but use English numbers for numbers greater than 10, but older Fiji Indians and those living in rural areas would also use Hindi numbers between 10 and 20. The numbers provided in the table was given to provide a full list of numbers as used by Fiji Indians, so readers could understand how they are different from Standard Hindi. Girmitya 02:49, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

I can only assume you mean numbers up to 29? Or 99? Neither 21 nor 37 is between 10 and 20.

Also, as stated before, according to the table, the only numbers that are written differently than in Standard Hindi are 2 and 6. Wiki Wikardo 13:31, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

How numbers up to 40 are counted still hasn’t been resolved—does one say “tiis aur saat” or are English words used for numbers larger than 20? Also, at some point, the article was changed from saying lakhs and crores aren’t used, to that they are. Which is it? —Wiki Wikardo 03:09, 30 July 2008 (UTC)

Mr. Cannon, I would disagree. I would say it’s more like having a table with Portuguese and Galician numbers. Even allowing for differing orthographies, there are more than two differences between Portuguese and Galician… and that’s just up to ten! Having a chart purporting to “compare” two languages which differ only three times in counting to a million strikes me as absurd. It may seem less absurd to you, but regardless, I propose nothing significant is lost informationally by excluding the table, and presentationally, the article is much improved. —Wiki Wikardo 19:17, 30 July 2008 (UTC)

Untitled

OK, OK, I see… I finally get it! It’s not that the chart and the article contradict each other!… so much as the chart really poorly illustrates the issue, and the article describes it inaccurately. It was the phrase “the Hindi numbers have been adapted to the English counting system” that really made the lightbulb go off. I’ve tried to edit the article accordingly without being overly explicit or wordy.

The second and third paragraphs of the Counting in Fiji Hindi still contradict each other, though. “[F]or numbers larger than 10, English words are used” is still a problem phrase. It’s not clear to me whether young Fiji Hindi speakers are really using English words, or if the Fijian Hindi for eleven is “das aur ek.” —Wiki Wikardo 04:29, 3 August 2008 (UTC)

Writiing System of Fiji Hindi

Since there exists already a great variety of writing systems (Nastaliq, Dvenagari and several further based on Roman script) for Hindustani on the Indian subcontinent, I wonder which form is used oficially for Fiji Hindustani.

Simon, 25.06.2008 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.18.198.162 (talk) 08:57, 25 June 2008 (UTC)

Devnagari. And the Roman alphabet, too, but I don’t know to what extent. It touches on it briefly in the article, but maybe it could be mentioned more prominently.

Update: FWIW, the Fijian Hindi Wikipedia is written with the Roman alphabet. Also, the Devanagari (फ़िजी हिन्दी) in the intro was removed at some point. Given its extensive use in this article, contrasted with the Fiji Hindi WP in Latin letters, it should be specified which alphabet is mostly used in formal and informal contexts. —Wiki Wikardo 03:09, 30 July 2008 (UTC)

The Devanagari there before my edit "हिदी" left out the न "n" from Hindi हिन्दी. Looked like a transcription error from someone unfamilir with a Devanagari keyboard. I copied the spelling from Fiji Hindi Wikipedia फ़िजि हिन्दी. 2020-01-01 — Preceding unsigned comment added by 124.168.22.223 (talk) 10:08, 1 January 2020 (UTC)

Classification of Fiji Hindi

It should be stated in the language box, how it is classified, not just stated that it belongs to the Indo-Aryan languages. Sarcelles (talk) 07:19, 16 October 2008 (UTC)

Separate language?

I was wondering if Fiji Hindi should be classified as a form of Hindi (or Hindustani, or Hindi-Urdu) or a separate language. In particular, is it generally comprehensible to speakers of regular Hindi (who are mostly in India)? This article should discuss these questions.--Solomonfromfinland (talk) 22:54, 26 November 2018 (UTC)

Speakers abroad

Where do the figures for overseas speakers come from?? According to US census data Fijian Hindi does not appear in the detailed listings of languages spoken at home; (the article obviously claims all Fiji born speakers of Indo-European languages as Fiji-Hindi speakers) . Even if it were 24,000 speakers in the USA - is that a remarkable number? At least the map is highly misleading by coloring whole continents as places whre FijiHindi is spoken. By this method we have to color EACH major immigrant country with ALL languages of the Earth! Kipala (talk) 14:20, 13 April 2011 (UTC)

Fiji Hindi - the correct name

• Ethnologue - Fiji Hindi — Preceding unsigned comment added by Thakurji (talk • contribs) 11:17, 13 September 2011 (UTC)

References: Few words to say?

I think "few words to say" in the References is in the wrong section. It seems to intended to be a list of words of Tamil origin. Probably should be moved inline or removed. --「ѕʀʟ·✎」 08:40, 20 August 2013 (UTC)

I removed it- on closer examination, the contents (if appropriate) should go in other sections of the article. Original content was: Few Words to say: amma, Murruku, maala, kuuli, Jilebi. --「ѕʀʟ·✎」 08:46, 20 August 2013 (UTC)

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fiji hindi is not official, its shudh hindi

1. Constitutional Recognition Fiji’s supreme law explicitly names Hindustani—understood as standard Hindi—alongside English and Fijian as the country’s three official languages. Translations of the Constitution are made available in iTaukei and Hindi (Devanagari script), and citizens may conduct legal and parliamentary business in any of these three languages, with the English text prevailing only where there is doubt. There is no mention of the colloquial Fiji Hindi dialect in the constitutional text.

2. Government Publication & Usage The Fijian Government routinely publishes core documents (including the Constitution itself) and public health updates in standard Hindi (Devanagari). The official government portal provides the Constitution in a Hindi translation for legal reference—demonstrating that the state engages with the formal register of Hindi in all its institutions.

3. Education & Curriculum Policy Formal education in Fiji treats standard Hindi as the formal medium for teacher training and secondary instruction. Fiji National University’s Bachelor of Education (Secondary) program, for example, requires entrants to demonstrate proficiency in English and Hindi (Devanagari)—underscoring that the “Hindi” of instruction is the standardized form taught internationally, not the localized dialect.

4. Linguistic Scholarship & Distinction Academic research makes clear that the Constitution’s term “Hindustani” refers to the formal Hindi-Urdu register originating from the Indian subcontinent. Fiji Hindi is a distinct koiné dialect that developed locally among indentured labourers; it enjoys widespread everyday use but lacks any constitutional or legal standing.

5. Equal Citizen Rights Under Chapter 1, Section 3(3–4) of the Constitution, citizens have the right to use iTaukei, English, or Hindi (Hindustani) in all government and judicial proceedings. This provision places standard Hindi on an equal footing with Fiji’s other official languages—affirming its formal status in the state apparatus.

Sources - Constitution of the Republic of Fiji (English) https://www.laws.gov.fj/ResourceFile/Get/?fileName=2013+Constitution+of+Fiji+%28English%29.pdf

Constitution of the Republic of Fiji Islands (Hindi Translation, Devanagari) https://www.paclii.org/fj/constitutional-docs-archives/Constitution%20of%20the%20Republic%20of%20Fiji%20Islands%20%28Hindi%29.pdf

Fiji National University: Bachelor of Education (Secondary) – English & Hindi https://programmes.fnu.ac.fj/programmes/Files/2019122313210Bachelor%20of%20Education%20%28Secondary%29%20%28English%20_and_%20Hindi%29%20.pdf

Kumar, R. (2018). Fiji Hindi in Fiji. Academia.edu https://www.academia.edu/36804807/Fiji_Hindi_in_Fiji

Shameem, N. (2017). “Fiji Hindi: A Heritage Language of Fiji Indians.” USP Repository https://repository.usp.ac.fj/id/eprint/13951/1/16-FijiHindiAheritagelanguage%20copy.pdf

PacLII: Fiji Constitutional Documents Archive https://www.paclii.org/fj/constitutional-docs-archives/main.html — Preceding unsigned comment added by Theoneandonlylinguist09 (talk • contribs) 11:39, 15 June 2025 (UTC)

Also ths proves that standard hindi is used in education - https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1328357.pdf ". Fiji Hindi is most often the first language of the Indo-Fijians. However, Standard Hindi is formally recognised as the standard language" "Vishwa Hindu Parishad, and Shree Sanatan Dharam Pratinidhi Sabha of Fiji provided a unified approach to convince the Minister for Education to remove Fiji Hindi from the Hindi national examination papers." THIS PROVES FIJI HINDI IS NOT FIJIS OFFICIAL LANGUAGE

AGAIN HERE - https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1328357 Results showed that Fiji Hindi is preferred in social settings … and Standard Hindi is preferred in formal settings

Indo‑Fijians speak Fiji Hindi… learn Shudh Hindi (SH) or Urdu… for formal and literacy purposes https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0738059306000332 Study: Multilingual Proficiency in Fiji Primary Schools

Highlights:

“Indo‑Fijians speak Fiji Hindi as their mother tongue… learn Shudh Hindi/Urdu… SH/Urdu is the educationally acceptable mother tongue for use as the ‘vernacular’ language of instruction…” https://www.academia.edu/36609364/Curriculum_Development_Challenges_in_Advancing_Conversational_Languages_in_Fijian_Classrooms

FIJI HINDI is not the official language — Preceding unsigned comment added by Theoneandonlylinguist09 (talk • contribs) 11:56, 15 June 2025 (UTC)

Protected

to stop the edit-war, please discuss instead; I could have blocked at least two editors today. Black Kite (talk) 19:02, 19 February 2026 (UTC)

For note, there has been a discussion going on at User talk:~2026-10794-16#February 2026.

@Black Kite you are right, I was hypocritically warring while asking the other editor to stop. I apologize for this behavior, it is not acceptable. ~ oklopfer (💬) 19:08, 19 February 2026 (UTC)