Handbook of the Fijian Language
By Rev. William Moore

Contents

Preface

I-The key to the Language

II-The Alphabet

III-The Articles

IV-The Nouns

V-Adjectives

VI-Numerals

VII-Pronouns

VIII-Verbs

IX-Adverbs

X-Prepositions

XI-Conjunction

XII-Interjections

XIII-Useful words to be learnt first

XIV-Useful sentences on landing

XV-Household words, &c.

XVI-Words for garden, plantation, &c.

XVII-Words for boating and canoes

XVIII-Words for part of the human body

XIX-Words for relationship

XX-Words for naturalist and botanist

XXI-Words requiring care with AI

XXII-A short vocabulary

Preface

The first edition of this little book owed its appearance to a request from HBM Consul (Captain HM Jones, VC) that I should prepare a small "Handbook for Immigrants, more simple and less expensive than our present books." In sending out the second edition, I may say that I make no pretensions to originality, except in plan. Although I have made preparations for greatly enlarging and otherwise improving this little "Key," yet, in deference to the opinion of others, it is now reprinted with only some few corrections and additions, to meet a pressing want.

Excerpt from Chapter I

"A cava oqo?" What's this? You have the Key wherewith to open your way into the language in the above sentence, pronounced in English "Ah thava ongo?" If you can procure a native, do so by all means, and, placing the Alphabet before you, ply him with your Key "A cava oqo?" until you get the proper sounds. Be careful of B, C, D, G, Q, and do not proceed until you have mastered your Alphabet. This done, begin at once to note down everything around you. Pointing at a stone, use your Key, "A cave oqo?" The answer will be, "A vatu." "Oqo," this. "Oqori," that (near). "Ko ya," that (distant) Keep...

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Windham Press is committed to bringing the lost cultural heritage of ages past into the 21st century through high-quality reproductions of original, classic printed works at affordable prices.

This book has been carefully crafted to utilize the original images of antique books rather than error-prone OCR text. This also preserves the work of the original typesetters of these classics, unknown craftsmen who laid out the text, often by hand, of each and every page you will read. Their subtle art involving judgment and interaction with the text is in many ways superior and more human than the mechanical methods utilized today, and gave each book a unique, hand-crafted feel in its text that connected the reader organically to the art of bindery and book-making.

We think these benefits are worth the occasional imperfection resulting from the age of these books at the time of scanning, and their vintage feel provides a connection to the past that goes beyond the mere words of the text.