Western Fijian language

Western Fijian
Native toFiji
Regionwestern half of Viti Levu, Yasawa Islands and Mamanuca Islands
Native speakers
(57,000 cited 1977)
Language codes
ISO 639-3wyy
Glottologwest2519

Western Fijian, also known as Wayan: 212  is an Oceanic language spoken in Fiji by about 57,000 people.

It is distinct from Eastern Fijian (also known as Bauan or Standard Fijian).

Phonology

Western Fijian consonant phonemes
Labial Dental/
Alveolar
Palatal Velar Glottal
plain lab.
Nasal m n ŋ ŋʷ
Plosive voiced/pren. ᵐb ⁿd ⁿdʒ ᵑɡ ᵑɡʷ
voiceless t k (ʔ)
Fricative voiced β ð
voiceless s h
Trill r ⁿr
Approximant w l j

/mː/ is heard in the Wayan dialect.: 212 

Western Fijian vowel phonemes
Front Central Back
High i u
Mid e o
Low a

Most Fijian languages have a unique prenasalized alveolar trill, transcribed here as ⟨ⁿr⟩. Western Fijian in particular, is unique among Fijian languages for having labialized velar consonants. All vowels come in long and short forms, and so does the bilabial nasal (/m/).: 212 



This page was last updated at 2024-01-19 01:05 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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