Fijian and English/Contrastive Grammar

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Fij-Eng Tests

Noun Phrase Structure

Word orders

In a Fijian NP, adjectives, demonstratives, relative clauses modifying the head noun, if present, must follow the head noun, while in English, adjectives and demonstratives precede the head noun and relative clauses follow the head noun.

  • Example 1:

(fij) a ’oro levu yai → (eng) this big village (gloss: ART village big this)

(fij) a<art> ’oro<n> levu<adj> yai<dem> → (eng) this<det><dem><sg> big<adj><sint> village<n><sg>

  • Example 2:

(fij) a gone vina’a yaa → (eng) that good child (gloss: ART child good that)

(fij) a<art> gone<n> vina’a<adj> yass<dem> → (eng) that<det><dem><sg> good<adj><sint> child<n><sg>

Nominal articles

An NP in Fijian has to begin with an article: a for common nouns (which becomes na after a preposition) and o for proper names and pronouns (which is dropped after a preposition). The articles in Fijian roughly corresponds to the definite article the in English, and there's no indefinite article in Fijian. The indefinite article in English can be translated through the number "one".

  • Example 1.1:

(fij) a ’oro → (eng) the village (gloss: ART village)

(fij) a<art><def> ’oro<n> → (eng) the<det><def><sp> village<n><sg>

  • Example 1.2:

(fij) e dua a ’oro → (eng) a village (gloss: 3sg-subj one ART village)

(fij) e<prn><pers><sg><p3><subj> dua<num> a<art><def> ’oro<n> → (eng) a<det><ind><sg> village<n><sg>

  • Example 2.1:

(fij) o Viti → (eng) Fiji (gloss: ART Suva)

(fij) o<art><def> Viti<n><top> → (eng) Fiji<np><top><sg>


could you give some examples of some of the other patterns you mentioned? in theory each point should have multiple examples, and this one needs it the most

Poessive structures

When the possessor is a pronoun and the possessed is a bound noun, the bound noun is marked with a possessive suffix in Fijian.

  • Example 1:

(fij) a mataqu → (eng) my eye (gloss: ART eye-1sg)

(fij) a<art> mataqu<n><pos><sg><p1> → (eng) my<det><pos><sp><p1><mf><sg> eye<n><sg>

  • Example 2:

(fij) a tamamu → (eng) your father (gloss: ART father-2sg)

(fij) a<art> tamamu<n><pos><sg><p2> → (eng) your<det><pos><sp><p2><mf><sg> father<n><sg>

it might be better to just say that the noun is marked with possession morphology in Fijian (if I understand correctly?) and an article occurs with it

  • Note: Fijian distinguishes between bound nouns, which must be followed by one of the following: a pronominal suffix; -i plus name; nor ni plus NP, and free nouns, which can stand alone. Bound nouns generally include kin terms used to reference to the kins, primary body parts (e.g. ulu- "head", yava- "leg, foot", mata- "face", sui- "bone", ’uli- "skin" etc., but not draa "blood"), yalo- "spirit", yaca- "name", and several nouns referring to abstract qualities of things (e.g. ti’i- "piece, portion of", vu’u- "cause of", etc.).

Predicate Structure

Word orders

The major clause type in Fijian always has a predicate at the beginning of the clause, usually with a verb as the head and a obligatory subject pronoun in the initial position of the predicate; all other NPs (subject NP, object NP, object pronoun, etc.), which are optional, follow the predicate. An English clause generally has an SVO word order, and a pronoun and a full NP with the same reference cannot co-occur as the subject of a verb.

(fij) Era la’o a gone. → (eng) The children are going. (gloss: 3pl-subj go ART child)

(fij) ra<prn><pers><pl><p3><subj1> la’o<va><iv> a<art> gone<n> .<sent> → (eng) the<det><def><sp> child<n><pl> be<vbser><pres><p3><pl> go<vblex><ger> .<sent>

could you give some examples of some other orders?

Tense-aspect markers

Fijian uses separate words (known as tense/aspect markers) to mark tenses and aspects, instead of having verb inflections as English does.

(fij) Au aa la’o. → (eng) I went. (gloss: 1sg-subj PAST go)

(fij) au<prn><pers><sg><p1><subj> aa<past> la’o<va><iv> .<sent> → (eng) PRRERS<prn><subj><p1><mf><sg> go<vblex><past> .<sent>

what do your morphology tags in Fijian look like? This will determine how you characterise the difference.

Eng-Fij Tests

Noun Phrase Structure

Word orders

  • Example 1:

(eng) this good village → (fij) a ’oro vina’a yai (gloss: ART village good this)

(eng) this<det><dem><sg> good<adj><sint> village<n><sg> → (fij) a<art> ’oro<n> vina’a<adj> yai<dem>

  • Example 2:

(eng) that good child → (fij) a gone vina’a yaa (gloss: ART child good that)

(eng) that<det><dem><sg> good<adj><sint> child<n><sg> → (fij) a<art> gone<n> vina’a<adj> yass<dem>

Nominal articles

(eng) a village → (fij) e dua a ’oro (gloss: 3sg-subj one ART village)

(eng) a<det><ind><sg> village<n><sg> → (fij) e<prn><pers><sg><p3><subj> dua<num> a<art> ’oro<n>

Poessive structures

(eng) my eye → (fij) a mataqu (gloss: ART eye-1sg)

(eng) my<det><pos><sp><p1><mf><sg> eye<n><sg> → (fij) a<art> mataqu<n><pos><sg><p1>

Predicate Structure

Word orders

(eng) The children are going. → (fij) Era la’o a gone. (gloss: 3pl-subj go ART child)

(eng) the<det><def><sp> child<n><pl> be<vbser><pres><p3><pl> go<vblex><ger> .<sent> → (fij) ra<prn><pers><pl><p3><subj1> la’o<va><iv> a<art> gone<n> .<sent>

Tense-aspect markers

Fijian uses separate words (known as tense/aspect markers) to mark tenses and aspects, instead of having verb inflections as English does.

(eng) I went. → (fij) Au aa la’o. (gloss: 1sg-subj PAST go)

(eng) PRRERS<prn><subj><p1><mf><sg> go<vblex><past> .<sent> → (fij) au<prn><pers><sg><p1><subj> aa<past> la’o<va><iv> .<sent>